Cape Town - Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine SA (HCW4PSA) in collaboration with Gift of the Givers (GoTG) will be hosting an evening of comic relief for a good cause, as it launches its Ubuntu Bucket Drive campaign on Mandela Day.
A comedy show with performances by Riaad Moosa and Zayn Sibda (Prof Zee) is scheduled to take place on July 18 from 7pm to 9.30pm at the Venue on Par, Wynberg, marking the official campaign launch.
HCW4PSA Western Cape events head Dr Samah El Boraei said the Ubuntu Bucket Drive aims to provide monthly care packs to local hospitals in South Africa and are designed for malnourished patients discharged from the hospital, who often have minimal supplies at home after a prolonged hospital stay.
“We are inspired by the sumud (steadfastness) of the Palestinian people during this genocide and recall our own ubuntu spirit under the brutal apartheid regime. We also remember Madiba this Mandela Day, who taught us that tackling poverty is not a gesture of charity, it is an act of justice and as South Africans we will never truly be free while there is so much poverty and inequality in our communities.”
The Ubuntu Buckets will be filled with nutritious non-perishable foods and toiletries, able to sustain a family of four for a month.
Western Cape events head Nazreena Hassim said the aim was for the initiative to be an ongoing long-term project in collaboration with GoTG.
Hassim said they are aiming to start distribution in August, starting with regional hospitals in the Western Cape.
GoTG will handle the packaging and distribution of the Ubuntu Buckets to the designated hospitals.
In February, the organisations partnered for a campaign in remembrance of the more than 13 000 Palestinian children killed in Gaza at the time, by the Israel Defense Forces.
The organisations raised more than R1.7 million and purchased 13 000 pairs of school shoes distributed to children in need across South Africa.
Tickets for the show can be purchased via Quicket (Mandela Day Comedy Evening) at R260 and contributions for the Ubuntu Bucket Drive can be made via BackaBuddy (Ubuntu Bucket Drive) www.backabuddy.co.za/ campaign/ubuntu-bucket-drive~2.
While the buckets are valued at R550, any amount can be sponsored via the BackaBuddy campaign link or deposited into the GoTG account.
Gift of the Givers, Standard Bank, Pietermaritzburg Account number 052137228, Branch Code 057525, Reference Ubuntu.
shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za
Cape Argus