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Projects
Since 1988 Thembisa has funded over 60 different projects in South
Africa. Some start-up projects have become viable. Others, such
as orphanages and child feeding schemes, training programme, etc,
are unlikely to become self-sustaining and need continuing support.
Projects include:
- Education and training (e.g. leadership development)
- Empowerment and income generation (e.g. craftwork, agriculture)
- Community projects (e.g. orphanages, food kitchens)
Currently
funded projects
- African Leadership Development Institute (ALDI) Leadership Training, Empowerment, Income generation
- Bethesda Arts Centre
Centre for Arts education and health
- Sakhumzi
Orphanage
- WARMTH
Feeding / entrepreneurship scheme
- The Masikhulisane Trust
Poverty alleviation, job creation
- Bonginkosi Preschool
Preschool for children from extremely deprived families
- GADRA visually impaired project
Helping visually impaired people
- Sinethemba shelter
shelter for abused women and children
- Eluxolweni shelter
Shelter for street children
- Bonginkosi blanket project
Income generation
- The Alexandria Haven
Orphanage
- Preschool places, Grahamstown
Archive of previously funded projects dating back to 2007
- Gauteng Peace and Development Foundation
Empowerment, training and income generation
- Ingelozi Eyetu
Craftwork project
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Sinethemba shelter
Perspective
In areas of poverty, high unemployment, and crowded conditions, some people vent their anger through violence towards those around them – and the victims are usually women and children. There are very few places offering accommodation and support to the victims.
Sinethemba shelter
Sinethemba, near Port Shepstone on the South Coast of Natal, is a shelter for women and children who have been abused. It was established by the Ifafa Women’s group in 2005 to deal with the increasing numbers of rape and abuse victims in the area. Women who have nowhere else to turn come from as far afield as Gauteng to the three-bedroomed house, where they and their children can stay temporarily until alternative plans are made.
Sadly, there are many victims, some because of alcohol-fuelled violence; others have included an 84-year-old lady beaten by her grandson for her pension, and a 64-year-old stroke victim raped by her neighbour. At Sinethemba the women are helped in whatever way possible, for example in getting court interdicts, or tracing relatives able to care for them. The shelter has an ethos of empowerment, and some women have been trained in office skills or sewing. One lady, who came to the shelter after fleeing from a man who knocked her teeth out, broke her nose and jaw, and kicked her so hard in the back that she had to have a kidney removed, said: ‘I was a broken person when I came to the shelter, but I have regained my confidence and worked my way to a better life.’Sinethemba would like to expand and offer the services of a social worker and legal adviser, but funding is a constant battle – just managing to obtain basic supplies such as food and nappies can be very difficult. They have realised there is also need to open a safe house for children, as o many abused and abandoned children are being brought to them.
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