a few months back my friend Sophie asked me if I would be interested in taking some photos for a calendar for the organisation she works for, Connect Network. always looking for new opportunities, i said a big definate yes, without thinking if i would be able to do it or not! :)
a few weeks later sophie and i were driving around cape town, visiting different areas and different members of the Connect Network to get the shots they needed for the calendar. this was the fun and also challenging part of the project! each month had a different theme, so we had to make sure we were fitting in with each one.
i had a lot of fun on this project, as it is not the usual thing i would do, and i was really challenged to try and think out of the box. i also got to meet a lot of people and organisations i wouldn't normally go to.
My mum is already a fan, and had ordered a few. love how mum's are usually the biggest fans! :)
I also had a chance to sit down with Sophie and ask her a bit more about the Connect Network. If you are interested in helping with Woman & Children at risk in South Africa....read on and see how you can get involved... :)
1.
Tell us a little bit about yourselves and your team and about
the Connect Network
Connect Network is a partnership of Christian-value base Organisations,
Churches and Individuals. We currently
have over 100 members, and these members provide services to more than 100,000
children and women. Our vision is to
enhance the Christian response to women and children at risk, by providing care
and support to people working in our member organisations. We want to create effective relationships
(sharing information and solutions on relevant resources), synergies and a “collective
voice” between members
Our main focus areas are Women at Risk: crisis pregnancy and abortion, human
trafficking and prostitution, residential care, job support, counselling and support
services and Youth & Children
at Risk: street children, youth in prison, life skills,
education and prevention programmes in schools, early childhood development,
child sexual exploitation and orphan care.
The Connect Network office also helps with the co-ordination of four
projects. The needs for these projects were highlighted by our members and then
we play a facilitative role in the management of these projects. These are Equipped To Serve – a course
that teaches effective trauma counselling; SuperCamps – which is a bi-annual
camp for 9-13 years old sent by our members and provides first time adventures
and uses every opportunity to spoil the children. World Weekend of Prayer (WWP) – is an
international day set aside to pray for children. Quality Improvement System – this directly impacts the
quality and quantity of care for children in Cape Town through a peer-learning
method. These programmes were developed by VIVA, an international NPO based in
Oxford.
2.
How did the Connect Network start?
Dee Moskoff and Jo
Partridge started the Connect Network.
In the late 80’s one of Dee’s friends decided to have an abortion and
through this Dee was affected by her own lack of support and judgmental
approach as a Christian. She had never
walked the road with a pregnant girl in crisis.
In Oct 1996, together with 2 friends and support of her church, she
started Choices Crisis Pregnancy Centre to respond to the need of support for
pregnant women. As Choices grew Dee
started linking with other centres in the Cape Town area and around South
Africa and then in 1999 Dee founded Africa Cares for Life, which is a national
network for Crisis Pregnancy Centres.
She decided together, they could learn and achieve more through shared
training and resources.
Jo had been
working with Orphan Care in Pietermaritzburg and then moved to Cape Town. Jo
then joined Dee helping with the networking of Infant Care Projects in Cape
Town. The network continued to grow and they then explored the possibility of
including other projects that were dealing with women and children in
need. In Oct 2004 the Connect Network
was launched and started with 15 members.
3. What are some of the long term and short term
dreams/goals of Connect SA?
Connect
Network is about mobilising the church, the body of Christ to make a difference
in the lives of women and children at risk.
4. Have you got any “good news” stories you would like to
share?
Connect has managed to put 44 organisations through
Child Protection training and as a result children are being protected in the
Western Cape. In 2010 we hosted Child
Protection training, as well are a Children’s Act Information Day, with the
help from the SA Police force, to give the network and civil society an
opportunity to become familiar with the Act.
We have also provided a Quality Improvement System
to help Connect Network members improve their organisations performance. One of
these organisations “Walk with A Purpose” in Khayelitsha, attended this course
and as a result have been transformed, now having new recruits. Other
organisations have now learnt about legal entities and registrations and have
decided to register as a Non-Profit organisation
5. Where can we find you?
Our
office: Alexandra Building, First
Floor
147 Main Road
Somerset West
7130
Email:
info@connect-sa.net
Website:
www.connectnetwork.org.za
Telephone:
021 852 9900
6. What are Connect SA’s needs?
Volunteers are always needed, we are especially in
desperate need of a revamped website and funding is always a need!
