Johannesburg – The Setswana idiom, “Mosadi o tshwara thipa kafo bogaleng”, meaning a mother grabs a knife by the blade, has always rang true.
To prove this correct, five women in Mpumalanga registered a non-government organisation (NGO) in 2003 called Senzangothando Home Based Care.
The organisation started working from a community hall, helping to curb the spread of HIV/Aids in the area. In 2008, the NGO relocated to a new site allocated by the Ngomane Tribal Authority.
However, the premises were not big enough to accommodate all the beneficiaries the NGO wanted to cater for.
After applying for funding, Senzangothando became one of beneficiaries of funding from the National Lotteries Commission (NLC).
The NLC funding also ensured provision for a new facility to which the NGO has already relocated. Senzangothando conducts door-to-door visits, referrals, health education, distributes condoms and conducts treatment adherence support to 1 688 beneficiaries.
Through projects like Senzangothando, the commission is able to catalyse action in communities.
Funding such organisations means more people can benefit from the NLC’s services.
Regulations published in July 2010 direct the Charities Distributing Agency to allocate at least 50% of the money available for distribution to organisations involved in:
• Expanding home-based care services through training and developing infrastructure for the care of elderly people, sick people and vulnerable groups, including orphaned children. • Providing educational facilities for early-childhood development and adult literacy, and undertaking vocational training and mentoring for skills development through programmes that include people with disabilities. The NLC’s monitoring and evaluation team recently conducted a visit to the NGO to find out first-hand if the funds were used optimally and as per the agreements.
“The organisation has created a total of 26 job opportunities of which 22 are males and four females. They are all temporarily employed and are all Africans. The organisation renders relevant services to Goba residents under Nkomazi local municipality.”
“The project was established due to the high prevalence of HIV and other illnesses that left most of the affected or infected community members with no one to look after them and ensure that their health needs are attended to, and they are required by the NLC to ensure that they properly maintain the funded infrastructure.”
Goba village is in ward 11 of the municipality under the Hhoyi Tribal Authority. While many villagers depend on social grants, some have found work in the nearby farms and retail shops while others have been absorbed under government’s EPWP (extended public works programme).
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