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Saturday Fun Day

In early 2007, Nazira Cachalia introduced us to Khulisa, an organization that offers a diversion program for young offenders. It was suggested that the children spend one or two days of their program at CLAW. We saw this as a wonderful opportunity to introduce animals into their lives. On completion of the program, many of the children continue to come to us on Saturdays. With the dedicated help of volunteers Gayle Ramsey, Corris Steed, Sue White, Dennis Farrel, Barbara Hammerschlag and her dog Rupert, Saturdays became "the Saturday Fun Day".

In June 2007, we were alerted to another group of youngsters who were found to be kicking a dog to death in Emndeni, Soweto. The dog had strayed into a yard and the kids were ‘getting rid’ of it as an elder told them. We decided to include them in the fun day and brought them to the clinic to introduce them to our activities. They learned basic dog training, T-Touch (a form of massage), first aid and even cooking!

We saw a marked change in their behaviour towards animals from the first session. The dog that they had attacked was healing and we brought him in and did a circle workshop with the kids. The training was focused on why humans and animals are similar. At the end of the circle, they each apologized to the dog and made a promise never to behave that way towards any living animal or person ever again. The dog was rehomed and is now living a life of luxury.

This year, we have decided to continue with the fun days but every second Saturday. We will continue the fun activities, pet care education and other workshops.

Last Year's Activities Included:

Themba Radebe from Associated Press talked to the kids about press photography

A team of hair and makeup artists demonstrated their skills

Roodepoort Fire Department provided a first aid course

Rand Merchant bank sponsored 30 tickets to see Lion King at Monte Casino

Barbara Hammerschlag and her dog Rupert visited regularly

The TTouch practitioners did workshops with the kids and the dogs

A country estate provided a day out for the kids with horse and tractor rides, swimming and lunch

The Botanical gardens took them on a guided walk through a nearby nature reserve.
CEEP (Community Environmental Education Programme) and the JGI's Roots and Shoots Program provided further environmental education

Kids painted and created their own tyre gardens

Various craft making days were presented. The kids made Christmas cards and Christmas tree decorations as well as bead jewellery

Wishlist for fun day

Craft day – crafts needed like: candles, beads, paint, coloured card, glitter, glue as well as volunteers to teach crafting skills

Lunches, drinks and snacks for 30 kids each Saturday

Supervised outings to places of interest. This includes museums, swimming pools, theatres, nature reserves and obviously bus fare

Volunteers with specialized skills that can be taught to the kids

T-shirts/caps for the kids with a Fun Day/CLAW kids logo

Get Involved

This initiative is for companies or businesses to become personally involved with the upliftment of our youth. Your company team can plan various fun activities and talks for the kids and provide lunch, cold drinks and snacks for the day. The day will go from about 9am to 2pm. This will allow the kids to be exposed to different forms of education from different fields, and provide the opportunity for team building exercises within your company.