Mandela Day 2018 at Harmonie Oord old age home in Sunnyside 18 July 2018

What do you get when you put wool, enthusiasm, skill and women together? Five beautiful blankets for charity!

Six staff members (Pfano Makhera, Magda Engelbrecht, Hilda Kriel, Diana Gerritsen, Johanna Shika and Marriette Tebogo Mapheto) participated in a crochet project to produce blankets for Mandela Day. Some were experts and taught interested colleagues, others taught themselves by watching YouTube videos. They regularly came together in the tearoom to discuss their progress and soon the colourful crocheted blocks were transformed into blankets.

This group identified Harmonie Oord old age home in Sunnyside as the recipient of these blankets. Harmonie Oord is a non-profit organization in Sunnyside providing accommodation for independent older persons with limited means, mainly state pensioners and others with a low income with no place to stay.  Most of its residents receive the SASSA (South Africa Social Security Agency) pension of R1 690 per month and have to pay their boarding fee of R1 375 per month, with the result that these retirees only have R315 per month for all their other necessities such as toiletries. The home is very dependent on donations to provide proper meals to their residents, as it doesn’t receive any grants from government. Harmonie Oord currently cares for 192 residents: 72 men and 120 women.

Library staff members were requested to donate toiletries such as toilet paper, toothpaste, magazines and cash as Harmonie Oord indicated that they were in dire need of such articles. Our campus partner Bookmark at UP was also approached and they generously donated a bar of soap, tube of toothpaste and a roll of toilet paper to each resident.

A number of staff members set off to Harmonie Oord old age home on Mandela Day, 18 July 2018 with their provisions of toiletries, coffee, tea and milk to meet the manager Marié Pienaar and her colleague Annette Smit Krijt. The donated items were formally handed over to the management team. The crocheted blankets were to be distributed among the few new residents. 

Marié Pienaar responded afterwards: “Thanks to all involved in this project. The residents of Harmonie Oord appreciate this donation. It was special to meet all the ladies. My office is full of the individual packets of toiletries for each of our 193 resident. It is always a pleasure to meet such caring people.”

The organizers would like to thank each library staff member who contributed so generously to our Harmonie Oord project for Mandela Day 2018! Also a special word of thanks to our campus partner Bookmark for their generous contribution.