Newsletter Signup
Stay up to date with the latest developments from Zimele by joining our newsletter mailing list
Home 
Blog
Blog Blog entries written by Rosetta Heunis
| February 5, 2008 - iThemba Barbershop | |||
| Written by Rosetta Heunis | |||
| I wanted share with you another story from the field that captures the spirit of Zimele. The life of Mthobisi, Nkosingiphil, and Nkuleko demonstrates how a simple concept such as our savings group when combined with a person's determination and resourcefulness can enable even children to 'stand on their own two feet' Mthobisi and Nkosingiphil, two young orphan boys and their friend, Nkululeko who lives with his mother joined the iThemba Self-Help-Group in 2007. All three boys are in Secondary School. With their savings they bought a hair shaving kit and started a haircutting business to earn enough money to put themselves through school. Mthobisi and Nkosingiphile also use the money to buy food for their siblings. The savings and business skills they learned in the Self-Help-Groups taught them how to save and how to start and run their business. Mthobisi and Nkosingiphile said that it is tough to be a parent while you are still a child yourself. Fortunately, the membe... (184 more chars) | |||
| [ Back ] | |||
| September 28, 2007 - Meet Yvonne | |||
| Written by Rosetta Heunis | |||
| Yvonne is a middle-aged, African lady who lives in a one room house, all by herself just outside town. She was married, but her Zulu husband abused her and her only child and then left. He might be dead because Yvonne is now HIV/AIDS positive. Her family, who live just 100m away, have ostracized Yvonne when she became sick and her son, who worked as a fuel attendant in town, was arrested by police last year and is still in jail. The illness and worries was detrimental to her well being, physically she became very sick, it entered her soul, stole her dignity and confidence and left her bereft of any hope. Yvonne was nearly dead before she sought help from a hospice run by a Zulu granny. She was given (antiretroviral drugs) ARV’s and slowly but surely her body started fighting back. She recovered to such an extent that she was able to return home and reseal her house with mud before the summer rains started. She heard about Zimele and during a visit to her home, I co... (1182 more chars) | |||
| [ Back ] | |||
| September 19, 2007 - Drakensberg Crafts Group | |||
| Written by Rosetta Heunis | |||
| I visited the Drakensberg handicraft projects yesterday and was pleasantly surprise by the group’s commitment and enthusiasm. The groups has settled now (it’s not a situation of different people every time we meet with them) and they also formed a social support group. But I'll have to save story about the social support group for another time... Our workshop at Ketanie takes place under this tree. This is where the skills training, quality control and buying and selling happens. These ladies produce the embroidered blocks, which they produce at home; we pay them R4.00 per block. Their production increased from one block per week to 12 blocks per week, sometimes more, depending on the person and her situation (is she sick herself, does she care for a dying family member and the nr of children in the household). That’s why most of the ladies regard this as part time work. We then we take the blocks to a group of seamstresses in Loskop (also in the Central ... (1952 more chars) | |||
| [ Back ] | |||
| More... |
| March 30, 2007 - Return Home |
| April 6, 2007 - My Birthday |
| April 13, 2007 - Changing Lives Through Our Savings Program |
| September 11, 2007 - Swayimane CLA Launch |
Show archived blog entries by this user