-

-

General Information

Kenton-on-Sea is located in the Eastern Cape of South Africa and situated between two gorgeous rivers called the Bushmans River and the Kariega River. But next to the absolutely stunning beaches there is more to do in the environment of Kenton. Think of horse riding, snorkling, river sports, game viewing and so on. Browse to the Kenton-on-Sea page to read my reviews about various activities I have done in the environment of Kenton or go to the Kenton Website for information about accommodations and other stuff. But besides of all the fun activities to do here in Kenton there is also a lot of help needed by improving the conditions of the communties in the townships. Luckely there are already some fantastic organisations which are working on this goal. One of those organisations is called Kariega Project.

Kariega Project is a non profit organisation which focuses on creating an ecosystem in which the communities can use their available resources like talent, willpower, passion and people. The Kariega Credit System is a result of this focus. The Kariega Credit System is a virtual marketplace where communities can sponsor projects or social services by doing community service. One hour of community service is equal to 1 Kariega Credit which is equal to 20 South African Rand. Through this system an opportunity is given to the community to help improving their own environment. Read more about Kariega Project on their website but go to my Kariega Project page to read all about my view on the projects, for reviews of volunteers, to see what is happening and more.

Kariega Project

In General
Kariega Project is a non-profit organisation that operates in the Kenton-on-Sea area. Its mission is simple, but ambitious: to create a community better than the generation before. To do achieve this worthy mission, Kariega Project works to create an ecosystem of social change within low-income communities. This ecosystem of change operates from the bottom-up and is driven by community needs, rather than by a traditional model of imposing solutions and philanthropic agendas.

At the heart of its work is an innovative financing system called ‘Kariega Credits.’ Kariega Credits empower local communities to fund and implement grassroots development programmes by allowing them to generate virtual currency (Kariega Credits) through service to their community. Participating organisations and communities then use these credits to ‘buy’ support and services that they would otherwise be unable to access. If community needs and desires are the fuel of social change, Kariega Credits is the engine.

Kariega Project is spearheading three different projects. Its flagship project is the Marselle Impact Hub, which is based on the need for a suitable home for educational programmes and initiatives to benefit the multiple low-income communities around Kenton. When completed, the Marselle Impact Hub will contain 6 multi-functional classrooms built out of refurbished shipping containers, an outdoor training area, and a community garden. Once operational, the Hub will serve as a base for computer training, homework support services, and entrepreneur and business development services.
Another important project, called the 10K Tree Challenge, aims to plant 10,000 trees by 2025 in low-income neighbourhoods around Kenton-on-Sea. In addition to the obvious environmental benefits, the 10K Tree Challenge seeks to improve dignity, safety, and prosperity by altering community perception in these urban environments. In doing so, Kariega Project hopes to improve the liveability and vitality of participating neighbourhoods.

Kariega Project’s third project, the Mobile Computer Lab, is about giving communities access to laptop computers. The goal is for Kariega Project to obtain and maintain roughly 10 to 20 working laptops. Due to the mobility of laptops, participating communities have access to laptops at a variety of locations on an ad hoc basis. Currently, Kariega Project has 10 laptops, all of which have been donated. When the laptops are reserved by participating organisations or communities, Kariega project volunteers deliver the laptops to a pre-determined venue and provide educational and technical assistance. Currently, the laptops are being used for educational purposes, business development training, and adult education.

On top of its projects, Kariega Project is also operating a growing volunteer programme called Kenton Cares. Kenton Cares affords both local inhabitants as well as out of town volunteers the opportunity to engage in bite-sized community development experiences. The volunteer programme is uniquely set up to ensure that participating volunteers have twice the amount of social impact as most other volunteer opportunities. This is because, along with their own volunteer activities, volunteers sponsor a corresponding amount of Kariega Credits, which have to be earned by participating groups by undertaking their own community service. As a result, volunteers are at the heart of Kariega Project’s ecosystem of social change! Kenton Cares volunteers engage in a variety of activities like early childhood learning, English language lessons, entrepreneur development, and a variety of other community service activities.

Kariega Project offers interested individuals and businesses a variety of ways to join its family. To get involved, you can fund one of its three primary projects, volunteer for Kenton Cares, or donate a laptop to the Mobile Computer Lab. The opportunities are endless. So if you are interested in creating a community better than the generation before, go to www.kariegaproject.org or contact them at skelly@kariegaproject.org.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

School Visit in Klipfontein

Today I went with the volunteers of Kariega Project to an after school day care in the township called Klipfontein. Klipfontein is a coloured community and they speak mostly Afrikaans. This was the second time I visited the school and I absolutely fell in love with these kids. This is why I decided to write a little piece about them.

When the volunteers of Kariega Project are going to this ‘Klipfontein Skool’ the lessons are mostly about teaching the kids English. These kids speak much better English compared to the kids in the township Ekuphumleni where I also wrote a little piece about. There are different games being done and from what I’ve witnessed till now the day starts with a story. After that the kids are being asked different questions to see what they’ve remembered from the story. Paige was doing very well, I really admire her for her ability to improvise. For example, one game she wanted to do wasn’t complete so she just gave a totally different twist to the game.

While I was actually just standing in the back to make pictures and to observe Cynthia managed to get me involved in the lessons (also very impressive because I’m not really teacher material). All the kids had to tell me an English word they had learned that day and I have to say they did actually very well. After the lessons a group of kids ran at me to hug me. It was so cute, I think there were about at least 10 kids hugging me at the same time. The other ones were standing in the line to give me a hug as well. Adorable.

It was so beautiful to see how grateful the kids were for the lessons. Besides this it was also funny how curious the kids were. When one girl touched my hair, and when I allowed it, some other girls had to touch it as well. After that they were also touching my nails (I had nail polish on) and my tattoo on my wrist.

But it’s still hard to see all those sweet, studious, enthusiastic and curious kids because I know that their future won’t be as rosy as I would have liked it to be. Life in the townships is a poor life and they are going to face much difficulties like unemployment, diseases, poor healthcare, early pregnancies or even rapes or drugs. Luckily the after school day care allows them to be a child for how long they can and I think that is one of the most beautiful things to see. 


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Volunteering Review

This review is written as a result of a very interesting wednesday morning. Volunteer Paige Orness went to do some homevisits together with our social worker Zelda from Child Welfare.

"Sad, interesting and eye-opening are the words that first pop up in my mind when I think of yesterday morning. Together with a social worker I went to a primary school in the township Marselle to meet three siblings. Those three siblings moved to Marselle from Port Elizabeth to live with their dad. When we arrived at the school we could only find the older brother. He told us his two younger sisters do go to the school in Marselle but that they aren’t in the school system yet. This was the interesting part because in the U.S.A. this could never happen. You just can’t show up at a school one day and go there without any transfer record or anything like that.

Anyway, the fifteen year-old boy told us his story about his mom and dad and about that they haven’t been together for 5 years but that they aren’t divorced. The sad part is that his parents really are not getting along and that he wanted to live with his father in Marselle. So he took a cab together with his sisters and they went by themselves.

Altogether this really was an eye-opener for me and I’ve learned so much about the crazy differences between South-Africa and the U.S.A. through the story of this little boy. I mean, you always hear the stories but you never realize how bad it actually is. I’m very glad I can be a part by helping these children."

-Paige Orness, 24 years old

Geen opmerkingen:

Een reactie posten

Abonneren op: Posts (Atom)