South Africa: Diphuthantsheng drop centre

Diphuthantsheng drop centre is a non-profit organization operating at Mamehlabe village. It is under local municipality of Aganang under Capricorn district.  Now it is joined with Kwakwati CHBC operating under the name Kwakwati CHBC to become one big project no more Diphuthantsheng. It is first satellite drop-in centre of Kwakwati and the second satellite is at Kraztplaas Village

The organization was established in 2009 and registered as non-profit with social development and our ref no was 074-059. Now 047-715. We serve 106 orphans and vulnerable children on a regular daily basis.

Context

The established to alleviate poverty and crime by taking good care for orphans and vulnerable children to become a well-known Drop-in-centre in our area and generate activities that would remove orphans and vulnerable children from the streets to the centre. To provide healthy meals for orphans and vulnerable children.

Key Actions

To capacitate OVC with Life skill Education. Help them with home works after school keep them to the centre to avoid human trafficking. Keep them to avoid abuse, Drug abuse and alcohol abuse. Give them proper meals after school because some of them are living with their grandparents and are unable to take care of them

Partners

Social development and National Lottery that gives us the funds, Department of Education which give us the orphans and vulnerable children. Department of social development where we submit our narrative reports and register our organization. Headman of our villages that gives us opportunity to talk to our communities and give us the offices or place

Strategies    

Linked to two clinics and hospital Have partnership with -Department of Health and CDM, Headman, Ward Councillors, SASSA, SANCA Social development and National Lottery Department of Education through schools. Have partnership with Leokeng home based care, Ntshirwele drop-in-centre and Diphuthantsheng drop-in-centre where we refer our OVC to since 2009. Because of lack of funding, we agreed to take our partners into us and become one big organization.

Now we work together as one team and are busy applying for funding for all our programs. Department of education is giving us time to give health educations at their schools, Department of Health is where we get patients and refer them to through clinics and hospitals. We get approval to work within the community from Headman of our villages and they give letters for allowance to work.

Challenges

Resources needed, Buildings as we are renting an old two roomed house Enough space or Hall to host /conduct our awareness campaigns because we always hire some small tents More campaigns to teach our patients or beneficiaries about diseases, infection control, environmental and personal hygiene. Parents continue to encourage their children by coming to the centre to do their home works and have healthy food.

Long term Impact

We want to have our own building with a big hall to host campaigns. We like to see all our clients coming to our centre for counselling. We want to have a big photocopy machine for income generating project. We have a multidisciplinary team to maintain the organization’s spirit we are working harder to get more donors to establish the income project before department pull out

Some organizations like Leokeng CHBC, Diphuthantsheng DIC and Ntshirwele DIC. Kwakwati CHBC established and get funding from NLDTF through partnership and spent properly and now we are done big organization operating under bone name as Kwakwati CHBC.Like to have greenery as our sustainability plan, Internet café as sustainability plan,

Learning and Application

When we establish this organization we were empty handed not knowing what will be done. Social development showed us on how to work with various types of problem. It also helped us on how to communicate with communities .They showed us on how to report monthly, quarterly and annually. We now know how to handle the children and their problems.

Learned on good communication with community Learned how to solve problems in communities by referring to relevant stakeholders e.g. social workers. Leading and organizing or establishing other projects .We were from no experience now we can be finance, managers, nurses, cleaners and we thanks the department We learned on how to communicate with other people. Maintaining confidentiality. How to report to the department and donors How to record the incoming and outgoing funds of the organization, How to manage a group of people with different knowledge’s we learned on how to ask for funding from other donors. We learned on how to manage people with different knowledge’s. The more we work with partners the more we impress our funders and donors it shows that the organization has grown.