Masupatsela

MVELAPHANDA HOME BASED CARE
DIRECTED by LESEDI MOGOATLHE
EDITED by ENOCK VALOYI
TX 14 September 2009

Mvelaphanda Home Based Care was started by Sakaria Ramavhaka to look after the frail and vulnerable in the villages around Tshiombo in Limpopo. Bernard Liphadzi and Mavis Mathube are two young people who volunteer with the Mvelaphanda Home Based Care project. Bernard is the vice-chair of Mvelaphanda and Mavis is the project co-ordinator.

Mavis says that working on this project has taught her compassion and that she can make a difference in people’s lives. Bernard values the fact that he is able to have a positive impact on people’s lives and would like to be able to study medicine to understand disease on a deeper level to be able to provide medical care to people in their homes.

The Mvelaphanda volunteers go door to door on foot around Tshiombo, checking in on all the people who may need their help. They don’t only provide physical care, they provide moral support too – encouraging people to be strong and to care for each other.

Emily Marubini, who is HIV positive, says that she always looks forward to the visit from the Mvelaphanda volunteers because they cheer her up and leave her feeling happy. She says that because of them, she knows she is not alone.

Sadly, Emily Marubini passed away after we filmed with her and the Mvelaphanda Home Based Care project. On the day we filmed with her, her smile outshone everyone else’s.

TO CONTACT AND CONTRIBUTE TO MVELAPHANDA HOME BASED CARE:
please contact Olga on +27 83 372 9537

IF YOU ARE MOVED TO START A HOME BASED CARE ORGANISATION, HERE ARE STEPS TO FOLLOW:
- register your organisation as an NGO
- get local people involved in your project
- hold regular meetings for people to share new ideas
- share ideas around fundraising
- apply to government and private funders for support
- organise training for your volunteers
- find a place that you can use as a base for your organisation

JEANNY’S SOUP KITCHEN
DIRECTED by CANDICE PRINSLOO
EDITED by JEMIMA SPRING
TX 14 September 2009

When Regina Edwards and her husband wanted to move into and build their house in Malabar, Jeanny noticed that the children she  encountered in Malabar were always hungry. This prompted her to make a huge pot of soup for the children every Saturday, which was met with appreciation and satisfied bellies.

The longer Jeanny lived amongst the people of Malabar, the more she realised that a Saturday soup kitchen was simply not enough. Jeanny then started catering to the hungry in Malabar two days a week and the foundation for ‘Jeanny’s Soup Kitchen’ was laid. When she lost her job, Jeanny used her unemployment grant to buy the soup and her husband would supply the bread.

Today Jeanny is still unemployed, Jeanny’s Soup Kitchen feeds people three times a week, Jeanny and her husband are divorced, and the project receives donations of clothes and shoes from various donors. Everyone who works at Jeanny’s Soup Kitchen is a volunteer, including Jeanny’s sister, Albertine Pitt.

Jeanny is an integral part of the community and the work she does with the soup kitchen, along with her volunteer work at Gelvandale Clinic is to ensure the welfare of the children where she lives. This work is so important to her that she prefers to lives by herself in a Wendy house without power and running water, rather than with the rest of her family in their parents’ home.

Hats off to Jeanny!

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OR TO CONTRIBUTE TO JEANNY’S SOUP KITCHEN:
contact Jeanny on +27 83 673 8155.

TO START A SOUP KITCHEN LIKE JEANNY DID, HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO SO:
- recognise that there are people around you who need your help
- round up friends and others who are  willing to assist
- equip yourself with the skills needed to help
- raise funds in your community for anything that you may need to buy
- use the little you have towards making your project a success

PLEASE SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE TO SEE FURTHER IMAGES FROM THE STORY ON JEANNY’S SOUP KITCHEN

REGOLELE
In 2007 we met with Thekiso Gatsietsi who started the Regolele Support Group in Maruping in the Northern Cape. Regolele aimed to help people living with HIV and AIDS, orphans and poverty stricken people. In episode 8 we speak to Thekiso to find out how Regolele has been doing over the past two years.

FOR MORE ON REGOLELE SUPPORT GROUP:
contact Thekiso on +27 83 691 3327 or email him.

SCREEN GRABS FROM THE MVELAPHANDA AND SOUP KITCHEN STORIES: