UMTHATHI TRAINING CENTRE

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Contents

March - August 2006: Report

Umthathi provided a six-month report on their activities from March to August 2006. It included the following segments on the programmes funded (in part) by Soweto Connection.

School Community Gardening Programme

20 disadvantaged rural and township schools are currently participating in this programme. Flight 2 was a short term as there were many public holidays and it was an exam term that mainly affected the High Schools. Schools are preparing to start herb gardens after the school facilitators organised a specialised workshop in Grahamstown and are planning one in Peddie. We have started to include aspects of the Agriplanner programme in our training material which provides a stronger focus on income from the garden. Activities in the gardens were largely around harvesting as this was the second term and the large plantings of the first term, particularly in the new schools, were ready. Many of the schools are using vegetables grown in their gardens for their soup kitchens, which feed needy learners. Some of the surplus vegetables are also being sold by schools to educators and community members. Several schools are preparing their grounds for the herb gardens and for planting seedlings. Some of the learners work in the garden after school hours purely for the joy of it.

During the third term, practical work in the garden was severely compromised by unseasonably wet weather leading to a number of weeks of theory covering compost making and the role animals play in agriculture. One of the facilitators decided to change team members so that the learners experience working with different people; much of what is taught relies of teamwork making this an important part of the programme. Attention was shifted during weeks six and seven towards environmental education and awareness of the importance of trees in preparation of Arbour Week and associated activities during Arbour Day. In all the local primary schools, the focus was slightly changed from income generation to soup kitchens. The Department of Education has given each school a four-burner stove and pots so that they are able to cook for needy children. All these schools are involved in an extensive programme related to HIV/AIDS; the orphans together with the other learners at the schools. This programme is a joint venture organised by Health Promoting Schools , Social Development and the Makana Municipality .



Cooking, Nutrition & Health

We are pleased to note that far more of our participants in this programme already have some accurate knowledge concerning HIV and AIDS. Previously, this programme was very often the first exposure to reliable information on HIV/AIDS.

The Cooking and Nutrition Unit trained 15 groups during Flight: 2 in Port Elizabeth, 10 in Peddie and 3 in Grahamstown; with one group in Grahamstown being cancelled due to poor organisation by a third party. In total, the unit trained 179 participants; 75% of expected for the period; 61 people less than planned. This Flight's participants were mainly female and Youth with Mid to High levels of education.

During Flight 3, the Cooking and Nutrition Unit trained 23 groups: 16 in Port Elizabeth and seven in Grahamstown; with two groups in Tamarha being cancelled. In total, the unit trained 257 participants; 107% of expected for the period; 17 people more than planned. Although Umthathi's general participant profile is mainly woman the small number of men trained during this period is exceptional and is largely due to the composition of the co-operative association we worked with.

March 2006: Jerseys Delivered for Township Clubs

In March, Sheila of Soweto Connection delivered three full sets of jerseys and a dozen soccer balls to Umthathi, for distribution to township clubs. These were given to Mpumelelo who deals with rugby, and Xolani who is involved with several soccer clubs. They will make a plan for the use of the gear, possibly using it as prize for a township tournament.

Sheila presents soccer balls to Xolani.
 

August 2005: Schools Community Gardens Report

In August 2005, we received the following in a letter from Umthathi:

"Thank you for your most recent funding support received in April this year. The majority of your important contribution to our work was used towards the School Community Gardens Programe. A teacher at one of the schools (now in year two of the Programme), Samuel Ntsiko Primary, commented that the soup kitchen they have established using the vegetable garden produce is helping the many children sick with AIDS illnesses"
Clint Cockcroft and Mpumelelo Mteto of Umtathi showed Soweto Connection around some of the schools participating in the school community gardens program in June 2004. Here are some of the photographs taken then and at other dates since..

FIKIZOLO SCHOOL
The school children gather in their community garden to show off the produce to Umthathi and Soweto Connection (June 2004)

Children queue at lunchtime for soup made from vegetables harvested from the school community garden (June 2004)

A view of the school community garden at Fikizolo in June 2004.

In September 2004 Clint Cockcroft of Umthathi reported that Fikizolo just had a large harvest from their garden and had replanted. He sent this photograph of the replanted garden.

This replanting was financed by Soweto Connection.

SAMUEL NTLEBI SCHOOL
School children tend to their garden during a mid-morning break from class.

Working on the garden: the older children in the school are given the responsibility of tending to the vegetables. As with almost all the schools in the township, the ground is difficult to cultivate and requires constant watering and tilling.

A shot of one of the classes in the school.
TANTYI LOWER SCHOOL

Children pick weeds from one of the vegetable patches in their community garden. During the week parents of some of the children and other members of the community  often come to work on the garden also.

Mpumelelo from Umtathi explains some aspects of  vegetable gardening to some of the older children in the school.
T.E.M. MRWETYANA SCHOOL

Another well-tended vegetable garden is maintained by children during the school day.
In T.E.M. Mrwetyana, as in many of the schools in the province, a lot of school-goers do not get regular meals at  home. Here soup is being prepared for children who would otherwise go hungry, using vegetables from the garden. 

The staff at  T.E.M. Mrwetyana have plans to increase the size of their school community garden. Here is a view of the limited and unfertile space into which they will have to extend.

Mpumelelo Mteto of Umtathi Training Project discusses the funding of the school community garden program at Fikizolo School in Grahamstown with Sheila Killian of Soweto Connection.

You can visit Umthathi's website (http://www.umthathi.co.za/) for more information about the organisation and their work.