Newsflash - 22 May 2003

During the last few weeks God has been putting on our hearts a part of the vision that I have up till now not given much attention because it would need a lot of money to accomplish. Starting the orphanage.

But then lately the subject kept coming up and everywhere I turned I walked into people who said we must do something to assist the thousands of orphaned children in the village. So I started writing people, but most of it ended nowhere, and I though maybe it is not time yet. But then I spoke to someone and he told me to put it on paper again. And as I sat down and started writing it felt so right and God started growing the small seed and adding to the plan. I am extremely excited by what God has shown me. 

What started as something very small has outgrown my small vision. The end result will be a project that will provide jobs, provide shelter for at least 2000 kids, have a school, a clinic for AIDS orphans and provide a Christian, family environment for the children. And the best thing is that after the initial investment the project will become self-sufficient. In my mind I know it will be very long term, but in my spirit I know God can and will do miracles, and I can’t wait to get things started as I can’t wait to see my God do the impossible.

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Here is the first draft of our plan, and we will add to it as time goes on as God is still growing and adding as I meet with people. The page loads slow so please be patient.

BreakThrough

Care 

Center

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General Information

1)  Who we are

The Rural Development Group aims to bring change to the lives of underprivileged children and parentless children in Phuthaditjhaba, South Africa. The directors of RDG are TP Mokoena and WA Jansen van Rensburg. Both directors have been working with children throughout their lives. After growing up in this area, Thabo Mokoena went to Bible school at Sweet-Waters in Kwazulu-Natal. After finishing his studies he worked with Mission to African Youth in the schools of Qwaqwa. In Lesotho he worked as a counselor for the Sefako Agricultural Development and later as general manager for the Sefako Agricultural Project. Returning to Qwaqwa he took up pasturing the ICHA church of which he is also a director. Presently he is a chairperson at Naka School and part of the Pastor’s Forum of Qwaqwa.  Wim van Rensburg studied as an accountant before starting his own business in Bloemfontein. Both himself and his wife were actively involved in youth work while staying there. In 1999 the family moved to Harrismith from where they do ministry work under youth in Qwaqwa. Presently they run BreakThrough Ministries, a non-denominational and self-funded missions organization. The aim of BreakThrough Ministries is summed up in their motto: Changing Tomorrow, Today. In essence this means bringing a change in the lives of the children they work with that will positively and measurable effect the future of these children.

2)  The need

Officials agree that at least 1000 boys live on the streets of Qwaqwa. They have no place to turn to and no one is really giving them much attention. Then there are an estimated 2000 children living together in shacks without adult supervision. Many children lose their parents through aids. With the orphanages already looking after more children than they can accommodate, other families take these orphans in, but in many cases they themselves succumb to this disease. This leaves the children to look after themselves. Many times you will find up to 10 children aged from 1 year to 20 years old, sharing a house. There are people trying to help these families of children and it is thought that there are at least another 2000 children living like this.

Another big problem people here face is caring for terminally ill family. Not only does it take up most of their meager funds, but it also prevents a member of the family from either working or going to school because someone needs to be on call all the time. With the sharp increase of AIDS more and more families are suffering the hardship of having to look after a helpless member of their family.

3)  Our Objective

Children need adult supervision. Not only do they need someone to take responsibility for them so that they can focus on growing up, but they also need someone to model him or herself on. Without an adult role model a child will never learn what is right or wrong or what is acceptable. If they never have an adult to teach them to respect human life they will have no respect and crime might be an easy way to survive. But by allowing small kids to look after themselves we rob them of their childhood, and that is something that can never be given back.

We plan to put these children in loving family environments, where they can grow up being loved and cared for by both a father figure and a mother to nurture them. This will be accomplished by placing a married couple in a house with 6-8 children. The houses will be built on a farm run in the kibbutz style, where the adults farm during the day and the children go to school on the facility. Farming will sustain the people living there and provide income to expand the facility.

We envisage a clinic that will not only care for the families, but will also provide a place for orphaned babies, and especially for AIDS babies. It will also cater for terminally ill patients, providing a tranquil place of rest. Medical personnel can be on hand to take care of their medical needs and the people from the churches we work with will provide friendship and counseling.

Also planned is a Tourist Center where local artists can produce and sell their work. It will include a restaurant where local cuisine can be enjoyed, at the same time generating income.

4)  The Project

• Purchase Farm & basic equipment for labor intensive micro farming.
• Construct houses that can house 2 parents and 6-8 children.
• Private school using curriculum that are internationally accepted.
• Farming with vegetables to provide work, food and income to grow and sustain the project. Organic farming is a possibility looked at.
• Raising chickens. 4 chicken runs and again the possibility of free range chicken farming. Free range would be for marketing only.
• Building a dedicated day care facility for pre-school children from the facility.
• Building of a clinic to provide health care to the families, AIDS babies and terminally ill patients.
• Construction of a Biogas plant to provide in the need for energy for cooking and heating.
• Construction of a Bio-diesel plant to provide in the center's needs and to generate income.

5)  Continuity

A project like this can only succeed if good business principles are adhered to. That would mean accountability of the people involved. A good bookkeeping system with checks and balances should be implemented with quarterly audits.

Input from people knowledgeable in the methods of farming with the crops planted should be welcomed and adhered to. Planning should be done with these people to assure the right crops are farmed to maximize profit.

All people volunteering to act as foster parents should be screened and enrolled in parenting classes. A standard set of rules should be drafted and foster parents should at all times comply with these.

6)  Viability

With good financial planning, the involvement of the community, training and sound leadership this project has huge potential to be a pilot project for many other similar projects. The methods of farming are low risk and the market for the products is close by and untapped. Other similar farming projects by international organizations have proved to be successful in other parts of Africa. The time span on all the phases of development is very conservative and it is projected that financial independency can be achieved much earlier.

Once established the potential to branch out into other areas that can provide low risk income are endless. Some of these might include tourism and job creation projects that cater for this market segment.

Addendum:

In short explanations of some of the needs, and the direction we will be moving in.

·         Farm

We are currently involved in negotiations with government, local tribal leaders and private landowners to find if land cannot be made available to us for the project. Unfortunately there are certain specifications any land bought or donated must comply with for overall success. Some of these are:

1.       Close proximity to the town to make the project in easy reach of people from outside offering assistance, but far enough to prevent, especially street kids, from having contact with bad elements.

2.       Available water and arable land.

3.       Bordering on main road for future development of tourism trade.

       ·         Houses

Children will be housed 8 to a house with a parent couple. Provision must therefore be made for a dining room and lounge that can accommodate 10 people. Boys and girls will be housed in different rooms. The housing complex will be built on a single level in an African theme, and in such a way that even though they are semi-detached, each unit will have it’s own private garden in front.

·         Furniture

Should be of a type that can stand up to abuse, while still making the inside warm and homely.

·         Classrooms

Should be large enough to accommodate 24 children. As education will be computer based provision must be for 24 computers in every room.

·         Computers

We have been I contact with organizations about the donation of computers, and once we secure financing for the project these negotiations can be finalized.

·         Future Kids

It might be possible that Future kids might sponsor some of the costs as they have shown a willingness to be involved in projects like these on a previous instance.

• Vehicle

A vehicle will be needed to buy food and to take the crop to market. At the start of the project a used vehicle will suffice.

• Vegetables

One of the first ventures to make the project self-reliant and provide food for the children is to farm with vegetables. There is a big market for vegetables locally and we have a market agent that will buy from us once the local market has been satisfied. Many farmers in the mountain areas where we are looking at establishing the project are farming organically. A huge market is developing for these types of products in the major cities, but not many farmers are involved in pure organic farming. The altitude and temperature in the mountains are perfect as it provides produce at different times of the year, but is not as prone to insects and disease as the lower lying areas. We are also looking into planting some types of vegetables in tunnels so a year round crop of these vegetables can be produced.

• Chickens

The market for chickens are growing for the simple reason that it is the cheapest meat available. We have been involved in rearing and marketing chickens before and are familiar with the industry. We also know the potential of the market and it will not only supply in our own demands, but will provide an excellent platform to raise additional income.

Another untapped market is rearing free-range chickens. This would be for market only as there is a premium on animals reared this way.

• ·         Biogas

Once the facility is operational enough fuel will be produced to run a biogas facility that can assist in the need for energy to cook and heat with. Outside assistance and know how will be sought to run this effectively.

• ·         Bio-diesel

Once again we believe enough raw material is produced in the area to run such a plant. With that we can not only supply in our own needs, but potentially earn income.

• ·         Clinic

We foresee many of the children to be HIV positive and as the project grows and we take in more HIV orphans, a clinic will be of utmost importance to care for these children. It was mentioned that government might get involved in this part of the project and proposals will be made to them at a later stage. A group from Europe also showed interest in partnership to facilitate the building and running of the clinic. The clinic will also cater for terminally ill patients that will be housed close by.

• ·         Day care center

In the first phase of the project we plan to focus on older children, but as the project grows younger children will be taken in and the need would develop for a day care center to look after the young while the parent families are at work.

• ·         Tourist Center

There is a need for local artists to show their goods to the tourists passing by. We plan to build a authentic village where the artists can live and tourists can see how the items are made. It will also include a restaurant serving local cuisine for the tourists to enjoy.

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Please note that this is a preliminary first draft as we are still awaiting final figures and still need to calculate projected income from projects.

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