Mzamo Mhle community based activities
In the Eastern Cape, Cotlands is involved in community
based activities in an informal settlement near East
London. We feel we can best service this community
by partnering with an organisation called CATCH, which
has already established a variety of outreach projects.
CATCH is an organisation that renders services to
children in Mzamo Mhle, a rapidly growing informal
settlement in the Eastern Cape.
Day care for pre-schoolers
One of the primary objectives in this area is to
establish day care facilities for preschool children.
As these children mostly come from situations of
extreme poverty, even in the cases where they are
not orphans, the day care centre has to assist with
material needs as well as offering an educational
component.
Cotlands’ role in this instance is that of
facilitator and trainer. Cotlands secures start-up
funding, recruits and trains staff, provides them
with the systems and resources needed to run the school
effectively, and equips them to secure donations to
ensure sustainability.
Palliative Care
Also in East London, Cotlands has facilitated the
establishment of a palliative care unit at an existing
children’s home. Our primary role was to equip
and train staff to run this unit effectively, but
we have extended our involvement to include training
on stimulation, fundraising, HR practices and management
skills.
Nutrition Project
In an effort to create community development and
in partnership with CATCH, Cotlands is busy with a
project that monitors the nutrition of children between
birth and five.
It is vital that children are adequately nourished
at this stage, to ensure proper development through
to adulthood. As it will not benefit families just
to provide food for their children, Cotlands employs
a trainer who is teaching families how to generate
income.
A professional nurse assesses the adequacy of nutrition
in children and prescribes a re-nourishment programme
for each child. If the malnutrition is HIV related
and cannot be reversed just through a feeding programme,
these children are referred to the appropriate clinic
or hospital.
As it will not benefit families just to provide food
for their children, Cotlands has employed a trainer
who will teach families how to generate income.
Piggery, poultry, craft making, baking and food gardens
have been identified as skills to begin with, but
as new markets open up, these will be extended. With
the job creation component, families have the opportunity
to become self-sustainable, ensuring improved care
of the children.
At present CATCH runs a support group for HIV positive
mothers, Saturday school for disadvantaged children
from the local community, a life skills programme
for children and youth, and a sewing group. A food
gardens project and computer training are also being
initiated.
Future plans include developing a craft centre as
part of their self- sustainable plans, and orphan
care.
Future plans
We hope to establish a Home Based Care
service once the nutrition project has been established
in the community.
Cotlands would also like to employ
a full time social worker to assist with birth registrations,
grant applications, formalising foster care placements,
advocacy and identification of orphans and other vulnerable
children. This worker will be available to assist in
the other projects listed above.
The Eastern Cape is one of the most
poverty stricken provinces in South Africa. Widespread
unemployment and poverty characterise many of the communities
in this province. By initiating the Nutrition Project
in Mzamo Mhle, Cotlands hopes to establish a model that
can be effectively reproduced in other areas.
As poor nutrition in early childhood
results in poor academic performance, these children
need to be assisted so that they will cope in mainstream
education, thereby ensuring that as adults they will
not face the problems experienced by the previous generation.
This intervention, together with the skills development
project, will assist families to support themselves,
and will contribute to the reduction of poverty.
