Met Ultimate Christmas in Desember ontmoet ek vir Michelle, ‘n ses jarige dogtertjie wat my weer ‘n slag ernstig oor die betekenis van Kersfees laat dink het.  Om saam met dié dogtertjie haar geskenk oop te maak was ‘n belewenis. Een vir een het sy die items in die pakkie uitgehaal en elke een was vir haar só kosbaar.
Michelle het ‘n paar keer terug gekom sodat ons dit weer in ‘n ander volgorde kon bewonder.  Die lekkergoed, die tandepasta, tandeborsel en sepie, die pop, die t-hempie, was net vir haar ongelooflik.  Natuurlik kry ek elke keer ‘n drukkie en ‘n ‘I love you’, en selfs ook ‘n ‘I can see that you love me’.  
So is dit immers ook met die groot geskenk, by name Jesus  Christus, wat vir ons gegee is en waaraan ons elke jaar gedurende die feestyd weer herinner word.  Ek wil soos Michelle hierdie jaar meermale  terug te gaan en opgewonde raak oor wat Hy vir my beteken.  Ek wil my eie ‘geskenk’ keer op keer oopmaak en die liefde waarmee dit gegee is, ervaar en met die mense rondom my deel.
Die doelwit van 700 geskenke en 250 kospakkies wat ons gestel het, is bereik en die Kerspartytjie was weereens ‘n reuse sukses.  Hiermee ‘n gróót dankie aan elkeen wat daartoe bygedra het, ook vir die sorg en liefde waarmee die pakkies opgemaak is. Die vreugde was oorweldigend.
Mag die jaar wat voorlê vir elkeen van julle een word waarin julle ook soos Michelle weer en weer opgewonde kan raak oor God se liefde en genade in julle eie lewens.

What do you get when you mix the following ingredients?
 
120 Teens & Children.
13 898 Kilometers driven by vehicles & busses.
4 405 nutritious Meals.
26 Hours Sessions.
56 Hours Beach Time.
465 Sweet Parcels.
Sponsors with hearts for our city and her children.
And even more people who prayed for our kids.
 
240 eyes saw God’s great creation.
240 ears heard about His unconditional love for them and His longing to be the centre of their lives.
240 hands was raised to glorify God.
240 feet felt the coldness of the ocean, that walked on the sand and experienced the greatness of it.
120 noses could smell the saltiness in the air and realized what it truly means to be the salt of the earth.
120 tummies that could experience God’s care for them every time there was a meal & His abundance in the form of a sweetie parcel.
120 mouths that shared about their broken lives, how they wish they can be free from abuse and hopelessness.
120 hearts that was changed by God through people who obediently planned, contributed, prayed and executed the sea camp.
All the glory to our heavenly Father that came and touched each of the 120 young lives in such an incredible way!!

As we all know, during the festive season this country just about closes down until January.  This also includes all social services.  To the staff of PEN this is always a cause of concern for our vulnerable families. Especially those who have been severely affected by the closing down of Schubart Park. 

In 2008 The PEN Ultimate Christmas project was started to ensure at least some contact and support to our community during Christmas time.  This event saw people giving gifts and food to our families during this special time.  The event has become very popular with children starting to dream and talking about it months ahead.  This year we are hoping to include 350 families from the Pre-school Forum with over 700 children to this amazing Christmas party!

To give our community a Christmas experience they will long remember we need your help.
Wee need:

• 700 Shoe boxes filled with age appropriate goodies like toiletries, clothing, sweeties and a small toy – relevant information about children is available, please contact us.
  
• 350 Food parcels including items like coffee or tea, sugar, pasta, tinned food, mealie meal, instant pudding, jelly. etc.
  
• The cost of the actual Christmas party is R 5,000.
  
•  Volunteers willing to come and share in the joy of our children and their families on 22 and 23 December.

Let’s make Christmas a time of giving, family and spreading the good news of Jesus…. The greatest gift!  To get involved, contact Rieneke at 012 3233344 or 083 2815711.

I often think a lot about this.  How can we measure emotional freedom? How can we measure the smile of a child when there’s so much pain in their eyes?  We cannot measure how they deal with the challenges they face, but we CAN measure how we go about giving them opportunities to tackle these challenges.  For 19 years running, the PEN Sea Camp has been making magic in the lives of our children.  The magic doesn’t lie in the project itself, but rather in the hands of ‘tannies’ baking rusks and cookies for our children.  Magic appears when a bakkie load of juice, sweeties and toiletries are dropped off at PEN for our children to take on the sea camp.  It lies in everyone that gives something, dreaming with PEN that our children have the potential to be valuable contributors to our communities and our country.  They get to see that they too are worthy in GOD’S eyes and that God loves them dearly in spite of their sometimes dire circumstances. 

The truth is that taking 120 children and 60 staff on a camp doesn’t come cheap.  Just think about it:  Accommodation costs about R 100,000.00 for 9 days, throw in transport to the cost of R70,000.00 and don’t forget that we need to fill our tummies at a cost of R 65,000.00.  These expenses already add up to R 235,000.00.  Then we haven’t touched the things that are needed to help our children make sense of their lives through clay, stationary, art and a bible to name only a few.  Let’s not forget an ice cream or maybe a beach ball or two.  The fact is, no cent raised is in vein.  Every rand someone gives, will make a lasting impression.  

The outcome?  This December 120 children will learn of Jesus through the hugs of caring PEN ‘ooms’ and ‘tannies’.  They will reach out and share to make the ‘hurt’ grow less and slowly get to taste emotional freedom.  They will hear of God’s dream that they will wake up to a new day filled with promise.  We invite you to come and make this experience a reality to our children.  R 1,800.00 will ignite a dream!  

Contact us at info@pen.org.za or call +27 (0)12 323 6688.  

PEN, ABSA Acc 020263385, Ref Sea Camp Fax proof of payment to 0865829014.

On the 26 September 2011, renovations will begin on the 1st floor of the Sediba House to build a brand new clinic called Sediba Hope Medical Centre. This clinic will provide comprehensive, high quality cost effective primary healthcare to people living and working within the inner city of Tshwane. The centre will be a one-stop facility that will offer medical consultations by appointment, phlebotomy and a pharmacy dispensary.  This clinic will benefit all people within our community; those who have a medical aid or their medical aid is exhausted due to high private costs, those who may be unwilling to spend a day at a public clinic in order to access treatment and are prepared to be cash and our community members that have no financial means to access medical services and will therefore be subsidised by the clinic income generating system.
 
Types of Services:

• Fully equipped and staffed facilities, including nurses, reception and administration staff
• On site pathology specimen collection services linked to external laboratory
• Medical consultations for minor ailments & the management of chronic diseases, in a holistic manner, taking into account all aspects of the health and well-being of each individual.
• Family planning and reproductive health
• Integrated HIV/AIDS program (including voluntary counselling and testing, ongoing monitoring, anti-retroviral treatment, immune building and education)
• Wellness Program for HIV positive patients who are not yet eligible for ARVs
• Paediatric services including HIV testing
• Pharmacy

 Our aim will be to have this clinic operating as from the 02 January 2012.
 
In addition to the renovations for the new Sediba Hope Medical Centre, a new community centre will be done build on the ground floor (i.e. existing hall stage and store rooms) which will be linked to the Sediba Hope Centre (old Sediba Hope Clinic).

You are invited to participate in the 11th annual Winterhoop project orchestrated by numerous churches and charity organisations.

The Winterhoop project is a collection of food, clothing and blankets during the winter to provide for the needy and poor. Participating organisations are:

• ACVV
• Badisa (NGK en VGK)
• Bloem shelter
• CMR Hoëveld
• CMR Noord
• CMR Oos Kaap
• CWR Oos Tvl
• Isinkwa Setheku (Brood vir Durban)
• Kerklike Maatskaplike Dienste OVS
• KZN Maatskaplike Dienste
• MES (Metro Evangeliese Sorg)
• MES Kaapstad
• MES PE
• Ned Herv kerk
• NG Welsyn Noord Kaap
• Ng Welsyn Noord Wes en Gauteng
• PEN
• Solidariteit Helpende Hand Fonds
• Straatwerk
• Suid Afrikaanse Vroue Federasie (SAVF)
• Vrystaat-Versorging in Aksie (ou VVO)

For more information regarding partners and drop-off points, download this document.

Media involved in marketing the event is Monitor en Spektrum, (RSG FM), Beeld, Volksblad, Burger, Burger Easter Cape, Rapport en Ontbytsake on KykNET.

Winterhoop is not primarily a fundraising project, however, participating and registered non-profit organisations benefited from financial contributions in the past, as they were directly contacted. These organisations have their separate banking details handy for possible contributions, however, a central Winterhoop bank account is used for donations and the proceeds will be equally divided between the Winterhoop participating organizations for execution of the project.

WINTERHOOP BANKING DETAILS
Account holder: Winterhoop
Bank: Absa Bank
Branch and code: Parktown 514 205
Account number: 906 892 5251

FOR QUESTIONS, QUERIES OR TO BECOME INVOLVED:
Thinus Schrage
Tel - (012) 323 6688
email - thinus@pen.org.za