Grantee Updates
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6 March 2013 - VANEESPATREEK VANEESPATREEK is a sewing project located in Grassy Park. Founder Vanessa Jacobs and her husband Patrick started the organization 8 years ago to benefit women in the Cape Flats area where unemployment is very high. The aim of the project is to teach women sewing skills to make garments as a form of income. Since their start, VANEESPATREEK has trained 70 women as designers, some of them moving on to open their own businesses or working for design companies. On our 6 March visit, WHEAT had the pleasure of donating another sewing machine to the project, which allowed them to take on one more woman to train. |
8 February 2013 -Tru Image
Tru Image is located in Green Park. They run an after-school programme that gives children a safe space to do their homework and be with friends after school. It is the only organisation of its kind in this community. They also do a feeding scheme every week to make sure the children are getting proper nutrition. In addition, Tru Image offers support groups for teenage pregnancy, abuse victims, and those with HIV. This past year, they held a very successful event for Human Rights Day with over 800 people in attendance and they did the first HIV testing that has ever been done in this community. Their next fundraiser will be to purchase a generator so they can have electricity in their facility.
Tru Image is located in Green Park. They run an after-school programme that gives children a safe space to do their homework and be with friends after school. It is the only organisation of its kind in this community. They also do a feeding scheme every week to make sure the children are getting proper nutrition. In addition, Tru Image offers support groups for teenage pregnancy, abuse victims, and those with HIV. This past year, they held a very successful event for Human Rights Day with over 800 people in attendance and they did the first HIV testing that has ever been done in this community. Their next fundraiser will be to purchase a generator so they can have electricity in their facility.
26 July 2012 - Nnetulesi women’s empowerment programme
The Nnetulesi Women’s Empower programme is situated in Olievenhoutbosch, in between Johannesburg and Pretoria. The organisation operates from a storage room of the church and offers computer courses on Mondays and Tuesdays; they do baking on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and on Fridays they make shoes. Nnetulesi takes 3 to 5 students at the time and train them in practical skills. The muffins and shoes they make are sold in order to generate income. The project is doing well and is growing, going forward they are looking for a larger space to conduct their activities in, and they need more computers to accomodate all teh students that want to enroll for their computer course.
The Nnetulesi Women’s Empower programme is situated in Olievenhoutbosch, in between Johannesburg and Pretoria. The organisation operates from a storage room of the church and offers computer courses on Mondays and Tuesdays; they do baking on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and on Fridays they make shoes. Nnetulesi takes 3 to 5 students at the time and train them in practical skills. The muffins and shoes they make are sold in order to generate income. The project is doing well and is growing, going forward they are looking for a larger space to conduct their activities in, and they need more computers to accomodate all teh students that want to enroll for their computer course.
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25 July 2012 - Reach 'n Teach Foundation, Masiphumulele Women's Support Group & Thembalethu Blocks
A week after the very successful Mandela day, WHEAT Trust visited 3 organisations, starting with the Reach 'n Teach foundation. Reach 'n Teach provides computer training to community members, and offers courses ranging from beginners to advanced. Secondly, WHEAT Trust visited the Masiphumulele Women's Support Group. This organisation teaches women to make clothing, bake cakes and to make bags using beads. The organization focuses on both the practical needs of the community and on building a sustainable organisation that will make the difference in the future. Lastly, Thembalethu Blocks is a very impressive micro enterprise that produces concrete blocks. When WHEAT visited the project, the boss lady, funding Director Bulelwa (who has a hearing impairment as well) had an order of 1000 blocks outstanding and employed two male employees. Her income funds the educationof her daughters among other things. WHEAT is very proud of the work these organisations are doing, and how they have created sustainable interventions with very limited monetary support. |
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Mandela Day - Ubuntu Pensioners
On the 18th of July, WHEAT Trust dedicated her 67 minutes to celebrate the birthday of Nelson Mandela at the Ubuntu Pensioners project. This project is located in Gugulethu and provides food and activities for pensioners in the area. WHEAT Trust joined forces with the organization and handed out gifts to the pensioners and visited them at their houses. |
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15 July 2012 - Forever Amen Educare Centre
The Forever Amen Educare Centre was visited the 15th of July by a small delegation of the WHEAT Trust team. The centre consists of a creche for the really young ones, and a class of 4 to 6 year old kids. The children learn songs, the alphabet and are busy with creative activities. The centre also has a nice garden and enough space for the children to run around. All in all, a very impressive daycare centre, set up by one of our grantees! |
