STORY Sessions

COVID19 in Durban: How can I help?

We had the privilege of listening to stories over the last couple of days from some of the communities in our city who are particularly vulnerable at this time (see the FB Live Sessions on our feed if you missed it - we interviewed Theogene Tito Haguma (refugees/asylum seekers), Monique Michal Marks (people who use drugs/homeless people), Raymond Perrier (homeless people) and Patrick Ndlovu and Richard Dobson from Asiye Etafuleni Asiye eTafuleni (informal traders). Based on what they have shared with us - here is how you can help:

1. Food Vouchers for Refugees
Tito mentioned that there are refugees and asylum seekers who are “falling through the cracks” of assistance provided at the moment. As Story Sessions we would love to help Tito and his colleagues provide these individuals and families with food vouchers of R350 each. If you would like to donate towards these food vouchers, you can do it by doing an EFT to the following account (The account belongs to Vicky Simpson- a Story Sessions team member and colleague of Tito’s - they will be coordinating and implementing this initiative together):

Name: V.A. Simpson
Bank: First National Bank
Account number: 62062648335
Branch code: 210717
Please use the reference: SS Refugees

2. Creative and Other Goods for Shelters for Homeless People
Monique mentioned that any creative materials would be welcome for people to capture and express their experiences and stories of their time in the lockdown shelters. Other items needed as well are magazines, plastic chairs for support group meetings, as well as cellphones and airtime. If you, or someone you know has a business that can support in one of these respects, please contact us at [email protected] or Monique at [email protected].

3. You can support the Denis Hurley Centre, by following and sharing stories on their page https://web.facebook.com/DenisHurleyCentre/ Financial contributions can be made on Zapper (see the QR code on their page) or to their bank account:

Bank - FNB
Account Name - Denis Hurley Centre
Trust Account Number - 62204261002
Branch Code - 222126
Use your COVID plus your name as reference. Contact [email protected] if you need more details.

You can also support their award-winning StreetLit Durban project during Lockdown. All of the vendors are observing lockdown and are thus not able to earn currently, but Anivesh Singh from Micromega Publications has come up with the innovative idea to make a selection of their books available online: www.madeinchatsworth.co.za.

4. You can support Asiye Etafuleni (https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Non-Governmental-Organization--NGO-/Asiye-Etafuleni-194869947213098/) in their work with and alongside the informal traders in our city by donating funds towards personal protection kits for informal traders such as face masks and shields, sanitizers, hand-wash stations. Their banking details are:

Bank - Nedbank
Account number - 9015206764 (Savings)
Branch code - 720026
Please use your name and “Story Sessions” as reference for the payment.