12 minute read
Reflections From The Field Team On Our Programs
We believe every dollar entrusted with our organisation to support vulnerable rural communities in the Kingdom of Eswatini should be spent preciously. We are proud to report that 95 cents of every dollar you donate goes directly to the communities we serve.
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HOW WE SPEND YOUR DONATIONS
Our dual aid and sustainability model of care nested within a larger all encompassing principle of honouring human dignity which informs the way the two project categories aid and sustain are conducted at every level.
STREAMS PROGRAM NAMES
AID Delivering essential food: Mealie-Meal (MM) Program
Daily Emergency Medical Fund
Maternal Child Health Fund
Soup Kitchen
Housing Project
SUSTAINABILITY Income Generating Projects
Handicraft Project
Sitsatsaweni Farming Project
Education - Scholarship Fund
DIGNITY Dignity Project - Home Assistance
Sanitation Project DESCRIPTION
Provides monthly emergency food relief to people in need
Assists unwell people living in poverty with transport, medication expenses and consultation/admission fees at the Hospital. Provides financial support for infants who have lost their mothers to HIV/AIDS. This fund also helps mothers who cannot breastfeed and are unable to afford formula. Preparing daily meals for vulnerable elderly people and those living in poverty. The Matsetsa soup kitchen also has a vegetable garden looked after by volunteers. It’s grown to become a community centre of entrepreneurial grandmothers. Building permanent, secure houses for vulnerable elderly people, women and children orphaned by AIDS Encourages and supports MM Program recipients to begin an income generating project. This empowers these clients to become self-sufficient so they can eventually end their reliance on receiving essential food supplies A successful outcome from the Soup Kitchen is this project which encourages the vulnerable elderly clients to generate savings from selling handcrafted projects PDI acquired land in Sitsatsaweni to grow maize and other crops. This produce is harvested and used in the Essential Food program and the Soup Kitchen to support the sustainability of these Aid projects. Funds school fees, books, bus fares and school uniforms for both boys and girls. These young people would otherwise be out of school. Provides comfort and care to people living with AIDS, terminal illness, disability or frail, elderly people Employing local people to build pit latrines (toilets) and provide sanitation education to reduce the burden of disease
REFLECTIONS FROM THE FIELD ON OUR PROGRAMS
1. MEALIE- MEAL PROGRAM
The Mealie Meal (MM) Program continues to provide monthly emergency food relief to people in need in the Lubombo region. This initiative remains one of PDI’s major emergency aid programs since the charity’s establishment twelve years ago in 2009.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased demand for food relief. Jobs have been lost in huge numbers with unemployment levels skyrocketing. In June 2021, Eswatini was experiencing its third (and worst) COVID-19 wave, bearing the full force of the Delta-variant. This has further increased demand for emergency food relief.
On average, 44 families received MM packs from PDI each month. This is a significant increase from the average of 28 families per month that received MM from PDI in the 2019-2020 financial year.
The demographics of the beneficiaries of the program have changed due to the pandemic. Typically, grandmothers (Gogos) caring for orphaned children make up the majority of MM beneficiaries. Currently there are many people who have lost their jobs due to closure of workplaces due to the pandemic.
NUMBER OF FAMILIES: 44 NUMBER OF ADULTS: 91 NUMBER OF CHILDREN: 105 TOTAL BENEFICIARIES: 196
ACHIEVEMENTS:
• Sufficient funds were raised to allow us to continue to distribute MM packs, despite challenges in fundraising during the pandemic. • Similar to previous years, maize from the Sitsatsaweni
Farming Project supplemented our MM packs.
CHALLENGES:
• High rates of unemployment as a result of the pandemic has increased the need for our services. • Several COVID-19 outbreaks and frequent lockdowns with limited notice made it challenging to plan delivery of MM packs. Despite this, the team was able to provide increased numbers of packs while staying safe. • Food security is at further risk due to drought which has impacted some areas of Eswatini. • There are concerns that the pandemic will increase the number of orphans in Eswatini, with higher mortality rates in adults, limited vaccination coverage (~15% of population in June 2021) and Delta variant causing widespread effects in the community.
OPPORTUNITIES:
• Backyard gardening has become increasingly popular during the pandemic. We are actively encouraging families to continue to establish small home gardens to improve food security and reduce reliance on emergency relief. For those with access to larger areas of land, we would like to assist them with seeds and tractor costs to allow them to cultivate their own maize. However, given the current drought, this has proved challenging this year. If good rainfall is predicted next season, the team will consider expanding this project to improve food security.
REFLECTIONS FROM THE FIELD ON OUR PROGRAMS
2. DAILY EMERGENCY FUND
The Daily Emergency Fund assists unwell people living in poverty with transport, medication, medical tests, outpatient consultation and hospital admission fees at the Good Shepherd Hospital (GSH). This allows referred clients to access responsive and affordable healthcare when needed. This year saw the numbers of beneficiaries decrease slightly but more needed assistance with paying for hospital admissions.
3. MATERNAL CHILD HEALTH FUND
The Maternal Child Health (MCH) Fund financially supports infants who have lost their mothers to HIV/ AIDS. It also supports mothers who cannot breastfeed and are unable to afford formula. In this program, providing baby formula means a child receives continued support for six months. The MCH Fund covers costs of hospital admission (or covers the gap when families cannot pay the entire bill) and formula.
(OTHER FAMILIES WERE REFERRED TO CARITAS)
CHALLENGES:
• Funding lengthy hospital admissions proved to be expensive at times, especially given more assistance was required this year than in previous years. In such circumstances, PDI engaged with the hospital to discuss splitting the bill (with the hospital) or paying the fee in instalments.
CHALLENGES:
• Some hospital bills are expensive.
REFLECTIONS FROM THE FIELD ON OUR PROGRAMS
4. DIGNITY PROJECT
The Dignity Project was established to provide comfort and care to people living with AIDS, terminal illness, disability and/or elderly people. Unfortunately our usual activities of personal hygiene, washing clothes and house cleaning had to be suspended due to the risk of COVID-19 transmission to the PDI team.
Despite this, the project managed to help significantly more clients than previous years due to our purchase of 30 mattresses. Instead of sleeping on thin mats, the mattresses provided 11 families with a much more comfortable night’s sleep!
TOTAL BENEFICIARIES: 30
OPPORTUNITIES:
• There are many more families who sleep on a thin mat but cannot afford a mattress. We hope that further fundraising campaigns will allow us to provide more mattresses to many more people.
5. HOUSING/ EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM
The Housing Program was established to empower families by providing essential, practical and safe housing. This program remains one of PDI’s flagship activities.
Three two-bedroom houses were built and completed during this financial year. This means a total of 16 people from 3 families now have a safe shelter to call home. One of the houses was built for a child-led household, the eldest child relying on transactional sex to make ends meet.
PDI also provided assistance in housing repairs for several homes including two families affected by Cyclone Eloise.
NUMBER OF HOUSES BUILT IN FY2021: 3 TOTAL NUMBER OF HOUSES BUILT SINCE PDI’S INCEPTION: 35 TOTAL NUMBER OF WATER TANKS SINCE PDI’S INCEPTION: 26 TOTAL NUMBER OF TOILETS BUILT (WITH HOUSES) SINCE INCEPTION: 29
CHALLENGES:
• There is still a large number of families needing assistance with adequate shelter. The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of this need.
REFLECTIONS FROM THE FIELD ON OUR PROGRAMS
5.1 SANITATION PROJECT
The Sanitation Project aims to address the lack of basic sanitation in the Lubombo region by building pit toilets. The need for improved sanitation has been further highlighted by the pandemic.
A grant for 14 pit toilets and hygiene education workshops within the community was implemented this year. The pandemic presented challenges to the delivery of this project with frequent lockdowns and difficulty obtaining building materials. Despite this, we were able to complete a total of 15 toilets by the target date.
REFLECTIONS FROM THE FIELD ON OUR PROGRAMS
6. INCOME GENERATING PROJECTS
Income Generation Projects (IGPs) were initiated to empower MM recipients to generate an income, become self-sufficient, and then be discharged from the MM Program. This would free resources and enable other families to access the program. Families/individuals are encouraged to propose an IGP that harnesses their skills while meeting a need in their community. The PDI team considers the viability and assesses potential issues of the proposed IGP. Barriers to starting an IGP include poor management of finances, remote location and/or a lack of product demand.
Over the past few years, PDI has commenced an increasing number of larger group IGPs, rather than the traditional single family IGP. Overall, the group IGPs have higher success rates with Amandla Project and Magwanyana Chicken Project being the most successful thus far. There are a total of seven successful IGPs currently running.
NUMBER OF IGPS
(INCOME GENERATING PROJECTS): 7
TYPE OF IGPS
(INCOME GENERATING PROJECTS): • Sewing items including school uniforms, face masks and ‘aprons’ • Raising livestock including chickens, pigs and goats • Growing maize, vegetables, and other crops • Selling snacks and homemade food items • Handicraft projects including sleeping mats, bags
ACHIEVEMENTS:
• The Sewing Project has adapted in response to the pandemic. Instead of making school uniforms, this group of sewers switched to face masks and Tidziya (similar to an apron - a piece of cloth worn over your main clothes when performing housework). They’ve also started raising pigs, tapping into the increased demand for pork.
• Both chicken and pig raising projects have continued to be successful. The team assists the clients with the transportation of animal feeds when required.
CHALLENGES:
• The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has seen some
IGPs not being able to operate or only being able to operate at a reduced capacity.
• Reduced number of students attending schools means IGPs selling snacks at schools and IGPs selling school uniforms have had to adapt.
• Unfortunately there has been increasing amounts of stock theft, especially of goats, which has affected many of our goat IGPs.
OPPORTUNITIES:
• Vary the IGPs and establish Mobile Money IGPs for those who are in areas which have no Mobile Money.
Mobile Money (the ability to store, send and receive money electronically linked to a mobile number) is always in demand.
• We are looking into increasing the capital for our clients, allowing a substantial IGP to gain more profit.
REFLECTIONS FROM THE FIELD ON OUR PROGRAMS
7. SOUP KITCHEN
The Soup Kitchen was established in 2017 following a successful crowdfunding initiative in 2016. It continues to provide food to vulnerable elderly people in the Matsetsa area. Before the pandemic, it was also an important social space where community members would socialise and make handicrafts together while waiting for food. COVID-19 restrictions now only allow beneficiaries to pick up their food and take it back home to eat. Despite restrictions, clients still contribute by taking turns tending to the vegetable garden and gathering firewood for cooking.
7.1 HANDICRAFT PROJECT ACHIEVEMENTS:
Within the Soup Kitchen, The Handicraft Project was started to encourage the bogogo (grandmothers) and bomkhulu (grandfathers) to create handcrafted projects which can be sold to generate income. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, many participants now do their handicrafts at home.
A fencing project initiated by a group from the soup kitchen, was suspended due to the pandemic this year. We have recently purchased a fence-making machine for the group so they can implement their orders next financial year.
The number of participants in this program fluctuates. During the pandemic, children commonly collect the food from the soup kitchen for their grandparents. Children are increasingly reliant on soup kitchen meals for food as lockdowns have closed most grades of school (where they are provided lunch).
NUMBER OF GOGOS (GRANDMOTHERS): 24 - 35
• Vegetable Garden at the Soup Kitchen • The resourceful collection of firewood by the bomkhulu (grandfathers) cuts costs from our budget • Handicrafts Projects (Grass sleeping mats, traditional necklaces and skirts, bags) • Selling egg-laying nests for chickens (Tilulu) • Fencing project recommencement
CHALLENGES:
• Clients are no longer able to socialise at the soup kitchen due to pandemic restrictions. • Several people have passed away due to complications of COVID-19. • With the closure of schools, children no longer have lunches supplied at school. This means they are increasingly reliant on the soup kitchen meals for sustenance.
OPPORTUNITIES:
• If schools are not reopened soon, increasing the soup kitchen budget to provide more meals for children would be beneficial.
REFLECTIONS FROM THE FIELD ON OUR PROGRAMS
8. SITSATSAWENI FARM
PDI acquired land in Sitsatsaweni to grow maize and other crops which can be used for the MM Program and the Soup Kitchen. This farming project aims to increase self-efficacy within the community. This farm began from a crowdfunding initiative in 2017.
The past season started well, however, there was decreased rainfall as time progressed. The team planted beans this season, but unfortunately the crop was decimated by insects despite appropriate insect-control measures.
ACHIEVEMENTS:
• We harvested 25 x 50 kg bags of maize this financial year. This is an increase from last year’s harvest of 17 x 50 kg bags of maize.
CHALLENGES
• The early disappearance of rain left us with a less than expected harvest. In response, more fields were cultivated. • The bean plantation was not as successful as we had hoped due to pest damage.
OPPORTUNITIES:
• We hope to improve the bean harvest next season by planting beans in a different area and performing soil testing prior to plantation.
