Adoption Conference 2014

The theme of the 2014 conference was Adoption & Culture, used it as an opportunity to explore culturally relevant and accessible approaches to adoption and child protection strategies in South Africa. There were a range of fascinating speakers and panel discussions from the National Adoption Coalition and associated child protection communities. See below for a list of topics and speakers.

Dates: 4 & 5 November (Day 1: 8:30-17:30, Day 2: 8:30-12:30)
Venue: Birchwood Hotel & Conference Centre (right next to OR Tambo Airport)

AT THE CONFERENCE

Keynote Speaker: Shekhinah Donnell- My Journey

Ms. Donnell was a Top Ten Finalist on SA Idols, season 8 in 2012. She is an adoptee and has credited her father with providing the support she needed to make it as a finalist while also preparing for her matric examinations, which she passed with exemption.

Topics and Speakers. Click on the underlined link to download the powerpoint presentations.

Adoption and Culture in South Africa: A National DSD Policy Perspective–Rose Mnisi

Ms. Mnisi is a representative of the Department of Social Development.

Abandonment and Unplanned Pregnancy in South Africa: Abandonment Research– Luke Lamprecht

Mr. Lamprecht is the monitoring and evaluation manager for Johannesburg parent Child Counselling Centre. He is also the Chief Operational Officer, trainer and supervisor of the Art Therapy Centre. He is a long standing advocate for Child protection and as such is a convenor for the Johannesburg Child Advocacy Forum; Legal advocacy spokesperson for Women and Men Against Child Abuse and Development officer for the Shaken and Abused Baby Initiative.

Abandonment and Unplanned Pregnancy in South Africa: Focus on Crisis Pregnancy – Dee Blackie

Ms. Blackie is a strategic business and brand consultant with extensive experience on Pan-African and Global protects. She holds a Bachelors of Journalism from Rhodes University, and a Masters in Social Anthropology from the University of the Witwatersrand. Dee assisted in the formation of the National Adoption Coalition in 2011 and has since worked as a consultant to the organisation on special projects. She recently completed her master’s degree in anthropology, her research and thesis explored the challenge of child abandonment and adoption in urban South Africa.

Legal Road Bumps in Adoption – Carina du Toit

Ms Du Toit is currently an attorney at the Centre for Child Law. She has BA LLB from the University of Stellenbosch and an LLM (Child Law) from the University of Pretoria. She is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa with right of appearance in the High Court and an extraordinary lecturer at the University of Pretoria’s Law Faculty.

A Culturally Relevant Approach to Adoption – Chriselda Bunu

Ms. Bunu is an adoption social worker for Johannesburg Child Welfare.

Culturally Relevant Approach to Adoption Screening – Priscilla Gerrand

Ms. Gerrand is a lecturer in Social Work at the University of Witwatersrand. She is currently completing her PHD: Adoption Non-biological Children: Factors Affecting the Decision Making Process of Black South Africans.