2019 – Update

HOKISA:  will receive a Grant of $10,000.00 for 2020  TIAS ARMS and HOKISA have a long and rich history together.  This group home receives abandoned or orphaned infants and children and raises them until they are high school graduates, if need be.  Little ones still arrive infected with HIV but the support they receive enables almost all of them to reach adult life and thrive, thanks to the staff’s constant vigilance.  HOKISA is well-known and its founders recently spoke at a world-wide HIV/AIDS conference.

TIAS ARMS’ grant funds transportation to and from school, food, clothing, and related items.  Without our grant, HOKISA would function on a very restricted budget.

 

Update December 2018

Phillip Lutz van Dijk was on tour in Europe earlier this year talking about HOKISA, which he co-founded, and the plight of children in South Africa.  His presentations were very well received!

HOKISA cares for up to 20 children whose parents and extended family cannot do so because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  The children range from toddlers to teens.  HOKISA also provides AIDS awareness education and other outreach to the larger community. TIAS ARMS has supported them for over fifteen years, providing funding for caregivers, food, and clothing.  This year we were able to fully fund their proposal for $10,000.

They wrote: Thank you so much for your support towards Hokisa. It is really making an enormous positive impact on the children and keeps us as a team motivated to do our job more efficiently.

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You are supporting our homework teaching program, which provides the salary for our homework teacher Ann Barge. Our kids meet in the study room every afternoon from Monday to Thursday.

We are now focused on healthy lunches. We are even more strict than in the past – not only no more sweets are allowed at school, we even reduced cool drinks which contain too much sugar. Our team tries to replace as much as possible with healthy food like fresh veggies and fruit.

It is important to let everybody know that the serious water crisis in the Western Cape and especially in Cape Town is under control for now. Like all citizens we were very worried how to survive once so-called “Day Zero” might happen – no more drinking water via taps. We at HOKISA rebuilt a groundwater pump and a water collection tank. All washing water was reused for the toilets.

Dr Lutz van Dijk
July, 2018

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Dear Joanne and Friends at TIAS ARMS,

We greet you with warmth and immense gratitude in our hearts. When we look at HOKISA, at the children in our care, at the staff, and at our new Peace House, we know that it is your generosity that has made it all possible. The best news from HOKISA is that all the children are well and are all growing fast! I just had to take them off to buy new summer sandals. That was quite an undertaking, but fortunately the local shops all have a soft spot for our kids, which make such expeditions a lot of fun.

We have also installed bigger beds in the nursery, as the little ones have outgrown their cots and were trying to use them as racing and bumper cars while they were supposed to be having a mid-morning nap. They have very solid new beds now and some of our neighbors with babies were very happy to take the old cots off our hands.

Currently, we have started a program to keep the children busy during the school holidays, as daycare is often challenging for families. Among our volunteers there is a music teacher who does excellent work with the kids and now a dance teacher who provides a wonderfully energetic outlet for their exuberance. They love their dance classes on Friday afternoons in the youth hall of the new Peace House.

Many thanks to you all and may the peace and tranquility of the holiday season be with you and your families. With warm regards from the whole HOKISA Team,

Karin