We continue to provide monthly food parcels to a handful of OVC (orphans and vulnerable children), in addition to clothes, blankets and the odd school uniforms in very needy situations. We currently have 13 families on our books, with a total of 27 children. We aim to increase this group next year, funding permitting.
The number dropped from 23 at the beginning of the year, as some are now receiving govt. grants, or have relocated. One or two have dropped out of school, which also disqualifies them. We do our best to follow up the school dropouts, to try and encourage them to continue with their studies, but it is difficult. One of the boys, Hlalanathi, has promised he will continue next year, so we will keep a close eye on him. A young girl, who had a baby in September, has likewise promised to return to school next year. We will also be monitoring the baby’s progress. Fortunately her twin sister is still eligible for food parcels, and it appears that the father of the baby does help support her.

The facilities at the soup kitchen continue to improve. Pat Merrick and Gavin Hayhoe paved a very muddy section between Nokuthula’s house and the kitchen. The roof of Nokuthula’s house has been replaced, using discarded BMR sheets, and the property has been fenced off to keep cattle out. Gavin also had to do some urgent repair work on the kitchen floor, which was rotting, having erroneously been covered in lino. (not a good idea for a wooden floor apparently!)
Pat built a beautiful sturdy new toilet, and the old one was dismantled and filled in.
Ronald McLelland produced and fitted a cage to house the gas cylinders outside the kitchen, and had the 2 gas rings serviced and mended – courtesy A A Gas.
Rotary has given us two rain tanks, and thanks to Gavin and Pat, they were installed, and gutters attached to the relevant buildings. As I write, the rain is falling – at last, after a long wait for the spring rains, and the tanks are filling.
Last, but not least, we now have a beautiful wooden shelter for the children. It has been a struggle to cope in adverse weather conditions, but now they can eat in comfort. Again our thanks to Pat, for providing the planks from his farm, and for the backbreaking work of preparing the ground, throwing the concrete floor and then erecting the shelter. Thank you Gavin for stepping in to assist. We really appreciate what the two of you have done to improve the facilities.

We continue to receive generous quantities of wonderful nourishing and delicious soup from the folk at Amber Valley, plus all sorts of other donations of food, clothing and money. Our grateful thanks to all concerned, and especially Lyn James.

She also coordinates everything, and does a fantastic job recruiting donors, and generally promoting the soup kitchen. When she is away, Hillary Vickers steps in, and our grateful thanks to her and her husband Ted.

Others who continue to support us or have helped us in the past include:
- Country Lane B & B - 2 double gas rings, blankets etc., and lots of fresh eggs in the past
- Upper Umgeni Presbyterian Church - clothes, blankets, books etc
- Howick Seventh Day Adventist church – food items and clothing
- Rotary for our fridge/freezer, 2 rain tanks, toys for Christmas and food parcels.
- Groundcover/Amanda - clothes
- Carol Dalling, Wendy Godfrey - gifts of clothes and toys
- Sandra and John Turner of Merrivale – sharing the first fruits of their wonderful vegetable crops.
- Happiness Project – lots of clothes, blankets etc
- Ronald McLelland – food, blankets, transport, maintenance
- Curry Den - bunny chows for the soup kitchen one cold and rainy day
- Howick Community church - clothes
- Sharon from Bridges of Hope – for sharing their abundant gifts of food
- Lions River Polo Club Social Committee for inviting the orphans to their annual Christmas party, and the wonderful generous mums who bring along the most beautiful gifts and eats to share. They have an absolute ball!
- Nondumiso Mbhele, Client Services Officer Mediclinic Howick - hosting the soup kitchen Christmas party to be held at ACAT
- ACAT - the use of their hall

What we cannot use for the project we give out to the needy families in the informal settlement, or sometimes we sell unwanted items to help raise funds.

Then there are people who make sure that our bank account never runs dry, and even though there are times when we seem to be perilously close to a nil balance, the
Lord always provides. Very special thanks to the following:
- Allison and Marjolijn in Holland,
- Fiona Hayhoe-Weiland, Melanie Sowerby, Steffi and Jurgen Domscheit in Bonn
- John Porter and Michaelhouse Chapel fund in the Midlands
- Patsy Deane, Helen McClean, Dorrie and Michael Nuttal, Priscilla Nicols, John Beck and the Nelemans all from Amber Valley
- Ann and Gavin Hayhoe
- Allison and Marjolijn, who have generously sponsored Brightboy - and
- Melanie Sowerby, who supports the Dlamini family, cannot be thanked enough for what their generosity and compassion has meant to those concerned.
- Ann and Catherine Hayhoe – food, clothes and much more from Nottingham Road outreach project
- Pat Merrick and Dave Williams-Freeman for beautiful childrens’tables for the soup kitchen.

The Dlamini family appears to be coping well, in spite of their difficulties. The eldest daughter sadly dropped out of school to help support the family of 6 children. She is very keen to become a chef, and is currently employed at a local up-market B&B.
The family purchase food only, at the local country general dealer. They do not handle any money at all, and keep to a strict budget. In July we had a very successful shopping spree for winter clothing, and the children were quite overwhelmed!
Little Vusi, their baby brother, is growing into a beautiful child, and it is a real joy to see him making such wonderful progress. He is very happy at the crèche he attends while his siblings are at school. I am so impressed by the way his brothers and sisters care for him, and each other, in fact. They are so mature in many ways and manage well in spite of their challenges. The sponsorship means so much to them.

We have finally tracked down Brightboy, our star student, who was sponsored for almost 4 years so that he could attend University College. He is currently doing student teaching at the local senior school - such heartening news. As yet we have not spoken to him, but hopefully we will catch up with him soon.

Budget
Our finances have held steady this past year, but we have not filled the “vacancies” on the food parcel list, owing to Nokthula’s accident which made it impossible to do home visits and follow ups.
Food parcels currently cost R130 per family, and are made up of the following:
500ml oil
2 kg beans
2kg samp
1 pkt Morevite
Lentils
500g sugar
1 Cabbage
Toilet soap, green bar laundry soap
10kg M meal.
Unfortunately with the spiraling cost of food, it is difficult to increase the size of this meager parcel.

Expenditure 2013
Average monthly food budget, including rental, gas, extra supplies for the soup kitchen, food parcels – R3500.00 (R42, 00.00 pa)
Honorarium Nokthula/Emma - R1900.00 pm (R22,800.00 pa) This figure will increase once Emma starts community work

Equipment, structural improvements and repairs – R18, 370.00 (total for 2013)
Total Admin – R330.00 (2013)

Total expenditure for 2013 – R81, 600.00

Sponsorship - (separate account) R2250.00 per month (Total R27, 00.00)

Income 2013
Sponsorship/Dlamini family - R25, 420.00 (separate acc)
Donations to Standard Bank Acc– R59, 010.84
Opening Bal 2013 – R25, 066.83
Estimated Bal ending Dec 2013 – R17, 763.16

Donations to T/M Acc – R100.00 Euro pm (ZAR statement not provided)

Aims and Objects for 2014

1. To provide training for Emma so that she is equipped to help with the community work i.e. home visits and counseling. She will continue to help with the soup kitchen, but following Nokuthula’s accident, whose mobility has been somewhat compromised, we need Emma to take over the home visits. Nokuthula will continue to counsel from home when necessary.
2. To launch a simple basic education programme run by Nokuthula, for the children who attend the soup kitchen.
3. To start a knitting group for the stay-at-home mothers in the informal settlement, beginning with a core group whose children attend the soup kitchen. Mrs Jennifer Snelling from Bergville has expressed an interest in helping us to make a start. Nokuthula will hopefully take the opportunity to teach those same women basic skills in nutrition, hygiene etc.
4. The soup kitchen shelter will be used for this purpose, but there will be limited space. However we aim to make a start, and see what the response will be.
5. Registration of the project will be put on hold for the time being for several reasons. We are a very small charity project, working in a notoriously difficult area, with minimal support from the immediate community. We are therefore reluctant to expand too ambitiously at this stage until we feel that the project will be secure. We are unable to fulfill the requirements that registration will demand in our current situation.
6. We have achieved much over the past couple of years, with the addition of the soup kitchen. The support and assistance we have received has been phenomenal. We do need more help at the coalface though, and we are appealing to anyone who would like to become involved. We would love to hear from anyone with time, the right motivation and financial, computer and organizational skills to offer.
7. Our ultimate aim is to grow and upgrade and become a registered welfare organization. We would welcome people with vision and the right skills to help us achieve this goal. Until then, we will endeavor to find an ‘umbrella’ organization to assist with transfer of foreign funds.
8. To reach out to more families needing assistance with food parcels. We also need to follow up the current recipients with regular home visits, which have been put on hold since Nokthula’s accident

Wish List

1. Wool and knitting needles for the knitting group.
2. Educational and colourful posters for the walls.
3. Crayons, paper, colouring books for the children.
4. Educational toys e.g. simple puzzles, counting blocks, etc
5. Small blackboard
6. Chairs for the children. We need a total of 30, and are available at R20 each

The team still consists of
Sandra Merrick
Jill Middlemas
Nokuthula Dlamini

We are privileged be able to reach out to the Lidgetton Community, and the team wishes to acknowledge every person who has played a role in making this possible.
Your interest and wonderful support keep us going, and we are so very
grateful to you all.

Tags: Project Update