Wow! Our appeal here and via email for funds to complete the Ekwaluseni school library in Woodford raised $750 almost overnight. Thank you for your generosity, from us and the Philakahle staff. Some day we'll be able to show you pics of the functioning library, and it'll be interesting to see what kind of books will be available.
I'll add some photos of other projects mentioned in the last post, and some from today. We had a short external tour of the only hospital in the Okhahlamba region, a small place serving 150,000 Zulu people spread out over a huge area. It's in a beautiful setting, if anyone with nursing/medical skills is searching for a place to volunteer...
Our host was Monika, the Alberta-raised woman I mentioned yesterday. She's a key person for the World Vision efforts here, and a long involvement with the Comart foundation. She focuses on supporting children and families through projects such as training hundreds of home care workers who work with families to enhance health and family functioning, from pregnancy support to garden planting. We saw the start of a meeting of maybe 50 of them, and they began by singing. Incredible, some of the best spontaneous harmony you could ask for, stamping, clapping, dancing and VOLUME - such energy! Why can't our staff meetings be like that?
Lots of good work being done here, and plenty of food for thought. It's not always easy knowing how to spark projects that will last and grow. Many people have alluded to the culture of entitlement that happens in an area like this that's very poor, unemployed, and used to receiving handouts, resulting in some well-meaning development projects that wither when the initial funding dries up, or the external staff goes away. Community driven projects and building on existing skills and assets is vital, but it seems to take a lot of hand-holding. But there are lots of entrepreneurial and industrious people here too, and success stories.
Aside from the hospital, the other pics are from another training centre for women, a primary school across the road from it, and the beading collective mentioned yesterday.
No comments:
Post a Comment