Lidgetton Community Project Outline
PRESENT AIMS & OBJECTIVESThe Lidgetton Community Project was started in 2001 to assist the AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in the community.
Our aim is to offer support to the needy families who have taken one or more children into their households, enabling the children to remain in their community of origin.
Support includes:
a) Supplying a monthly food parcel
b) Distribution of clothing, school uniforms and blankets when available (and/or funds permitting)
c) A Soup Kitchen targeting non school-going children U5 years in the informal settlement
At present we are assisting 13 families, with a total of 40 children.
VISION FOR THE FUTURE
◦ To provide a solid, secure, ‘user-friendly’ structure to house the soup kitchen.
◦ To provide shelter for the people receiving meals.
◦ To incorporate comfortable accommodation and adequate working space for the coordinator/cook.
◦ To expand the operation to include children from the wider community and even the vulnerable elderly.
◦ To identify and purchase a suitable piece of land as close to the informal settlement as possible.
◦ To start a food garden on the same land for the families in the informal settlement as well as to supply the soup kitchen.
◦ To be affiliated to a registered Trust or register as an NPO.
FOSTER CARE GRANTS
Accessing a grant is a difficult process for many of our families as they often do not have the necessary documents required by the Social Welfare Department.
Spending meagre resources on transport to Home Affairs or Social Welfare offices only to stand in long queues and often to be sent home empty-handed, is exhausting and depressing. Hopefully, in the future we will see an improvement in these departments.
Accessing a grant is a difficult process for many of our families as they often do not have the necessary documents required by the Social Welfare Department.
Spending meagre resources on transport to Home Affairs or Social Welfare offices only to stand in long queues and often to be sent home empty-handed, is exhausting and depressing. Hopefully, in the future we will see an improvement in these departments.
FOOD PARCELS
We are currently spending an average of R139 per family per food parcel. The parcels consist of 10 kg mealie meal, beans, lentils, samp, cooking oil, soup powder, Morevite porridge, sugar, soap, and a cabbage or vegetables in season. When funds permit we also add toothbrushes and toothpaste, and shoe- cleaning materials. We have been meeting at the Lidgetton Cash Store, where we make use of the verandah and a little office. Many thanks to Lidgetton Cash Store for the use of these premises and the supply of food at cost.
We are currently spending an average of R139 per family per food parcel. The parcels consist of 10 kg mealie meal, beans, lentils, samp, cooking oil, soup powder, Morevite porridge, sugar, soap, and a cabbage or vegetables in season. When funds permit we also add toothbrushes and toothpaste, and shoe- cleaning materials. We have been meeting at the Lidgetton Cash Store, where we make use of the verandah and a little office. Many thanks to Lidgetton Cash Store for the use of these premises and the supply of food at cost.
SOUP KITCHEN
Motivation
The idea for the soup kitchen was hatched following a survey conducted by the KZN Health Dept. in the village, together with various other departments, from the local Municipality and Correctional Services, to Sports and Recreation et al., in response to the high incidence of death amongst young children and babies in the area.
Many problems were highlighted during this survey, for which there is a comprehensive report available.
Amongst other things it was revealed that 50% of children U5 yrs suffer from malnutrition and stunting – mainly from the informal settlement along the river.
It was this issue that the Lidgetton Community Project felt challenged to take up in a low-key way.
Outline of the aims and objectives
- With the guidance of the Project Community Worker who resides in the informal settlement, to identify children not attending a crèche or school, where they would normally receive a daily meal (The poorest of the poor, largely from illegal immigrant families ostracized by the wider community).
- To provide the children with a meal 3 days a week.
- To introduce the children to basic hygiene, courtesy and stimulating interaction e.g. face and hand washing, saying please and thank you and learning simple songs and prayers.
- To provide meals that a Zulu mother would give her children.
- To keep the project small enough to be manageable and sustainable in the beginning, and plan for expansion as more experience is gained.
The soup kitchen became operative in January 2012
- It is in the heart of the informal settlement next to the house of the community worker for convenience and security
- It consists of a small wooden cabin equipped as a very basic kitchen, and next to it has been erected a small wooden room equipped with benches, tables and shelves, where the children can eat, play and learn.
- Regular donations of soup are made from Amber Valley (Retirement village in Howick) each month.
Motivation
The idea for the soup kitchen was hatched following a survey conducted by the KZN Health Dept. in the village, together with various other departments, from the local Municipality and Correctional Services, to Sports and Recreation et al., in response to the high incidence of death amongst young children and babies in the area.
Many problems were highlighted during this survey, for which there is a comprehensive report available.
Amongst other things it was revealed that 50% of children U5 yrs suffer from malnutrition and stunting – mainly from the informal settlement along the river.
It was this issue that the Lidgetton Community Project felt challenged to take up in a low-key way.
Outline of the aims and objectives
- With the guidance of the Project Community Worker who resides in the informal settlement, to identify children not attending a crèche or school, where they would normally receive a daily meal (The poorest of the poor, largely from illegal immigrant families ostracized by the wider community).
- To provide the children with a meal 3 days a week.
- To introduce the children to basic hygiene, courtesy and stimulating interaction e.g. face and hand washing, saying please and thank you and learning simple songs and prayers.
- To provide meals that a Zulu mother would give her children.
- To keep the project small enough to be manageable and sustainable in the beginning, and plan for expansion as more experience is gained.
The soup kitchen became operative in January 2012
- It is in the heart of the informal settlement next to the house of the community worker for convenience and security
- It consists of a small wooden cabin equipped as a very basic kitchen, and next to it has been erected a small wooden room equipped with benches, tables and shelves, where the children can eat, play and learn.
- Regular donations of soup are made from Amber Valley (Retirement village in Howick) each month.
DONATIONS AND FUNDING
Our project would not survive without external help. Any ongoing support and interest is enormously appreciated, and we appeal to others with a heart for helping to come forward.
- Can you sew or knit? Warm clothes and blankets are perhaps something we take for granted.
- Do you ever experience gnawing hunger pains and not know when you can hope for a morsel to eat?
- Have you ever experienced the emptiness and despair of watching your mother grow weak and die, leaving you alone and helpless?
- Is your home draughty with holes in the roof where the rain pours in and your meagre belongings become sodden and spoilt?
Spare a thought for these children as you tuck into two or three hearty meals each day, and climb into a hot bath and warm bed at night in your snug and secure house.
We are all children of God. Do the same good things for others as you would want them to do for you.
All donations are deposited to the Std Bank account in the name of Lidgetton Community Project.
For project and bank details please contact:
Lidgetton Community Project
Fiona Hayhoe-Weiland
Our project would not survive without external help. Any ongoing support and interest is enormously appreciated, and we appeal to others with a heart for helping to come forward.
- Can you sew or knit? Warm clothes and blankets are perhaps something we take for granted.
- Do you ever experience gnawing hunger pains and not know when you can hope for a morsel to eat?
- Have you ever experienced the emptiness and despair of watching your mother grow weak and die, leaving you alone and helpless?
- Is your home draughty with holes in the roof where the rain pours in and your meagre belongings become sodden and spoilt?
Spare a thought for these children as you tuck into two or three hearty meals each day, and climb into a hot bath and warm bed at night in your snug and secure house.
We are all children of God. Do the same good things for others as you would want them to do for you.
All donations are deposited to the Std Bank account in the name of Lidgetton Community Project.
For project and bank details please contact:
Lidgetton Community Project
Fiona Hayhoe-Weiland