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History of Rena Le Lona
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Michelle Friedman’s background is in teaching, training and development, for which she has a Masters in Education. Her work incorporated the
element of emotional healing, whether it was training Matriculants or Post Graduates in the early ‘80’s or corporate staff in 2004.
In 2005 she accepted the position of Manager at Wits Medical School for a research team, Birth to Twenty. This is a longitudinal study
of 3000 families across the spectrum of South Africa, starting from the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990. It is ongoing.
The operations team was based at Baragwanath hospital and there she met hundreds of children and their mothers or grandmothers.
It became clear to her that the immediate need was to assist the grandmothers who were in their second term
of ‘motherhood’ as their children had died of AIDS leaving them to care for their grandchildren.
Michelle’s background is in the Arts. She is a published writer, a singer, dancer and actor. As a consultant, she included art, writing, dance and music in
her seminars on personal growth and team-building for organisations, including Birth to Twenty.
She noticed how quickly participants shed their past pain and began to plan their future.
When a friend from Seattle, Washington, USA, Tom Seeberger, visited South Africa in 2005, he was moved by the children. Before his return to the States Tom asked Michelle what she’d most like to do.
She said she’d like a centre for orphaned children who would be able to heal their emotional trauma through song, dance, drama, music, and art. Tom said "You find the children and I’ll find the money."
Setting to work immediately, Michelle met Joy Sephton and they set up a meeting with Johannesburg Child Welfare to find out how they could assist the already high number of AIDS orphans. At that meeting
Michelle agreed to take over a building in Zone 6, Diepkloof, Soweto and start her own NGO. Susan Rammekwa, a director of JCW, guided Michelle along her first steps which were to interview local principals
of Junior Primary schools and find out if there was a need for such a centre.
The need was overwhelming. Michelle and Susan visited the homes of the children chosen by three schools, Giyani, Inkwenkwezi and JS Mpanza.
The caregivers of the children agreed to allow their wards to attend the centre. Michelle sold her furniture and other things to support herself until Tom’s money came through in 2006.
At that time Greater Good South Africa, an umbrella organisation, was offering NGO’s a stand at a fair in Sandton Square at Sandton Mall.
A friend of Michelle’s agreed to photograph all the children whose names were on the waiting list.
There were over 100 children. Roz Berzon’s photographs captured the essence of each child – what that child could become. Smiling faces and beautiful children adorned the small cubicle of Re Nale Lona ( We are with you) at the
two day fair.
There, Ilana Friedman of Magical Moments, discovered Michelle. Roz introduced Michelle to the family
of Yvonne Segel, a ballet dancer who had just passed away. Much of the contents of her lovely home were driven to
Re Nale Lona at the beginning of 2006. Ilana brought food to the centre on an almost daily basis. She also bought a television set, DVD player, tables and chairs, almost everything the centre needed. Ilana took the children
to a luxury holiday camp in KZN, to Snowscape and celebrated the birthdays of the children too. Roz and Ilana were the first
of many sent to Re Nale Lona by angels.
Finding the Children
The first hurdle was letting the community know we were in their neighbourhood. To do this I visited three schools within walking distance from the building we were to occupy. That building was leased from Johannesburg Child Welfare to Social Development.
People claimed their pensions and were able to see social workers. A director of JCW, Susan Rammekwa, accompanied me to visit the principals of each school. All the teachers from all three schools agreed that their burden was extreme as they were forced to
become social workers in addition to teaching. They readily agreed to give us a list of children whose parents had died of AIDS, or who were dying or who were unemployed.
Armed with this list Susan and Michelle set out to visit the homes of the children and
explain to each adult who was a caregiver, that Rena le Lona was being set up in Zone 6 and their child was a candidate for afternoon care and Arts education.Our biggest problem was deciding how many children could attend as the lists were long. 100 was the number chosen.
The centre opened with 80 children.
Taking Over the Premises
The Department of Social Development was due to leave the premises in January but they stayed until June. It was difficult changing the centre from a social development office to a children’s creative centre but patience won out and by the
middle of the year we had the building to ourselves and could pull down all the wooden panels that divided rooms into tiny offices and open the space for play.
Immediate Assistance
We had no food for the children. Our saving grace came in the form of Ilana Friedman of Magical Moments. Greater Good South Africa gave Rena le Lona a booth at their first NGO fair in the Mandela square in Sandton City. There in a tiny space barely able to move, I sat surrounded by one hundred colour photos of smiling, happy children taken by Roz Berzon, an incredibly gifted photographer. It was her gift to us.
People were attracted to the happiness and Ilana was one. Through her we were able to feed the children daily and she found sponsors who bought us tables and chairs,
a television, a DVD player, skipping ropes and many other necessary items.
There was no furniture of any kind in the centre. Roz Berzon had a friend who had another friend whose mother had just died. All the contents of her mother’s house that the Segal family no longer wanted came to us. This included carpets, chairs, books, clothing, material, costumes, ballet tights,
kitchenware, plates, cups and saucers.
It was a wonderful start for the centre.
Designing the Programme
Having never done anything like this before I sought advice from the Wits School of Education and Stanley Sher agreed to come over. As his area of expertise is training student teachers to teach Art he agreed to
bring their students to Rena le Lona to do their practical training on an annual basis, that is , once a week for 6 weeks.
Their input accelerated learning for both the student teachers and the children.
Maintaining the Food Supply
We desperately needed a consistent supply of food for the children’s lunch every day. By this time another aunt of one of our children agreed to help with the cooking. Susan Mfaswe. My nephew, David Lee, mentioned our work
to
a friend of his Ross, who happened to be director of what is now called Bsi Steel. Since 2006 Bsi steel has spent R1000
to R1500 a week on food for the children.
Setting up a Board
At the start the sum total of people working on Rena le Lona was two – Joy Sephton and Michelle Friedman in SA. Tom Seeberger was back in New York. Two men discovered Rena from Greater Good SA and they were Marcel Macmahon and Wagied Allie who became board members.
Before that, a number of interested people came for meetings but only Dolly Mokgatle became a Board member. A friend, Ronnie Scheurenberg, decided to get involved and he came onto the Board, as did Lynne Scullard who then brought Shereen James who brought Munna Desai. Karen de Vos became our book-keeper and Callen Hodgekiss, whom she knew, our treasurer.
It took at least a year for the Board to be established.
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Your helping hand is a stepping stone to a better future, a lot of people tend to turn a blind eye or they feel like they are forced to make a difference to someone's life.
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Banking Details
for Donations |
Market Link Account
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Account Holder:
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Rena Le Lona Creative Centre for Children
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Account Number:
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406767335
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Bank:
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Standard Bank
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Branch:
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Northcliff
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Branch Code:
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006305
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Cheque Account
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Account Holder:
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Rena Le Lona Creative Centre for Children
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Account Number:
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003322750
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Bank:
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Standard Bank
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Branch:
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Northcliff
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Branch Code:
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006305
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a Morrisjones creation
