We use our knowledge of local issues to identify areas of need, then apply our expertise and diverse perspectives to find a solution. Rotary members are working in your community right now to feed the hungry, tutor disadvantaged children, maintain parks and playgrounds, and much more.
You can help.
Poulo Crèche is a well-managed but very basic day-care centre which provides a safe and secure environment for 110 young children under 5 years old.
Rotary’s input has included replacing roofs and windows, adding three new rooms, as well as a shaded structure with tables and benches and upgrading the kitchen area. Our future plans include improved sanitation and playground facilities. We have been greatly assisted through donations from Rotarians around the world.
In many of the rural areas around Hoedspruit there is considerable poverty. In March 2019 the Permaculture Project was started by the NGO Zingela Ulwazi Foundation. It is a project aimed at women-headed households which are below the international extreme poverty line. The aim is to raise these families above the line through the development of home gardens which grow enough healthy, fresh vegetables to provide improved nutrition for their families as well as extra produce which they can sell to generate additional income.
Rotary members have provided funding for fencing, shade netting and water tanks for this project and have ongoing contact with the day to day activities of the gardeners. This project has been identified by Rotary Hoedspruit as a significant initiative and it will receive additional funding in the future.
Our club members worked with skilled volunteers to train and support carers at the Centre to develop literacy skills and upgrade the existing library.
We also provided ongoing mentoring of staff.
The club has set up a sustainable sewing skills outreach project based at the centre to develop the needlework skills of the staff. Sewing machines and materials have been donated and it is hoped that basic sewing skills can be passed onto the children and used productively.
200 Lego kits for different age groups were donated by a Johannesburg Lego distributor. These have been made available to a number of educational facilities. Our members showed the carers how to use the kits and they in turn taught the children. This was a very successful club project.
A number of our outreach projects are conducted jointly with other charities such as the Hlokomela Women’s Clinic and the Seeds of Light organisation. Donations from Rotary clubs in other countries are channelled through our club to appropriate recipients in our club’s area of geographic reach.
Global grants support large international activities with sustainable, measurable outcomes in chosen areas of focus. By working together to respond to real community needs, clubs and districts strengthen their global partnership.
Grants can fund:
The Rotary Clubs of Hoedspruit and Sausalito, California, joined forces in raising funds to expand the range of services offered by the Hlokomela women’s clinic. This initiative filled a major gap in the local preventative medical landscape as the clinic is now able to offer first class wellness facilities for women. The service is free to those who cannot afford to pay. These two clubs are the custodians of the large, multi-year Global grant from the Rotary Foundation.
Two sharp-eyed Rotary members saw that Keletso Ntwampe was having difficulty walking around the school playground on his little club foot so they arranged for him to consult Dr Fatti at Tintswalo Hospital and immediate corrective treatment started. After obediently wearing his boot and brace every night as instructed, he is now able to run around the playground with his friends. This programme of identifying and sponsoring affected children will continue into 2020 and beyond.
Our club, in partnership with Hlokomela, helped with the distribution of thousands of mosquito nets to assist in malaria prevention.
Second-hand wheelchairs donated by international Rotary Clubs are given to disabled people.
RYLA AND INTERACT
We are actively involved in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) programme as well as establishing Interact clubs at local schools.
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards at Magoebaskloof. On Thursday 2 May 2019, four aspiring young leaders left Southern Cross Schools full of energy and anticipation on their way to a Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) camp, the first of many to be sponsored by Hoedspruit Rotary.