Sunday, October 21, 2007

A few people have asked me to post ways YOU can get involved with the work Jim and I are doing in South Africa. So, here are a few things we need help with:

Database Design Assistance: None of the current TU staff has the skill set to design a database that would allow us to keep track of the many orphans in our care as well as our home based care volunteer activities. Currently we use a paper filing system that is laborious and disjointed. It would make an enormous difference to our organization if someone were willing to design such a database for us.
Playground Equipment: We would like to create a safe and fun place at the TU Centre for children to play after school so that they are not vulnerable in the hours between leaving school and returning home for dinner.

2nd Vehicle: TU is currently operating all its many projects using only one vehicle. All employees are allocated specific days and times to use the vehicle for their programs. If we had a second vehicle we would be able to do far more on any given day.
Electricity!: Electricity from Eskom continues to be our biggest challenge. Without electricity, we are confined to paper systems, food can not be refrigerated, HIV videos can not be shown, faxes can not be sent, we can not email or do a myriad of normal organizational activities. It hinders our every-day activities continuously.
Creche/Daycare: We plan to open a small education based creche for orphan and vulnerable children who are too young for school. We currently do not have specific funding for such a project so any donations of books, children's tables and chairs, art materials, puzzles, and toys would be greatly appreciated.

Donatations from the United States can be sent through Camp

Tax deductible donations can be made through Umbono, a 503-1c organization in the United States. I will make these details available as soon as I get a hold of them.

Financial donations can be made directly to SA via:
Tholulwazi UzivikeleABSA BankAccount No. 4066314041Branch No. 632005Swift Code: ABSAZAJJ
Tholulwazi Uzivikele is a registered non profit organization(Reg no 015-411 NPO)Public Benefit Status number: 930021528

This account is fully audited and has signatories comprising of hospital staff members and key community leaders.

Other great ways to help:
We are always in need of the following basic items:
Households Items:
Food
Blankets
Clothing
Toys
Shoes
Baby care items
Toothbrushes
HIV Educational Resources: Books, training materials, DVDs, movies, tv series etc.

...Ok, so there are a few ways you can get involved with Tholulwazi Uzivikele and help the desperately impoverished community of the KwaNgwanase area of South Africa. I hope you are all doing well. Time is flying for Jim and me. We are working today (Saturday) because we have a great group of visitors from Concord, NC here in Manguzi. So, we will be taking them out to do some home visits in the bush - to see how the people are living first hand. While we are out we will also be distributing food parcels to the most needy families we encounter.
Today's busyness is representative of this whole month. Jim and I have so much going on with work and with outside commitments (bible studies, etc). But, everything we are doing is really exciting, and we are really enjoying working hard.
As the mangoes get plumper and redder and the rains begin to fall here in Manguzi - we continue to miss all of you back home. Love to all.

2 comments:

cybercrone said...

Hi there:

Granny M here again.

Re toothbrushes - if they're still needed, I know Claire (of Claire and Nic, who live on the west side of Tembe and run another Christian NGO, and Nic is a park ranger) had a couple boxes of brush and paste sets she was going to give to me for the school, but I didn't get around to it. She might hand those to to you.
Some great colourful little plastic tables and chairs available at the Cash and Carry at the far east end of Manguzi. I got some for the school, and they were very reasonable. Good school supplies in there too - eg notebooks, pens etc.

cybercrone said...

Hi there:

Granny M here again.

Re toothbrushes - if they're still needed, I know Claire (of Claire and Nic, who live on the west side of Tembe and run another Christian NGO, and Nic is a park ranger) had a couple boxes of brush and paste sets she was going to give to me for the school, but I didn't get around to it. She might hand those to to you.
Some great colourful little plastic tables and chairs available at the Cash and Carry at the far east end of Manguzi. I got some for the school, and they were very reasonable. Good school supplies in there too - eg notebooks, pens etc.