PHOTOGRAPHY BY HANNA WIGART, DERRICK MULFORD, GEORGIE FOX AND KATHLEEN FELTHAM THROUGH ALERT, WITH OUR GRATEFUL THANKS

 It has always been our vision to create a beautiful place of meeting, exchange of ideas and learning for women and youth in the rural area.  A place where the youth can meet, play games, read books, go online, watch a movie and just ‘hang out’.  These are things that we take for granted and yet for most rural youngsters, they have never had these experiences.  An area for the little ones to play in a recycled themed playground with stimulating and educational playthings and to grow flowers. Where women can meet and have the opportunity to learn and practice new skills, and school leavers with no opportunities are assisted to gain employment through vocational skills training and have access to I.T. skills.

This dream has been realized, through the incredible generosity of our amazing donors - Two of three planned buildings (our Education Centre and Creatives Centre) are up and operational, as is the playground, all completed in October 2022, with the third building (the Women's Refuge) coming on line shortly. From the arid dust the buildings have arisen, watched closely and with mounting excitement by the surrounding rural dwellers. Local labour from the villages, headed by a master builder, have erected the structures, learning valuable skills along the way, meaning they now have the prospect of employment with larger construction companies. A much appreciated benefit that has arisen from having these wonderful bases to work from is that they provide the perfect space for us to collaborate with other NPOs and NGOs active in the area, so that we can provide the most possible for the communities as a united force. 

Collectively, the buildings, playground, sports fields and garden nursery with upcoming women's refuge are known as the Centres of Hope in honour of Kathy Cole, the founding contributor to the funding needed to bring this dream to reality. Beloved by the people of the area, she has been given the honorary monicker of Hope, so it was only appropriate to use this in the naming. Each building has a name meaning hope in the three main languages of the people who will benefit from the centres - 

Kubimba in Nambyan - Centre for Education and Literacy

iThemba in Ndebele - Women and Youth's Creative Skills Empowerment Centre

Bulangizi in Tonga - Women's Place of Refuge

We have also been able to set up:

Batoka Playground

Batoka Crocodiles Sports Facilities

Plant Nursery and Arboretum

To lear more about each area in detail, please click link.

We cannot give enough thanks to all the people and entities that have made this all possible - the beneficial changes to the lives of so many young people and women is immeasurable, all due to your generosity and kindness. We continue to dream and hope to grow these projects to expand the help we can bring to the community.