Inkanyezi

Dear Friends of Soweto Connection.

Thank you very much for your very generous donation for the Aids orphans in Orange Farm. As you can see they were gathering together every afternoon in this old container which was much too small.

The Caregivers, who are very committed, get food from various sources every day and cook this food for the more than 80 children who come there in the afternoon. They also supervise the children's homework. What they needed was extra accommodation and now through your generosity they have this wonderful new container

It is bigger than the one Father Guido first told me about and it is thanks to your generosity that he was able to buy this one.

The container is beautiful inside. It has three windows and a door. As you can see, what it needs now are small tables and chairs for the children. The pupils, at the school which is attached to the convent where I am now living, have agreed to take on this poverty stricken area as their project for the year. They will provide the tables and chairs, books for the children, outdoor equipment and whatever else is needed.

Without your initial donation, none of this would have happened, and the pupils here might not have had such a worthwhile project. I want to thank you very sincerely for your thoughtfulness and help. I will keep you up to date with what is happening. May God bless and reward you all for your generosity.

Love and prayers

Sr Dolores

The needs of AIDS orphans and of child-headed homes has increased dramatically over the past year. I am using the money you sent me to provide food, clothing (especially uniforms), and in some cases (where there is no one to look after them) crèche fees for the orphans.

DECEMBER 2005 REPORT

Looking back on 2005 and our work for the HIV/AIDS patients, caregivers and orphans, we were very aware of what needs have been fulfilled and what must take priority in the future.

As in previous years we set up the sewing and knitting in five of the eight INKANYEZI Centres. The other three Centres had either no need or no accommodation for skills training at the time. There was a change at the Project Centres this year as Fr Guido, the Project Director, was no longer receiving the same funding for feeding the patients as he had received in previous years. The number of demands for food had increased and it was impossible to feed everyone. The INKANYEZI Board of Management decided to spread the funding available over the year and so what the patients considered essential for their main meal of the day such as meat and fish were left off the menu. The number of patients coming to the Centres gradually decreased as there was no proper meal provided for them. The caregivers go around to the homes of the patients to give them the care they need. At present many of the patients are on the Anti-retroviral treatment and need constant care.

Some patients and caregivers who had been coming to the sewing and knitting classes at the Centres for two and a half years felt that they would be able to run their own small business if they were given a start with sewing and knitting materials. We still had a lot of material from donations and so this was divided among them. Sewing machines were given to the patients and the rest of the machines were kept at the Centres for patients and/or caregivers who wished to come there to sew. Two Centres felt they weren't ready to go on their own and so the sewing classes will continue on two days Sewing class in Ext. 7B Orange Farm a week at these Centres next year.

A great need at the moment, which is the one the Soweto Connection is helping us with, is the plight of the AIDS orphans . This year the caregivers were continually bringing more and more vulnerable children to my attention and asking me to do something for them. With donations from the Soweto Connection, we were able to help a number of extra orphans. We supplied 30 more older children with school uniforms and food. They were the children of patients who died of AIDS. We also helped 12 younger orphans, 5 of whom are suffering from AIDS, with clothes and crèche fees.

These younger children are living with their grandmothers and need to attend a crèche in the morning where they can at least get one decent meal each day. I can foresee that the needs of AIDS orphans will be a priority in the future as more and more adults are dying of AIDS. The little boy on the left is Sphiwe Mabuza . He is 3 years old, has had TB and is HIV positive. He has attended a crèche for the past three months and is now very happy.

Thank you again for all you are doing for the HIV/AIDS sufferers of Orange farm.

May God bless and keep you all in His special care

Sr Dolores Cox

This photograph shows the inside of the crèche that take in AIDS orphans and other children before Sr. Dolores bought carpet, tables and chairs with the money raised by Soweto Connection.

Here are the same children sitting at the tables and chairs bought using the Soweto Connection money. Their feet are now on the grey/black carpet instead of the old torn blankets that were there previously.

The one on the left shows some typical homes, with good houses in the background. On the right you can see some houses with a small garden in from of one of them. And the photograph below shows some more houses, with the toilets across the road.