Amy Biehl Foundation Trust
The Amy Biehl Foundation Trust is a not-for-profit organisation based in Cape Town, set up to commemorate Amy Biehl, a white American anti-apartheid activist who was killed by a black mob during racial violence in South Africa in 1993.
The foundation works to fulfil three rights in the South African Constitution: the right to education, the right to equal employment, and the right to health. The foundation's mission statement is "to weave a barrier against violence" and "to prevent youth violence through a holistic approach to community development in socio-economically disadvantaged communities in and around Cape Town."[1] It aims to do so by empowering the youths of the townships around Cape Town, mainly through after-school programs with activities like music, dance, drama, sports, crafts and HIV/AIDS peer education. These programs are running at several township-schools every afternoon, and in addition the foundation runs weekly activities outside the townships for some of the children, and they also have Saturday and Holiday programs. The Foundation is heavily dependent on donations for funding, but they are also trying to run some sustainability projects in order to get more reliable funding sources.
Linda Biehl, Amy's mother and a founder of the trust, speaks on the promise of restorative justice, and continues the work of the foundation. She was awarded the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo (bronze class) in 2008 by South African President Thabo Mbeki.[2]
Two of the four men convicted for Biehl's murder, Easy Nofemela and Ntobeko Peni, have since reconciled with her parents,[3] and are now working for the Foundation in South Africa.[4]
Footnotes
- ^ Amy Biehl Foundation (South Africa)
- ^ Bathandwa Mbola. "South Africa honours Linda Biehl", SouthAfrica.info, 23 April 2008.
- ^ "Amy's Story", CBS News, 1999, 2000.
- ^ The Forgiveness Project: Linda Biehl and Easy Nofemela