Vols Heading Home

 

After 2 months in SA working at VMS,TVEP, CPC and Jambo School, the volunteers from the University of Glasgow’s Student Volunteers Abroad (SVA) organization are finally heading home! While visiting, they put up fences for the gardens of the Children’s Support Group members, painted classrooms, assisted in workshop chores, interacted with the preschoolers and brought much positive energy to Vhutshilo.

To celebrate the hard work that the Scottish Vols invested, the VMS staff organized a party for all of the children and staff involving singing, poetry reading, dancing, and sweets for the children. Thank You Student Volunteers! You will be missed!

 

TVEP in Need of Volunteers

 Our dear friends at TVEP (Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Program) have sent an urgent plea. As a large organization with 70+ staff and volunteers running 9 projects, they were hoping that Australian Volunteers International (AVI) organization would grant them 2 volunteer development officers with experience in financial and/or institutional sustainability.  Unfortunately that request cannot be granted until November 2013.  If any of our followers are interested in more information or are aware of any agencies or organizations that may be able to assist TVEP in this search, please contact Hope for Limpopo at info@hopeforlimpopo.org or TVEP at info@tvep.org.za.

Thank You! 

We're Teaming with a Davis UWC Scholar

Another exciting component of HFL is the number of amazing people with whom we get the opportunity to correspond.  Recently we heard from Ofhani Shaun Mandiwana, a young man from Mapate in the Limpopo Province of South Africa who was invited to participate in the Davis United World College Scholars Program http://www.davisuwcscholars.org/scholars. The Davis UWCS Program is the largest international, undergraduate scholarship program in the world.

Ofhani is currently studying at the College of Idaho on a Davis scholarship and has taken a keen interest in HFL. He tells us that, "The College of Idaho has been given the unique opportunity to participate in the Kathryn Wasserman Davis 100 Projects for Peace initiative…. This invitation is extended only to undergraduate students at colleges who host international students under the Davis United World College Scholars Program….(It) provides opportunities for students to initiate grassroots development projects in the United States or abroad.”

We are thrilled that Ofhani is willing to spend his precious time conceiving of and writing a proposal for the Projects for Peace initiative that, if accepted, will benefit one of HFL’s charities. We will spend the next few months advising Ofhani as to the best methods for executing his ideas and assisting him in creating a workable budget.

We will keep you posted on the project Ofhani develops and, of course, we will keep you informed of his progress.

We would encourage all of our HFL followers to design your own creative method of raising money for your favorite ‘HFL Cause’. We would be happy to assist you!

An Open Letter Re: A few of the many challenges TVEP faces every day

The Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Program (TVEP) is one of the important South African programs HFL supports. WHY? Because their mission and objectives are crucial: “To generate an attitude of Zero Tolerance towards Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Child Abuse & HIV and AIDS related stigma in Limpopo”…and….”…to hold Government accountable for delivery of statutory services”.  We, at HFL, have never understood why the SA Government has not embraced TVEP as an important ally in providing critical statutory services to the people of the Thulamela Municipality. TVEP ‘s ongoing services and long range strategic plan include maintaining domestic violence and sexual abuse trauma centers; safe houses for abuse victims; advocacy support through Access to Justice programs; community mobilization groups; rural clinic-based HELP desks; zero tolerance village alliances; HIV prevention and support services; counseling and a myriad of related services and interventions…. services and interventions that a country such as South Africa, with one of the most progressive constitutions and comprehensive policies should be proud to subsidize. Despite significant available Government resources, minimal funding is promised to TVEP and often, pledged money never trickles down to TVEP’s coffers.  Accountability in some government departments is negligible, implementation of services is woefully lacking and vital TVEP services (and ultimately the people) suffer.

Obviously the current welfare system is not working efficiently and if it were not for TVEP, working as an understaffed and underfunded safety net, the 150 plus per month domestically and sexually abused women and children would find no refuge.

GOOD NEWS! The Provincial Manager of DSD and the Provincial Head of NPO funding recently surprised TVEP with a fact-finding visit. Within 2 weeks of this all-important visit, TVEP was approved for R430,000 ($51,000 USD) additional to the R167,000 ($20,000) that had previously been granted. This was desperately needed financial support!

“Thank you.” also to the District Level Head of DSD who has given much encouragement to TVEP. TVEP morale would be at an all-time low if not for the recognition that TVEP staffers are doing incredibly important work and HFL adds: “under insurmountable circumstances!”

Hopefully, TVEP’s Government allies will have some influence over the Head of Health who has determined that TVEP deserves “no funding since they don’t provide health services”. This, despite the fact that TVEP has provided for 5000+ rape victims to date, HIV testing and support as well as scores of other health related services. All HFL supporters should be outraged at this shameful disclaimer of responsibility.  If this lack of support strikes you as being inequitable and unmeritable, please direct your questions as to “why the Government is not being held accountable for delivery of statutory services” to Michael Cashman, member of the European Parliament who currently Chairs the Delegation for relations with South Africa, michael.cashman@europarl.europa.eu.

Please help us spread the word about Limpopo by sharing this with your friends, family, and colleagues. The people of Limpopo need our help and by simply sharing this, we can change their lives for the better. “SharingIsCaring”

VMS Building Addition

The latest request from our Vhutshilo Mountain School (VMS) friends, a school building addition, continues to be a “top priority” and is considered an ongoing urgent need. VMS is in dire need of this addition, which will add necessary classroom space for their 51 preschoolers and double as a workshop/meeting space for outreach projects and community use.  Currently our ‘overflow toddlers’ are using space in the Halfway House, which prevents VMS from accommodating visitors and teaching assistants. The last we heard, the cost is approximately R230,000 ($28,000 USD) for the building addition alone.

A heartbreaking realization is that VMS friend and architect, Eric Giradin passed away a year ago and although he made the preliminary drawings for this addition, he will not be seeing his vision come to fruition. However, Eric will always be fondly remembered by his VMS family.

VMS has 2000 handmade blocks in storage that were created last year before the project was halted. Sue-Anne has made the brave decision to buy additional cement, sand and to begin making the next batch of blocks with money provided by the Church of Scotland. Hopefully HFL will soon find additional money to help with this project.

Please help us spread the word about Limpopo by sharing this with your friends, family, and colleagues. The people of Limpopo need our help and by simply sharing this, we can change their lives for the better. “SharingIsCaring”

An Unexpected Act of Kindness

Yesterday we were touched yet again, by the compassion, creativity and generosity of HFL Supporters. A very special, unexpected e-mail arrived from an HFL Friend informing us that in honor of their daughter’s approaching 1^st birthday they were requesting that friends & family make a donation to HFL in lieu of birthday gifts. While we are not suggesting that everyone should deprive their children of gifts, we applaud this beneficent family for starting their daughter on a path of compassion and humanitarian consideration.

When we developed HFL, our primary desire was to help educate and assist the impoverished women and children of Limpopo Province for we fervently believe that the success of any nation begins with education. As educators ourselves, an additional goal of ours is to encourage youngsters to make a commitment to volunteerism and to endorse charitable works. While we continue to agonize over how to instigate this movement, friends and supporters take the matter into their own hands by encouraging their children to have bake sales, tag sales, and now a gift exchange for the benefit of indigent children. 

If we never receive a penny from this most recent thoughtful gesture, we remain grateful for the encouragement it has given us,the support and the lesson it has taught us: Sometimes the intention is worth more than money. We are inspired to know that one young girl is well on her way to being a humanitarian in her own right, and who will no doubt grow to educate, enlighten and inspire others.

Thank You and Happy 1^st Birthday, Anaia!

http://www.charitybirthday.com/birthdays/anaia_m

Please help us spread the word about Limpopo by sharing this with your friends, family, and colleagues. The people of Limpopo need our help and by simply sharing this, we can change their lives for the better. “SharingIsCaring”

Blunders and Frustrations

Citizens of the United States are often frustrated by what we consider ‘blunders’ perpetrated by our government. The First Amendment is our ‘safety net’, however, and allows the press to expose most of these idiotic mistakes. Not always so in other countries and particularly not always the case in South Africa.

As TVEP continues to beg for much needed funding, we’ve recently learned that while the South African Department of Social Development recently invited proposals from “emerging Victim Empowerment Programs”, the advertisement ran only in the National Press which is not available in the rural districts where funding is sorely needed. Additionally, the application had to be downloaded from the internet…a major feat in an area with intermittent dial-up internet access. Finally, if a rural organization could manage to overcome those obstacles, the necessary 42 page application was rife with glitches and contradictions making it impossible to complete. A glimpse into the frustration of SA bureaucracy!

Please help us spread the word about Limpopo by sharing this with your friends, family, and colleagues. The people of Limpopo need our help and by simply sharing this, we can change their lives for the better. “SharingIsCaring”