Mari Maurstad og Zuluffader-2017

31/03/2020

Prizewinner Mari Maurstad with the children.

Zulufadder was established by Norwegian actress Mari Maurstad (in the rear, with red hat) after a holiday she spent in South Africa 12 years ago. Zulufadder is a private sponsorship organization that started with support from Mari's friends and acquaintances, strengthened by Mari's great drive and desire to help children in the region of Zululand. Today, it has registered more than 1,000 godparents in Norway and elsewhere in the world. Zulufadder is an ideal (non-profit) organization, created to meet the needs of disadvantaged children in South Africa.

Zulufadder helps vulnerable children who have lost their parents as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa, or are disadvantaged for other reasons. Zulufadder operates in the rural areas around Eshowe in Zululand, which is located approximately 150 km north of Durban on the east coast of South Africa. The 1,000 children today supported by godfathers, live in 500 families in the Eshowe area. These families are headed by parents, grandparents, relatives or other community members.

Today, the project has grown from being a supper kitchen to a multifaceted operation that ensures that the children receive food, counseling, medical treatment, education, self-development, sports, housing and self-help.

Gathered in front of the famous landmark at North Cape: Prizewinner Mari Maurstad (with The Children of the Earth statuette) flanked (left) by her son Aslak and Children of the Earth chairwoman Kristin Rivelsrud Juul Møller. To Maurstad’s right stand Nick Philips, Popi Buthelezi, Jannicke Rotwitt and Silvia Hellesvik, all with ties to Zulufadder. In front (right) smiles Lulu, who attends 4th grade at Gratton school, and who met the children of Magerøya island and experienced snow, reindeer and midnight sun. Photo: Christian N.B. Christensen.

Zulufadder operates three kindergartens which include activities like libraries, meals, aftercare, homework, food parcel distribution, clinics and cultural and sporting activities. In addition, Zulufadder encourages sustainability through the development of handcraft, vegetable gardens, chicken poultry and skill training.

Zulufadder also supports children who go to regular schools in the country, and also run its own school named Gratton. Thanks to long-term efforts, Zulufadder is helping more and more children to reach high school and even university level.

The financing of Zulufadder takes place primarily through sponsors in the form of godfathers. They pay for food and schooling to a particular child to whom they have been assigned.

On the website www.zulufadder.no, sponsors can log in and read about the child they help. In addition to general information about the organization, there are also facts about the various projects that have been started. Read more on www.zulufadder.no

The board of The Children of Earth Foundation regards Zulufadder with Mari Maurstad at the helm as a very worthy winner of The Children of Earth Prize for 2017.

The prize award ceremony took place at North Cape on June 7th. Mari Maurstad and several other representatives of Zulufadder in Norway and South Africa were present, along with one of the children cared for in Zululand. As usual, some 500 students from schools all over Magerøya island attended the event.