"We've developed a campaign that centres on 'Bringing a smile to the faces of our grannies and grandpas'," said Janine van Stolk, director of Ikamva Labantu. "The idea behind the campaign is to raise the profile of our elders, focussing on the fact that they are our living libraries, the carriers of our histories, the carers of the nation's children and also to celebrate them. At the same time we will highlight some of the very real issues and challenges they face on a daily basis."
After all they were at the forefront of the struggle against apartheid and taught our mothers and fathers to care for and nurture us. Yet rather than enjoying their lives in retirement, they are a forgotten generation with many facing extraordinarily difficult conditions, especially within township communities. "For so many, elderly life presents a thousand reasons to cry - but at Ikamva Labantu we know we can also give them a thousand reasons to smile," said Van Stolk, "and we hope to do this with the help of the public. This is our campaign ambition."
The campaign, conceptualised by Prima Integrated Marketing, will be executed through several channels all aimed at highlighting the need to give the elderly a dignified and independent life - a reason to smile. "We are using emailers to selected external lists to reach potential supporters and donors," explained Velia Duncan of Prima. "This very direct medium gives us the space to tell our story and allows the reader to find out more about Ikamva Labantu and its seniors programme, and to donate with just one click through to the website. A campaign page and home page pop-up was designed for the current website and this also factors in a donation portal."
Other elements include social media content for Facebook and Twitter, a video for YouTube and the website, as well as print advertisements. "Independent Newspapers has generously given us free advertising space for a month in the Cape Times, Cape Argus, Weekend Argus and across all of their Cape Community Newspapers titles, so we expect that more than 50 adverts will appear during October," said Van Stolk. "We really hope that this will get us noticed." All of the above is being supported by a publicity campaign.
The Ikamva Labantu "Smiles" campaign might be about raising awareness and getting South Africans thinking about what their grandparents mean to them, but, finally, there is a call to action to help support those in need. For around R500 per month Ikamva Labantu supports a senior through its Senior Club models, which not only keep them active within their communities, but also offer an enormous support base. Currently, the organisation assists 17 clubs and over 540 elderly people across the township communities of the Cape, from Philippi through Khayelitsha to Fish Hoek. Founded and run by the seniors themselves, the clubs are open weekdays from 9am to 4pm and provide an interactive, stimulating programme of activities, as well as resources, transport and nutritious meals.
Statistics indicate there are over 5.5 million people aged 60 or older in South Africa. More than 90 percent of seniors live in township communities on government grants of just R1200 per month. Apart from having to support themselves they are increasingly becoming the sole breadwinners, second-generation parents and the core of the family township structure. They are often care givers of grandchildren, many of whom are orphaned through HIV and AIDS. Others are often neglected, abused, vulnerable to crime, susceptible to illness, frightened and lonely.
For more on the work being done by Ikamva Labantu and the "Help us make them smile" campaign, go to www.ikamva.org.za.
