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.
Part of our social responsibility in 2024 was the continued upliftment of two Day Care Centres, Xilaveko and Vision, in Acornhoek, Bushbuckridge. With funds raised by Danish Copenhagen Rotary Clubs, two VIP toilet blocks (for children and one adult) were constructed and completed at each centre.
Additionally, each centre received a donation of new children furniture and food bowls. We also managed to get blankets donated, through a club blanket drive, in July to keep the toddlers warm during winter.
Additionally, the roof of Xilaveko was in poor condition with major leaks. A very generous donation from Rhino Revolution Europe paid for the repairs of the roof which is now 100% watertight.
This is a wonderful team building experience for young people. It affords children and young people from rural areas the opportunity to learn and understand more about the rich interconnectedness of our local environment and wildlife.
For the first time in April, we sponsored 10 young people from the Seeds of Light Art Group to attend Koru camp.
The young people sleep in a camp in a wildlife conservation area and receive teaching about nature and the environment, game drives to see big five animals and other game as well as experiencing days and nights immersed in the African Savannah.
Every year in October we support Hlokomela (a primary health and social welfare organisation), on their Health Day. On 26th October we helped them again with their Fun Walk, called Tekkies4Tieties, at the Bosveld Village. This is a Breast Cancer Awareness Fun Walk of 5 km. At the same venue they also set up a mobile clinic for the public to test for HIV, BP and diabetes. Several of our club members joined the walk, whilst others ran the water table for the walkers.
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.
Pairs of pre-loved prescription glasses and non-prescription sunglasses are collected by the Club. These are donated to the Tshemba Foundation, a non-profit medical volunteer organization dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare in rural communities. The Tshemba Foundation works in conjunction with a local state hospital to provide optometry services for the local community. This project started in 2023 – 3024 with a huge donation of spectacles, from Rotary members in North Wales. With further support, the Rotary Club of Hoedspruit was able to donate urgently needed instruments to help the Foundation in their outreach work: a portable tonometer used to measure pressure within the eyes to screen for glaucoma, and a vertometer to test prescription strength in the donated spectacles.
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.
The Faith Burlington Crèche in Acornhoek had two very old and extremely unhygienic pit latrines for the use of 10 staff members and all their learners (146children).
With funds from a Rotary Foundation Global Grant, two waterless Enviroloo blocks (providing 8 new toilet cubicles) was built in 2023. The benefits of the project have been to provide physical safety for the learners, as well as much healthier, more environmentally friendly and more pleasant toilet facilities.
Further visits by Hlokomela Clinic staff will take place over the next four years. These visits will include a planned series of health and hygiene training sessions. Understanding water-borne diseases as well as other issues will form part of thisprogramme.
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
Twice a year, in April and September, selected learners from neighbouring secondary schools, are sent on a RYLA leadership experience at Warriors Academy, Magoebaskloof, Limpopo Province. Underprivileged learners are sponsored with the necessary equipment. This year we will be sponsoring four learners in September 2024 and another eight learners in May 2025.
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.
We regularly receive donations from members of our community. Members get together to sort out the donated items. Recipients are selected NGOs and crèches who were serve in our neighbouring communities.
We also had a blanket drive just before the onset of winter and the response from the Hoedspruit Community was fantastic. Richmond Crèche was one of several crèches to receive a donation of beautifully handmade blankets and baby fleecy blankets.
The Hoedspruit Rotary Club was chartered in October 2015 and the Club has Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) and Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) status, which means that there are substantial tax benefits to sponsors.