Help S. African women build income & HIV awareness
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Updates from the Field:
Updates from the Field (or Progress Reports) on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.com by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
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Index of Updates from the Field
June 2008 Update
By Katherine Zavala - Coordinator of Programs, IDEX, June 04, 2008 09:53 PM
Story of Ms. B. Ngule, Hlomelikusasa’s Executive Member
Hlomelikusasa provides training in capacity building, which includes finding local resources to support community members’ projects. In addition, Hlomelikusasa offers training in skills development such as basic business and accounting skills to ensure a successful outcome for its trainees. Hlomelikusasa interviewed one of their trainees, Ms. Ngule, who spoke about their positive experience with Hlomelikusasa’s trainings. Due to her extensive experience with Hlomelikusasa, she was voted to become one of 5 women to represent her community in Hlomelikusasa’s executive committee.
This success story, told by Ms. B. Ngule, demonstrates how Hlomelikusasa supported her with training so she can start her own project: running drop-in centers.
“The first time I heard about Hlomelikusasa was during a meeting with Philippina Mabuntana (former Chairperson) in Mount Frere. She asked me how I was coping with my training programs. (Ms. Ngule trains local community members in HIV prevention) I told her I was still training people but I was struggling to get financial support from donors. She invited me to a Hlomelikusasa meeting where I was amazed to meet strong and confident rural women. They shared with me their progress and challenges they are facing in their projects.
Hlomelikusasa then announced that an external facilitator would facilitate a proposal-writing training. I became interested to join the organization and so, I attended the training. The information I got from the training was helpful, and as a result I applied to some funding organizations. Fortunately I received funding that would support HIV/AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in my community. We got funding to open two drop-in centers. The project is currently running and children are able to go schools with their new uniforms. When they come after school they pass by the drop-in centers for meals. Now, once a month they are receiving food parcels to take to their homes.”
March 2008 Update: Ms. K. Dlamini's Story
By Katherine Zavala - Program Coodinator, IDEX, March 07, 2008 05:52 PM
This story, told by Ms. K. Dlamini, shows the support she received from Hlomelikusasa empowered her and enabled her to find business opportunities along with her community members.
“I am a qualified dressmaker and years ago, I tried to form a group in my community but there was a lack of community members’ interest. I had lost hope when I met Hlomelikusasa in 1998 with the help of Ms Mkhize who explained to me how she got empowered by this organization. I attended their meetings and workshops where I was encouraged and realized that it was not only me who encountered lack of interest in the communities but that all groups had encountered this challenge. A group was finally formed in my community and we started working in small income-generating projects.
When the Social Worker in my area saw our work she introduced us to the cluster funding application where we received 8 sewing machines, sewing material, wood hut for sewing, two large containers for sewing material and for bakery thanks to the recommendation from Hlomelikusasa. After a while we went to six schools to get sewing contracts where we sew school uniforms and tracksuits for the students. The project is mostly busy during school, which reopens every January and winter.”
Hlomelikusasa plays a key role in assisting community groups in rural South Africa to start their own small businesses to become self-sustainable by providing training in small business skills development, basic bookkeeping, marketing and outreach as well as how to obtain government contracts (called tenders) to provide services to local government offices.
December 2007 Update
By Katherine Zavala - Coordinator of Programs, December 13, 2007 06:15 PM
In the local market of Ndwendwe District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, members of Hlomelikusasa recently met with several small business leaders from throughout the region who are interested in buying products sold by women who have been trained by Hlomelikusasa. As a result of this meeting, these women now sell vegetables from local community gardens, chickens they learned to raise after training workshops and supplies (including 300 baby chickens) provided by Hlomelikusasa, as well as beadwork that will be sold in the tourist markets in Durban.
One of these business leaders received a contract from the local government to cater events for local government meetings and made an agreement with Hlomelikusasa to buy all the necessary vegetables and poultry from the local market run by members from Hlomelikusasa.
Meanwhile, Hlomelikusasa is assisting a group of 10 women to build connections with vendors in Durban who sell traditional Zulu beadwork to tourists. These women do not have the resources to sell the products directly because of prohibitive transportation costs.
These are examples of how Hlomelikusasa helps facilitate local market opportunities to rural women who don’t have this access. They play a crucial role in connecting local women to opportunities they would otherwise not know about.
October 2007 Update
By Sarah Dotlich - Programs Officer, October 11, 2007 08:24 PM
Hlomelikusasa staff recently held HIV/AIDS awareness workshops in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. In these workshops Hlomelikusasa invited a representative from the Department of Health to help conduct the training. The representative introduced the programs of the Department to the participants. He thanked the crucial role played by the community-based organizations (CBO) and non-governmental organisation (NGO) in communities they live with. He emphasized the fact that the government initiatives will not succeed without mutual relationship that could be built together with community members.
As a result of the workshops, these women now know how to access local resources to get tested, to find out how they can qualify for Anti-Retroviral Treatment and where they can go for counselling.
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