NEWSLETTERSisonke Masilwe Indlala Network Dissolved
by Valery Nodem, JH Coordinator
The Joining Hands partner network in South Africa, Sisonke Masilwe Indlala (SMI) has been dissolved.
God has blessed beyond measure the relationships built through Joining Hands. For many years, in fact from the inception of the network in 2000 - 2001, our friends from SMI and their counterparts, SAMP (South Africa Mission Partnership) in the Presbytery of Western Reserve built a great relationship based on the beauty of Ubuntu (we are better together). Through regular visits to South Africa, they saw the magnificence of the country and the people, and also the challenges of a people trying to rebuild their nation after decades of apartheid. SAMP did a lot in the US to be in solidarity with the struggles involving their friends in South Africa.
Over time, SMI experienced many changes, both structural and geographical. Given that South Africa is a very large country, the physical distance between the organizations became a greater issue over the years as it made meeting and strategizing difficult. As a result, the members of SMI struggled to articulate what they as a network were doing, what change they were trying to bring in society, and what their common vision was. For those reasons, SMI membership dropped over the years.
In Western Reserve, it became difficult to understand what was happening in the country, and to see how actions could be taken by US Presbyterians. Understandably, also most of SAMP's members have in recent years withdrawn from the group.
We thank SMI and SAMP for the great work done over the years, and pray that this is only a transition for something new to emerge in South Africa some time in the future. Blessings for the SMI's Coordinator, Elliot Jingqi, as he moves to a new position with his church in Johannesburg. PHP remains committed to working in South Africa, and we are in touch with SMI member organizations individually.
Our colleague, Bridgette Hector, who served as the Joining Hands Companionship Facilitator for South Africa and Lesotho, completed her term the end of March. As a mission co-worker she will return to the States for itineration during her Mission Interpretation Assignment and is available to speak in churches. She is currently discerning her next steps in ministry. We are deeply grateful for her three years of service with PHP and Joining Hands. She has been especially helpful in honoring relationships, building capacities and being realistic about where we all can best put our concerted efforts to support systematic change for lasting opportunities to the communities we have come to love in South Africa and Lesotho.
by Thandile Delihlazo, SMI youth member First, I’m Tandile Delihzazo and a member of an organization called Bambanani Traditional Village Project. I’ve joined this project in 2009, choosing the agricultural side doing gardening. We farm organically through perma-culture by using available resources without chemical fertilizers. We only use compost (manure) on the soil and against insects we use natural medicines, i.e. garlic and others. I’m the only lady there and love gardening. I’ve grown a lot in knowledge about perma-culture, and gained a lot of experience
Now I oversee more than 20 Household Crop Gardens and teach their owners perma-culture gardening: How to plant in containers, etc.. They are mostly elderly people, and they love it! The challenge there is to change their mindset, because some want to use their old way of planting. Perma-culture is the easiest way to fight poverty in our communities (how) by starting a small food garden at every home. Now I’ve been appointed as a member of Sisonke Masilwe Indlala (SMI). SMI is doing a good job of building community by empowering its members. After an SMI activity event we had in our community, more people asked me to help them with a garden in their yards. They are teachers, nurses, and others, who saw the display of the SMI community education workshop in our center and wanted to put to practice what they had learned.
The other thing I have done in my community is changing one of the projects, where they used the old way of planting, to perma-culture and the members of the project love it. They say perma-culture is fast and it helps them save money. They told me they don't buying anymore chemicals like Blue Death against insects. In perma-culture we use onion, garlic and tea-manure. These are things easily available to us, and we spend less money because of the overall perma-culture. approach. I keep on trying to help more people within these projects. Telling them to make their own seedlings rather than buying them in town. In future I want to have my own farm producing organic food. At my home I’ve already started my own small organic garden. Thandile D. is SMI’s newest youth member! We are so excited for her presence and energy! |
Perma-Culture
From Rubbish To Food Crops
by Yules Phliso of Southern Land Cape Committee and SMI Member
The dumping side |
A group of elderly women and men could not stand it any longer that a part of their community was being used as a dumping site. Four women and six men between the ages of 23 and 79 came together and started this life changing initiative in Kwa Nonquba, a neighbourhood in Mosselbay. These inspiring people started clearing the land after they got permission to utilize it from the Mosselbay Municipality. They grouped themselves under the name Vuka-Vuka Zenzele (Vuka), which means "Get up and do it yourself".
After they cleared the land, they started networking and liaising with different key players in their search for assistance to develop a vegetable garden in order to feed themselves and sell to the neighboring communities for reasonable prices.
Top soil for the garden |
They also received technical assistance from commercial and emerging farmers in the area. Some inputs like top soil were sponsored by construction companies, the municipality or commercial farmers.
Young plants in the Vuka garden |
Vuka struggled to get the garden watered because there was no source on the garden. Everyday, they had to cross the street with buckets of water to irrigate their crops. They still do not have a tap in the garden, but Southern Cape Land Committee bought them a Wendy house and a 2500 liter water tank, which the group uses as an alternative method to harvest water.
Vuka-Vuka coordinator Me Sisiwe Esther Sibawu |
The participants in the project received various types of training from different institutions to improve their farming skills. They are applying the indigenous way of planting and added the Principles of Permaculture to their current knowledge.
Vuka-Vuka would succeed,
no matter the circumstances!
Updated images of the Vuka-Vuka garden |
The effort of the group impacts the lives of many pre-school children as the project provides six crèches in Mosselbay with fresh vegetables. Vuka doesn't sell these veggies to the institutions but offers them as social contribution to the community in the fight against hunger and poverty.
A pre-school benefitting from the Vuka-Vuka initiative. |
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