Breakfast to raise funds for orphaned children

The Christina Swart-Opperman (CSO) Aids Orphan Foundation Trust's first fund raising event for the year will be a business breakfast themed 'Business cares' that will be held at the Safari Conference Centre on 11 April. The event has also been organised in coordination with members of the Namibia Cricket Board.

At the recent announcement of the Christina Swart-Opperman (CSO) Aids Orphan Foundation Trust fund raising breakfast, the Prosperity Group donated N$30000.The founder of the Trust Dr Christina Swart-Opperman stressed that “children in this situation need all possible assistance to cope effectively with their circumstances”. Francois Erasmus, the chairman of the Namibia Cricket Board, was also present.

Soli Philander, Irene van Wyk and the local choir of the Pashukeni Orphans and Vulnerable Childrens Kindergarten will provide entertainment while a cricket coaching clinic has also been lined up for the 10th, a day before the function. The main speaker at the business breakfast is Weza Moss, the community relations manager of Volkswagen in South Africa. A number of charity cricket games are also in the pipeline with proceeds benefiting the CSO Trust. These will be played on 11 April in the afternoon. The CSO Trust aims at uplifting and improving the quality of life of all Aids orphans in Namibia. Health services website, Avert.org, estimates that there are over 15 million orphans in the continent of which 80% live in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr Christina Swart-Opperman, the founder of the CSO Trust said, “It has been estimated by Avert.org and UNAIDS that the number of children orphaned by Aids will rise dramatically in the next 10 to 20 years, especially in southern Africa. “In Namibia we have a situation where 75% of all orphans are Aids orphans and that will prevail until 2021.” She said orphaned children needed all possible assistance to help them cope effectively with their circumstances. Francois Erasmus, the chairman of the Cricket Board, challenged other sporting codes to come up with similar activities and get involved in uplifting the lives of orphaned children.

13 teachers have been identified for the coaching clinic and it is envisaged that they will help take the sporting code to most vulnerable children.