Projects
Tshwaranang is involved in a range of projects. Below you can find out about three of these.
We also love to work with other charities and government bodies to help them realise their aims, and, through working together, grow an even greater strength within communities.
Hope House
Hope House is an childrens’ home operated by Tshwaranang. Usually home to 25-30 children, we first opened in 2004, and have been going strong since then.
With children anywhere from birth until the age of 16, Hope House feeds, clothes and homes everyone in its diverse family. And, of course, when they are old enough, our carers send them to school each day (regardless of how much they want to go!). With our new social worker, Vanessa, we have finally started placing children in homes, the ultimate goal with all our wards.
Sadly, there are children living with HIV positive status in the house, but happily we have been able to establish ARV therapy for them. So far, all of them have responded very well to treatment, and we hope they will be with us for a long time further.
If you wish to find out more about Hope House, please visit www.hopehouse.co.za.
Good News Project
One of our newest projects, this is a project led by Freedom Ministries of Harrismith. They have been given an ‘open door’ into Mokgolokoeng by the village leader; Chief Moloi. The community is extremely underdeveloped, with poor provision of water and electricity, no sewerage, and no paved roads.
There are many exciting initiatives beginning in the village, including essential life skills teaching for children, adult literacy and education, income generating agricultural projects and church/community events.
Alongside the spiritual and social development approach, Tshwaranang, together with Freedom, are aiming to improve other services, including health care, HIV and AIDS awareness, improved water supply, and most ambitiously, a community centre, with centralised services and resources for all inhabitants.
Child Care Forums
An amazing charity in our area – the Maluti Child Care Project – runs 7 feeding kitchens, semi-permanent structures where, on average, 2,100 children are fed every day. Without these kitchens, many parents on the poverty line would not be able to fully provide for the needs of their children; it is a vital provision for the community.
The staff who work in the containers are paid an additional stipend by Tshwaranang, to provide information and reports on children in the community. This allows us to identify needs and problems within the community.
These workers comprise the Child Care Forums, one in each ward, and these are maintained by our charity, providing essential feedback, both about the services being provided and the children themselves.
Vegetable Tunnels
Many people living in our local townships do not have any methods to generate income. There is a scarcity of jobs, and often they are many kilometres away, inaccessible for those who do not have transport.
We have been involved with vegetable tunnels since 2004. Vegetable tunnels are sustainable projects, where a tunnel is built from plastic or metal piping and bird-proof netting. They are then used to grow vegetables, and the proceeds sold, providing income, and the means to purchase more seeds. The aim is for them to be owned and operated by the community, with little outside input aside from the initial set up costs.
Although some have not prospered, due to adverse weather conditions, or the schools or individuals not taking ownership of the project, we have seen many large crops of food; tomatoes and spinach have been particularly successful, shared amongst the community, or generating money for families.
We are currently informally supervising 10 government purchased tunnels. Local toll and empowerment organisation, the N3TC provides training and resources, and we assist where we can with transport and marketing (and occasional hard labour from our CEO Danell).