Child Welfare South Africa goes green

Hosted by Avallon Hotels and Suites and Environfriendly Buidling Solutions (EBS) Worldwide, the launch of the CWSA Goes Green Campaign marks a bold bid by CWSA's to extend its fight against child abuse and child poverty to include a safe and healthy environment for children.

According to Ashley Theron, National Executive Director of CWSA, the aim of the campaign is three-fold:

• To address child poverty through the creation of vegetable gardens/tunnels;
• To make children aware of the importance of their environment; and
• To campaign for South Africa to be a country fit and safe for children.

Theron says CWSA will join forces with a number of environmental bodies in South Africa to promote environmental awareness amongst children, address poverty and strongly advocate that no child in South Africa should go to bed without food. “CWSA will continue to strive towards creating a safe and caring environment for children, an environment in which children can grow and develop into healthy young adults.”

The campaign is a natural extension of work CWSA is already committed to. The colour green, a symbol of conservation, growth, life and hope, was adopted by CWSA in its support and participation of the national green ribbon campaign. Here people are encouraged to wear a green ribbon as a sign of a personal commitment to child protection.

Tanya Visser, well known gardening personality welcomed the initiative and thanked CWSA for appointing her as CWSA's first Green Champion. Her key role, says Visser, will be to identify tangible projects for children to learn more about the environment and to appreciate the many blessings of nature.

“As a start CWSA, in partnership with Chemcity and other CWSA and green industry partners, will address child poverty head-on by making vegetable tunnels accessible to various communities, schools, ECD Centres and Child and Youth Care Centres (Children's Homes),” says Visser.

Theron also confirmed that Gardenex, entering the 17th year of being the leading Gardening consumer show in the country, has nominated CWSA as their beneficiary of choice for Gardenex 2010.

“A large majority of South African children continue to live in poverty and an extraordinary high number of child abuse cases are being reported on a daily basis. I have no doubt that the CWSA Goes Green Campaign will make a significant contribution to reclaim a safe and healthy environment for all our children,” says Theron.

Mortimer Harvey is CWSA's pro-bona marketing agency and continuously looks for opportunities to increase awareness around CWSA's much needed initiatives.