WHAT ARE WE UP TO?
The future is bright with a resource centre accessible to the community to help develop various skills in arts and culture, access to reading and study space, drama, basic life skills of cookery and needlecraft. We are currently working on a number of projects, both internal and external, to continue to support our grannies and our community.
In Our Community
Our response to COVID-19
Like most of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly challenged our community. We have implemented two outreach programs as part of our response. The first helps support our senior citizens. Basic essentials were distributed to 120 senior citizens in the community who lacked essentials like sugar, soap, cooking oil, and the like. The second round of senior citizens were reached with a bag of maize flour and a bucket of dried fish. Our second initiative supports women and girls in the community. After reports that over 12,000 girls were impregnated, we embarked on a project to keep the young girls and women trained in art and craft with the intention of having them train others in the future. This became known as our “Rug Project” which we will continue well into the future.
Rug Project for Women & Girls
12 women and girls were trained in the skill of making rugs to be sold at a profit. The profits will be used to train more women and girls in the future. Our goal is to train as many in our community to be self-sustaining so that they can take care of their grannies and children whilst they are still strong and can contribute to their personal and financial wellbeing rather than sitting idle.
The completed rugs are on sale at $50 (regular) and $120 (coffee table size) in the designs provided. More details to come on how to order coming soon.
Christmas Project
We are raised funds to provide grannies or the most needy in our community Christmas packages. They were distributed throughout the community over the holidays.
A $25 donation would include a package with the following:
Sugar - two 500g packets
Salt - one 250g packets
Soap - two tablets
Cooking oil - two liters
Rice - one 5kg bag
Chicken - 1 whole or a tray of 30 eggs
Flour - one 5kg maize
Completing our Space
Our number one long-term project is the complete construction of our center: the main hall, washrooms, kitchen, and storage areas.
Chemba’lira Hall
Our main hall is 90% complete, with the ceiling, solar panel installation, and proper flooring to be finished. We would also like to add some pillars outside to reinforce the stage in the hall.
Washrooms, Kitchen, & Store Rooms
Our washrooms currently have two pit latrines that are functional. A modern toilet facility is being constructed, with four toilets, separate for men and women.
The kitchen is next, along with a storeroom to keep all equipment on site and safe.
If you would like to contribute towards the completion of our community space, please visit our Donation page.
Small Events
We have held a few small events in our community center, and after construction is complete and when the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, we look forward to hosting more events and will work towards this being a regular offering.
