The Abraham Kriel Bambanani is an NPO that provides care and skills development for traumatised children and youth within Johannesburg. However, over the years, the Maria Kloppers campus has been affected by the high crime rate within the Bellevue area and required additional resources to ensure the safety and quality of care for the children were upheld.
Creating an environment where children feel safe is no easy task. Abraham Kriel Bambanani places great emphasis on the empowerment and development of these children so that they are able to reach their fullest potential. In this day and age, empowerment and development is almost impossible without the use and implementation of technology.
In February last year, Rectronās business to business team of Daniel Leshaba and Stefan Hopley worked with the Maria Kloppers Campus in Johannesburg, a division of Abraham Kriel Bambanani. They were very moved by the work that the home is doing for the children in care at this facility. They proposed that Rectron donate and install a state of the art VIVOTEK security surveillance system to assist the home to monitor babies and children on theĀ campus and to keep them safe.
The childrenās home, which houses over 50 children, is situated on large grounds, that are difficult for security officers to patrol.Ā Break-ins at the church and ECDC next to the campus occurred on a regular basis, with the points of entry impossible to locate.
Outside areas around the houses were also not monitored and bicycles were often stolen from the back yards, with house mothers putting themselves at risk to go outside and investigate these thefts. On the playgrounds, incidents such as bullying were also occurring between the children, which were difficult to resolve and prevent in the future without sufficient information.
Technology improving safety
Technology and more specifically, access to technology was already a growing need for the organisation. To improve safety on the campus, Rectron opted to install the IB9360-H surveillance system from the VIVOTEK value series.
With a sleek design, the surveillance camera has a suite of features, which can be accessed through any web browser and would provide staff with a number of tools that they could use to create a safer environment for the children.
The surveillance system can act as a standalone recording device or in this case record video data to the VIVOTEK Network Video Recorder (NVR). The NVR offers a secure place for the video footage to be stored and made available to live view or playback footage for campus staff, whether accessed locally or via a network remotely.
The interface is made up of three main parts, the Live view, Playback, and the NVR settings which can be easily navigated with a single click of a mouse. The Live view offers features such as multiple camera views on one screen or switching between different views at selected times. The Playback function enables staff to view past events or incidents, while the SMART SEARCH function highlights a specific scene with thumbnails of all movement in that area over the time of your search.
The results
This feature rich solution resulted in numerous safety benefits while providing full visibility of the campus.
Being able to act on incidents of inappropriate behaviour with video evidence has had a significant impact on the childrenās lives. Many incidents of bullying were identified through the camera system and were dealt with in the appropriate manner, restoring trust and building a healthier social environment for the children.
Before the installation, it was difficult to monitor the quality of care given to the babies or identify development areas for staff to improve on.Ā With the installation of the cameras, the quality of care has significantly improved as video footage is now being used to correct behaviour and train both old and new employees.
The cameras have also served as a crime deterrent, with one scenario involving an intruder who gained access to the grounds being successfully identified and reported to the South African Police Service.
Annamart Viljoen, Social Funding Developer of the Abraham Kriel Bambanani said, “Our children and staff at our Maria Kloppers campus feel extra safe now thanks toĀ Rectron South Africa. They went beyond the call of duty to have security cameras and equipment supplied and installed across the campus. Our children and staff can now go about their daily duties and sleep better at night knowing that they are safe. Thank you, Rectron South Africa,Ā for being ourĀ guardian angels!ā
