Warm Heart Campaign

EUROPA@HUB and James 1:27 Trust are appealing to businesses and individuals alike in the drive by The Innovation Hub to help make winter a little warmer for those less fortunate than ourselves. We are asking for donations of clothes, blankets, food such as maize meal, rice, tin foods or any other item to help others to be warm this winter.

All donations received will be distributed to the different Community-based partners.

•  SA Cares for Life is a community-based organisation functioning at a national level which reaches 1500 children.
•  Lefika La Botshabelo OVC Centre has an after-school programme in Stinkwater which feeds more than 400 children, 3 times a week.
•  The Viva Foundation of South Africa is provided with emergency food supplies on a bi-monthly basis which feeds approximately 200 children at an after-care centre in Mamelodi.
•  Tshwelopele Step by Step provides emergency food supplies on a weekly basis for approximately 70 vulnerable children in Pretoria East. The Trust has been supplying food maize for more than 4 years for this programme.
• Masvingo (Zimbabwe) Children’s Feeding Project is a weekly based feeding programme for approximately 39 orphans and vulnerable children. 

 All the clothing and food will be distributed to the above partners of the James 1:27 Trust. Donation boxes will be placed at EUROPA@Hub Restaurant.

A little background on the Trust:

The trust was founded in 2004. South Africa at present is in the full brunt of an HIV and AIDS epidemic with 1 in 9 of our adult population HIV positive. A consequence of which is that we have 1 million maternal orphans.

The James 1:27 Trust located at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria is committed to a social innovation project in which we are creating a platform that includes business information management systems and business intelligence tools in order to scale present levels of care.

The James 1:27 Trust is proud to be associated with the Warm Heart Campaign.

Thank you,

EUROPA – (012) 844 0053

James 1:27 Trust – (012) 844 0489 

Progress in Stinkwater

Lefika La Botshabelo OVC Centre celebrated another developmental step with one of the families supported by virtual adoption - a James 1:27 Trust concept.  Follow the story here by clicking on the toilet below. :)

Or follow the story via our Facebook page, by clicking the link below:

A Story of Grace

Surviving the pain of a mother’s death, the loss of a sister and a kid-brother, witnessing a loving stepfather chased out of the house by heartless and greedy relatives, living with a rude and selfish grandmother, and sharing space with an ill-mannered kleptomaniac brother, all constitute the story of Grace, an orphan who intends to be a blessing to other orphans.

Click here to download:

Childrens_Stories_Grace.pdf (102 KB)

The role of spiritual formation in the holistic development of children at risk

Some thoughts on the role of spiritual formation in the holistic development of children at risk.  

The James 1:27 Trust, located with our technical partners, at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria is at present building a management system (business information IT platform) to manage what we refer to as ‘virtual adoption’.  At present 4% of South Africa’s children can be considered maternal orphans.  That means more than 1 million children have no mother, with many millions more made vulnerable and affected by HIV and AIDS.  Our estimates indicate that only 15% of these children are being cared for by care-based organisations.  We have to therefore double and redouble efforts.  This is not possible without moving to a big village approach.  Virtual adoption is a kind of supplementary support to encourage the local village to accept responsibility in becoming legal guardians. So what we are promoting is a kind of virtual extended family that is not biological or geographical, which assists in the transfer of resources (sharing of the second tunic).  Virtual sponsors supporting vulnerable families.  This great exchange is managed within a business information and business intelligence system making this transfer secure. 

Last year I assisted as a staff member working with the Lausanne Team at the Cape Town 2010 Third World Conference on World Evangelization.  What I learnt was that the Church in the North and in the West is in terms of evangelization on the decline.  Furthermore the 4/14 age group offers a strategic advantage in sharing the Gospel.  In this regard there is also a big movement towards what is termed holistic child development.  In my understanding this means Christ centred care.  

In my own spiritual journey I have realized my absolute bankruptcy and need for a daily rhythm in which I can integrate the spiritual themes as so clearly unpacked within the Renovare www.renovare.com  type thinking.  If I cannot make it without spiritual formation and discipleship how then can I care for the children that we are serving.  In translation, I believe that it is within the practice of spiritual disciplines that the children will find sufficient contact with the Holy Spirit, in order that they may become worshippers and find intimacy with the Father.  This connect with eternity makes for the coping of the loss of their mothers and the challenge for navigating though a harrowing life filled with great risk.  In this regard, the disadvantaged child through spiritual formation can use their suffering to flow into the full hope in the Lord.  This is the great equalizer in a socially unjust world.  The fruit of the Spirit no longer constrained by circumstances but rather nurtured within circumstances.      

So what we have is a realization that the 4/14 age group is of strategic significance, that children at risk enjoy priority focus and that holistic care is needed and which is financed through virtual sponsors. 

 On a personal note, I have committed my life to this great work but know that I need much more discipleship myself in order to help care for the many in order to disciple the few.

Robert Botha, CEO James 1:27 Trust, January 2011

End of Year Message

Morning Live Interview

SAP Business One gives Care Management Organisation, transparency and efficiency

International Exposure

Click here to download:

James 127 Trust Success Story 2010 (ZA).pdf (331 KB)

What does the Child Status Index (CSI) do?

The Child Status Index (CSI) provides an easy-to-use tool to assess children’s current needs, monitor improvements in specific dimensions of child well-being and identifies areas of concern that can be served by program interventions. The index gathers information in the following areas:

• Food/nutrition. Does the child have sufficient and nutritious food at all times to grow well and to have an active and healthy life?

• Shelter and care. Does the child have shelter that is adequate, dry and safe? Is there at least one adult who provides consistent love and support?

• Protection. Is the child safe from abuse, neglect or exploitation? Is there adequate legal protection for the child?

• Health care. Is the child healthy? Does he/she have access to preventive and treatment health services?

• Psychosocial. Is the child happy and have hope for a good life? Does the child enjoy good relationships with other children and adults?

• Education. Is the child performing well at home, school, job training, or work and developing age appropriate knowledge and skills? Is the child receiving the education or training he/she needs to develop knowledge and skills?  

This simple, low-cost assessment tool will help stakeholders to monitor systematically and continuously the changes in a child’s life in order to promote shared learning, outcome reporting, inform program decisions and ultimately improve the quality of services for children.

Initially, the CSI was developed for programs that support children affected by HIV/AIDS, but it is applicable to other organizations that provide programs for disadvantaged or at-risk children.

The CSI has the potential for identifying and addressing the needs of children as well as to monitor their changes over time.

Posted by Candida Oberholzer, Operations – James 1:27 Trust   26 July 2010

A Tool to Improve Service Delivery for Children Who Have Been Orphaned or Made Vulnerable by HIV/AIDS

Click here to download:

CSI Pictorial Version.pdf (310 KB)

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) and USAID Office of HIV/AIDS (OHA) requested a tool to assess vulnerabilities, needs and outcomes of orphaned and other children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. This tool would initially be used for monitoring the well-being of children as part of global initiatives supported by PEPFAR.