The Themba Development Project is a volunteer operated Canadian Registered Charity which works to empower and bring a voice to the struggling people of two communities; the tiny village of Nqiningana and Zone 4 of a former informal settlement called Thembalethu, both located in South Africa. Our...
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The Themba Development Project is a volunteer operated Canadian Registered Charity which works to empower and bring a voice to the struggling people of two communities; the tiny village of Nqiningana and Zone 4 of a former informal settlement called Thembalethu, both located in South Africa. Our work focuses on providing resources, tools and knowledge to both communities by improving access to food, minimizing poverty, encouraging education and developing short and long term solutions to the food crisis facing the residents of these communities
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2010 Achievements

1.Sixty-six children now have a complete school uniform thanks to The Themba Development Project. The families of these children are very poor and would have to forgo food for many days just to pay for these mandatory school outfits. Due to this program, families...
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2010 Achievements

1.Sixty-six children now have a complete school uniform thanks to The Themba Development Project. The families of these children are very poor and would have to forgo food for many days just to pay for these mandatory school outfits. Due to this program, families could instead use resources for food, and children can gain an education without having an empty belly. This program is on-going and our goal is to provide uniforms to all family's that need assistance.

2.Due to the generosity of our donors we have been able to expand into Nqiningana, a very poor little village with a lot of potential! Not only did we plant fruit trees, distribute seeds and other supplies, we also partnered with the local school to provide essential supplies for their once barren, but now flourishing school garden! The food from this garden feeds the children through the lunch program and any left over can be sold for income. In the future we would like to build a well in this community, currently women must walk an hour round trip to fetch water.

3.Hungry families? We are working to change that, in early 2010 we planted over 300 fruit and nut bearing trees in both Thembalethu and Nqiningana. Fruit, which was once a rare treat will now be a staple due to the abundance of free fruit growing in the community, nuts will add a valuable source of protein. These trees also benefit the two communities by providing much needed shade from the hot sun, as well as securing topsoil during periods of high wind and heavy rains.

4.There is a lot of garbage floating around in Thembalethu so we began a community clean up project and have been featured in the George Herald Newspaper. We are teaching environmental awareness and now there is a significant decrease in garbage, we no longer worry about garbage blowing into our gardens or harming our children as they play. Environmental awareness opportunities will be expanded into Nqiningana to help with the build up of garbage which is already forming in this remote rural village.

5.What was once a garbage dump is now a a beautiful park that brings pride to the community. After clearing more than 1000 bags of garbage we have transformed this space into Umbambano (Togetherness) Park which is the first park in Thembalethu. The local people tell me that they feel uplifted when they walk by the park and that they feel a sense of hope for the future.

6.Thembalethu is an urban squatter's camp and as a result the level of stress is very high due to overcrowding, malnourishment and lack of opportunities. To combat life's pressures and provide a positive outlet for the youth's energy we created the Youth Leadership Football Team. This special team has contributed to the betterment of every one's lives who are involved. School attendance has increased, and the youth have gained confidence due to the one on one mentorship from respected members of the community. Our goal is to create more teams and expland into Nqiningana.

7.There is more to life than essentials such as housing and food, it is also important to provide a sense of hope so that children gain the confidence to do great things in this world. Two wildlife sanctuaries, Birds of Eden and Monkeyland, allowed us to visit free of charge so that we could learn about the local wildlife. An entire busload of children in Thembalethu had an amazing experience that they will carry with them into adulthood.

8.We are building a stronger connection between Thembalethu and the city of George by teaming up with Daniel Nicholson, a local drumming teacher from George, a nearby city. Thembalethu is viewed as a scary place to go to due to chronic poverty and as a result the people of George do not come here. We hosted two drumming workshops at Umbambano Park. The community thoroughly enjoyed this experience and we are proving that Thembalethu is a vibrant and wonderful community that people should not be afraid to visit.

9.Emergency House Building has become essential in Thembalethu, there were several houses which were ready to fall down but due to poverty the families could not afford to fix them. Thanks to the generosity of our donors we were able to tear down and rebuild several houses. This program is ongoing as more houses are identified by local staff.

10.After building dozens of vegetable gardens throughout the community and supplying thousands of Rand worth of seeds we then moved on to providing the most essential component, water! With your donations we were able to supply many families with rain water harvesting materials. Rain collected from the roof of he houses was then funnelled down into a collection tank. This water will keep the gardens growing strong during the dry season.
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Eighty percent of our directors in Canada are youth ,giving them the ability to make decisions and offer suggestions. Ninety Five percent of our board are made up of African refugees which means that they have first hand experience and can make suggestions based on what they needed before coming...
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Eighty percent of our directors in Canada are youth ,giving them the ability to make decisions and offer suggestions. Ninety Five percent of our board are made up of African refugees which means that they have first hand experience and can make suggestions based on what they needed before coming to Canada.

In the community of Thembalethu we encourage community involvement, each member of the community has the right to voice their opinion and make suggestions. With so many youth in this community we are ensuring that they have the tools available to do well in school so that one day they can be leaders among their community.
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