• Garden of Eden
  

  Purpose of the Project

  • To assist community to take responsibility for their own lives
  • To equip them with skills in developing & maintaining a vegetable garden
  • To provide the vulnerable/poor of the community with food, life skills & the Word of God
  • To provide food while giving skills, life skills and the Word of God

  Target Group

  • People who live on the streets, or in shelters in Arcadia and Moot area
  • The community members from Melgesedek shelter
  • The community members working in the garden
  • Families in need of food assistance

  The Driving Force: Nozipo

  • She is a very dedicated and reliable person who likes reaching out to the needy & destitute
  • She has been faithful & committed to the organisation & does voluntary work for 6 years now
  • Volunteers came & went but she has been that one volunteer that stood up for the success of the project
  • She is a hard worker and encourages community members to do it for themselves

• Promoting Community Cohesion

  An open community support group is presented every month to the residents of the demarcated areas of operation. No preconceived theme or topic is being addressed. The attendees decide what the topic of discussion will be. This group is facilitated by the social worker and has the value of safe social interaction and provides an opportunity to the community to discuss issues at hand and find ways of dealing with it.

  In order to improve social service delivery to and the upliftment of this much deserving community, it was of the utmost importance to focus on improving and building interpersonal relations, community cohesion and promote involvement from within the community, together with service providers, for their own prosperity.

  In order to address this need, different activities were initiated since 2012 aiming at laying down a firm foundation on which to build strong and positive relations with individual community members and the community at large… An event in the community, for the community together with the community itself!

• Pre-school group

  The aim of the pre-school group is to prepare disadvantaged children to be school-ready and to integrate into primary school education on an equal level to their classmates.

  The parents of the children involved are informed about the advantages of correct dieting healthy eating habits as well as the impact thereof on the child’s development and functioning

• Primary School group

  The aim of the home work group for primary school children from grade 1 to 4, is to prepare the children and the parents to cope with the educational challenges of the school programs at their level

The Pretoria-North Office mainly focus on statutory and preservation services and participates in.

During the 2006/2007 financial book year, a very valuable and much needed multi-purpose drop-in centre in the community, for the community and through the help of the community.

The drop-in centre serves to provide hope to a community where there is dire poverty and many social problems. Through the preventative programmes running at the drop-in centre, children are given tools to deal with what are often chaotic home circumstances. Both physical and emotional needs are addressed as children are fed and taught life-skills. These children return home being empowered to cope with life circumstances. This in turn gives them a feeling of pride and self-worth and perhaps the ability to dream of a better life for themselves one day. Families’ needs are also being addressed as parents and foster parents are learning how to be better parents to their children and foster children .Their own needs are also being met as they are being taught new skills, which in turn help them to provide an income for their families. This ultimately also gives them hope and gives flight to their own dreams.

The drop-in centre is ultimately a project aimed at helping a community to lift its eyes up and to start dreaming again.

The following projects and activities are presented from the Soshanguve drop-in centre in addition to the general services listed:

• Homework Project
  Providing assistance to children in grades 1 to 7 with a stable and a structured environment to study for a period of at least one hour. This can include homework or practicing reading and writing skills or any activity that will aid them in improving their academic performances. 35-40 children from the social workers’ caseloads and surrounding schools are identified annually. These children as well as the volunteers are also provided with a light lunch and they attend Mondays –Thursdays.
  A vegetable garden was recently started in order to grow fresh vegetable on the premises to be used for the preparation of meals.
  The children attending the homework project are also receiving life-skills training and were also recently involved in the maintenance and upkeep of the vegetable garden teaching them to take responsibility and enjoying the results thereof.
• Training Program for Volunteers:
  A training program for the volunteers affiliated to the Soshanguve office has recently been implemented. All volunteers who complete the training course are then formally registered as volunteers of the SAVF..
• Library
  A small library has been started for the children attending the homework project.
• Career Expo
  To facilitate an information day for children and youth, as well as their foster parents/care-givers, regarding the following:
  • Career options and available resources
  • Importance of a good and solid education
  • To encourage parents and foster parents to be actively involved in the children’s education.
• HIV/AIDS Awareness
  To empower foster parents with knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS treatment and support.
• Phaphamang Hand Craft Project
  The project is slowly growing and currently has 7 committed members in total. The group was initially intended tor the elderly but adapted to the changing need of the community and is open to individuals residing in the demarcated service areas of the Soshanguve Office. This project meets weekly for 5 hours. The project members are committed to and excited about this project and attend regularly. Members have learnt many skills already and and eager to learn more. They are able to provide the following products and are dependent on donations for material:
  • Cushions
  • Place Mats
  • Pillows & Covers
  • Duvet Covers
  • Beanies
  • Scarfs
  • Beadwork

A new program was recently implemented which focus on the prevention of teenage pregnancies and equipping teenage parents with the necessary parenting skills to become good parents.