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By Louise | Managing Director
Avuxeni, Minjane? Umfekile Minjani!
Two weeks ago I was speaking to an Induna named Fred, from one of the villages we work with, and he, as a traditional leader, was raving about the work we were doing in his village. He had seen the changes and experienced the impact first hand. He was excited to tell me all about the changes and the impact it was having on the community as a whole. Changes he didn’t think were possible.
Induna Fred spoke about the way in which the SHG groups over the last 3yrs were increasing in number in his village and for him this meant they ladies groups were squeezing out the macherones (money lenders). This meant the more criminal element was being pushed out of the village. They no longer had customers.
He was watching women in particular go from begging their neighbours for food, to ladies who had started small businesses and were able to add to the local economy. People were looking more encouraged and even the level of peace in the community had improved. Often he was called to settle arguments and fights between couples which were based on money, or lack there off, and so he believed the work we are doing was directly affecting marriages and restoring harmony in the homes.
Induna Fred also believed that the ladies were directly responsible for and increase of peace in the communities and the removal of more criminals through establishing Community Policing Forums, they advocated and demanded training by the police and established a Community Watch type set up. Now the local criminals have been chased out of the village and no longer are people afraid of being mugged or their homes robbed. Responsible adults patrol the communities in the evening and nights, they meet the taxis that arrive late which hold workers from Tzaneen, and escort particularly the lady’s home to their doors. Others do so in the mornings when the workers have to go to work before sunup which is when they are most vulnerable.
Induna Fred also spoke about how the women banded together and demanded the municipality repair the boreholes supplying the village, he had been trying for more than 6yrs to get the municipality to do their job, and these ladies went orderly and respectfully to the municipality and just refused to leave until they had a committment regarding repairs. They didnt burn down or cause any damage the way so many other times service delivery strikes happen, they just demanded the service, which was a real eye opener to many people. They go the job done!
He also proudly spoke about how after training with KTD196, he was taking on children’s issues seriously and had started a Junior Community Committee to hear about the children’s issues concern the community and how he as the headman could help address these issues but also to be an information conduit to the adult Community Committee, so that children’s issues were no longer ignored. Our scouts participate actively in this project and their concerns are being listened to seriously.
Another impact which I observed is that people are caring more for each other, people in the villages are volunteering their time and energies on behalf of others. From a Health Education and Health Promotion perspective this is wonderful. Volunteering was killed by the ANC government 20yrs ago by introducing stipends to volunteers, volunteering became a job, so if there was no financial incentive, people didn’t volunteer. To see the return of volunteerism to me is just wonderful. I understand that people who live below the poverty line need assistance, don’t get me wrong, but their willingness to help others for mahala (nothing) other than personal satisfaction is just incredible. Real change is being affected and you are a part of this whole thing. You need to celebrate the affect your donation is having on the lives of whole communities. Currently we work into 26different villages with different levels of impact and this is just one.
Thank you for walking this walk with us and for being a part of real change.
Blessings
Louise
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By Louise | Managing Director
By Louise | Managing Director
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