Hand In Hand Southern Africa’s Training Manager Mr. Chiliza Nkabinde handing over Kitchen Utensils
donated by Hand In Hand Southern Africa

Hand In Hand South Africa celebrates Mandela Day with vulnerable children

It was all joy and celebration when a non-profit organization, Hand in Hand Southern Africa, officially
handed over a newly built structure to the Titirheleni Drop in centre in Mafarana village, as part of the
Nelson Mandela Day celebration.

Hand in Hand is an NGO whose vision is to eradicate household poverty amongst the underprivileged,
with focus on income generation. Hand in Hand does this by empowering women, youth and the
disabled through capacity building, enterprise development and facilitating access to micro finance.

The Centre which feeds vulnerable children was identified by a Hand in Hand Cluster Coordinator,
Martha Shokane. Through Hand in Hand training, Shokane has also assisted the group to start saving
R30 per month to be used towards starting a vegetable garden, which will generate income for the
group.

From a visit by the CEO, Hand in Hand observed the various challenges faced by the drop in centre, one
of them being the limited space and inadequate cooking equipment used by the centre.

A donation from Hand in Hand Sweden assisted in the building of a three-roomed structure that would
add to the one-roomed structure currently used by the drop in centre.

Hand in Hand Southern Africa donated kitchen utensils, cleaning materials, a water tank and food that
will last up to three months. In addition to this, Hand in Hand staff partook in the Nelson Mandela Day’s
67 minutes of goodwill by assisting with the painting of the building, preparation of food and spending
time with the children.

According to the centre’s Coordinator, Ms Nomsa Shingange, the centre has been in operation since
2009.

It was started by the group of 13 people (12 women and 1 man) to address the needs of orphans and
vulnerable children in Mafarana Village. The centre is registered as a non-profit organization and cares
for 86 young and school going children aged between 6-17years old. The children are provided with
meals and assisted with their homework by the centre.

Shigange said the centre does not receive any funding and relies on a R100 contribution made by the
group to continue providing services to the poor children. Shingange expressed appreciation for the
donation saying it will go a long way in helping them realise their dream of providing a better future, for
the vulnerable children in their village.