While the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund has been criticised over time, and the public perceptions of the Lotto have been less than favourable, MaAfrika Tikkun would like to register our appreciation to the National Lottery for their positive work in the community.

While the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund has been criticised over time, and the public perceptions of the Lotto have been less than favourable, MaAfrika Tikkun would like to register our appreciation to the National Lottery for their positive work in the community.

The fund (NLDTF) recently awarded us R10 million for the 2008-2009 financial year. This money will be used to further improve infrastructure development in communities plagued by poverty, high HIV-Aids levels and circumstances of extreme depravity for children.

This work would be impossible without the support of the trust, which enables organisations such as MaAfrika Tikkun to continue to provide essential services such as building community infrastructure, capacity building , skills and early childhood development facilities.

The trust remains a valuable and active partner of our programmes nationally and their ongoing support and interest in the programmes enables us as an indigenous non-government organisation to continue to provide relief.

So far we have been able to:

lBuild three centres in Diepsloot that consist of an early childhood development facility, a youth multimedia facility and a health administration which will be opened before the end of the year;

lBuild an early childhood development centre in Orange Farm;

lProvide more than 2000 meals every day nationally for orphans and vulnerable children and their families in townships;

lProvide home-based care to more than 1 000 patients nationally;

lSupport and care for more than 1600 orphans and vulnerable children;

lProvide HIV-Aids camps for orphans and vulnerable children, who then have the opportunity to integrate with children from more privileged backgrounds.

In the Western Cape, we provide more than 1700 youth from 20 schools with accredited life skills training.

We believe this kind of partnership, set on clear goals indicates how NGOs, together with communities and funders, can make a difference in uplifting, transforming and building communities capable of sustaining themselves.

Marc Lubner, chief executive: MaAfrika Tikkun, Johannesburg