Newsletter for No 5
Letter from the Managing Trustee.
Dear Readers
How are you, hoe gaan dit, Kunjani? In short, Hi! My name is Henk. I am one of the trustees, and newly appointed managing trustee. So, I thought a general introduction and some info about me might be in order.
I was born in what was then known as Northern Transvaal, Rustenburg, but grew up all over the Cape, finally matriculating in George. I then went on to study Nature Conservation, worked in Kruger National Park, Outeniqua Nature Reserve, did some game capture and export, and then starting working for Nomad in 2000. I started off as a guide, and ended up as Operations Manager.
Throughout this time I was able to share my love of Africa with all our guides, and all the clients that we came in contact with. So, when Alex announced the founding of the Nomad African Trust, I was very keen to join in and get involved. Finally, we can give something back to the continent that has given us so much. And that, in short, is how I came to be writing this introductory letter! But enough about me, let'™s get back to what this is all about!
Donors
First off thank you to all our current Donors! Your contributions and donations have come a long way, and are getting put to good use. We have some exciting prospects in the pipeline, and we are pleased to note that we are starting to get some international attention, so please keep spreading the word. There are a few payments outstanding however, but you know who you are, so pay up please!
 Breadline Africa's aim is to break the cycle of poverty in the lives of individuals and communities in Africa through sustainable long term solutions. They are an NPO that is committed to changing situations., particularly with regards to poverty, illiteracy, abuse, sickness and crime, which exist in circumstantial cycles that are self perpetuating. They support projects that intervene to break these cycles and bring new hope by supporting projects that focus in the following fields: skills development though skills training, job creation and income generation. Health and nutrition, through HIV/AIDS care, clinic support, psychosocial education and community & school gardens. Child support through Orphans and vulnerable children (OVC's) projects, child trauma, literacy, early childhood development training and sports. The projects that they support have been developed to help ensure sustainability and community participation and they are active in South Africa, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia.
 Breadline Africa has 3 different funding categories that they divide their projects into depending on the nature and scale of the project starting with small grassroots community projects that require close monitoring & mentoring and sometimes a separate grant is made available for mentoring and capacity building by external development practitioners. Breadline Africa will normally contribute 50%-100% of their total budget, but with the aim of supporting them towards self-sustainability. They also support medium scale projects that have already been established for some time and which have a good track record of effective impact and accountability which can result in them gaining 10-50% of their funding through the organisation. They are usually localised projects in the sense that they are catered specifically to their environment while being sensitive to each area's unique characteristics.The final category is for large national or regional projects that are part of the greater development agenda and require the collaboration of various different development agencies with the different parties involved bringing various skills and resources to the table in the true spirit of uBuntu.
 Breadline Africa has extensive experience in granting funds and partnering with donors. The grant making cycle is a year in length. It starts when projects complete an application form and ends after the grant when projects report on the work done and the impact achieved during the funding period, making monitoring a critical factor in the project cycle.
The Gwexintaba community
 The planting season has arrived and the Gwexintaba community is busying itself with the layout of a new community garden, which they have pretty much completed, and they have fenced the area off to keep out opportunistic livestock. They have brought in cow manure and tea fertilizer for boosting the ground and they will start a new patch for planting next, looking at a good mix of short term vegetables and long term fruit trees. The vegetables that they have been growing in a small trial garden are looking stunning, with spinach and tomatoes that are much bigger than anything the villagers have ever seen, so they are going to implement this gardening technique on a bigger scale at the school for wider implementation at home level.
 The school ranges from Grade R to 6, so they will start with Grade 5 and add an agricultural extra lesson€™ twice a week, starting with basic gardening. Next year they intend to move on to more advanced gardening in Grade 6, whilst Grade 5 will still have the basic vegetable gardening lessons. The Grade 5 children are very excited about these new classes, and all the new vegetables they are trying.
House of Judah Community
 The House of Judah Community has been keeping busy as per usual since their last brief in the newsletter with much progress being made with various projects over the last three months. Sanparks (South African National Parks) came through to spend a day with the community to take part in a clean-up (pictured right) of the Khayalethu river trail that the community established, they provided caps, bags, water bottles and treats for the kids and all involved as well as tools to help with the trail health garden and nursery.
 The community has also received five computers from members of the greater Knysna community which has enabled them to set up an office to act as the central H.Q, and computer literacy training is already underway. The House of Judah Educare centre has also almost completed the construction of two new rooms, one of which will act as a kitchen to help fill some hungry, growing bellies and enable them to cater to the townships constant need for educare facilities. Then there have also been a host of other happenings, such as the start of a local restaurant and craft centre, a new dress making and alterations business which is already employing three community members, and a surge of interest from tourists, resulting in some overnight stays at Sista Kerri's B+B and even some volunteers that have taken their time out to participate in the community's projects.
So that's about all for this months newsletter, but stay posted to the Nomad African Trust website for news on development and conservation issues from around the continent and don't be shy to send us a mail at info@nomadafricantrust.co.za if you have any comments or queries. Looking forward to hearing from you, until next time, sala gahle, tot siens! |
