Botschaft, Presse, Topnews
16. Juli 2010
On Friday, 16 July, the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa in Berlin celebrated former President Nelson Mandela`s 92nd birthday. To celebrate the birthday of the man who has done so much for the young democratic country of South Africa, South Africans around the world will use the slogan “Let your Spirit of Generosity Shine Through” and dedicate their service to others who are less fortunate. Therefore, the staff of the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa in Berlin decided to give their service to a project in Berlin- Reinickendorf called Die Arche. The Embassy staff, dressed in their now too familiar yellow Bafana Bafana shirts, helped with cleaning the facilities and wherever a helping hand was needed.
“Die Arche” was founded in 1995 and 70 staff members take care of over 1000 children and young people in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Potsdam. The aim of the organisation is to get children off the streets, to overcome social deficits and to reintegrate them into society. Die Arche offers a daily free warm meal, help with homework, productive free time activities with sport and music and above all attention. They need to feel important and loved.
“This is a fantastic project and it shows that children really need places to go where they can learn life skills – this is the same all over the world. In South Africa where education is one of Government’s he priorities, many of these projects for children and youth development have come to life, especially before the World Cup but the most important factor is that they are sustainable. The fifteen years of work that Die Arche has done is what we strive for in our projects in South Africa so that they have long-term effects on our future generations”, said Cassandra Mbuyane-Mokone, Deputy Head of Mission in Berlin.