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ROTARY CLUB of the BREEDE RIVER WINELANDS
BONNIE PEOPLE PROJECT
Our small five-year-old Club links five towns in an impoverished rural area – Robertson, McGregor, Ashton, Bonnievale and Montagu. We’re proud of our record. Our food security scheme and nursery garden won Best Community Service Project award at the last DisCon. We have provided Hospice equipment, literacy aids, teaching materials and science lab equipment for schools, youth training weekends, support for disadvantaged university entrants, and many wheelchairs.
We are now working with a very poor informal settlement near Bonnievale, where there are high rates of joblessness, illiteracy, violence and alcohol abuse. Fetal alcohol syndrome is common and causes learning and behaviour problems. Many children are under-nourished, neglected, dirty, hungry, and very difficult to manage. The main focus of our project is to provide support for child care, early development and education.
We have rejuvenated a derelict building and established a day care centre. Facilities are still very inadequate and much remains to be done; for example electrification, upgrade of the kitchen & washrooms, irrigation equipment for the vegetable garden and leisure areas. We need equipment for the classrooms, play areas and office.
Though we are proud of what has been achieved so far, new government regulations call for higher standards – poor children deserve the same standards as those in prosperous communities. Training of staff to higher levels of competence will also be a vital part of this project.
PROJECT COSTS
Details of the equipment, infrastructure and training needs of this Project are set out below, covering the separate areas of need, in order of priority and urgency.
The total project cost,estimated early in 2011,is US $33 454.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Personnel who will be involved in this project are listed below
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
President: David Hall PO Box 372, Montagu 6720 d.hall@sheffield.ac.uk
Projects Director: Keith Poole PO Box 478, McGregor6708
k-mpoole@lando.co.za
Project Manager : Heidi van der Merwe PO Box 305, Bonnievale 6730 welcome@merwenstein.co.za
ROTARIANS INVOLVED
Ludi Matthee - assistant manager PO Box 66, Bonnievale 6730 ldmatthee@yahoo.com
Solinus Joliffe PHF - garden development 2 Mill Street, Montagu, 6720 solinusj@gmail.com
Juri De Vos - transport & community relations PO Box 441, Bonnievale, 6730
PROJECT TIMELINE
From past experience of executing matching grant projects of this magnitude, we believe that the Bonnie People Project can be completed within 18 months of the funds becoming available. All costs shown below are in US $.
BONNIE PEOPLE PROJECT - REQUIREMENTS
1. TRANSPORT Cost US $ C.25 000
A suitable vehicle is required for several purposes. Children are transported from the informal settlement to the facilities at the Bonnie People Centre. Grade R schoolers are transported to the Krabbelland School at Happy Valley in the nearby town of Bonnievale, soccer players to attend matches, girls to dance classes, patients with AIDS to the doctor or clinic, old people to special functions for the elderly etc. etc.
It is very important, especially working with children, to ensure safety when they are transported. A suitable vehicle would be for example a 16 -18 seater bus, such as a 2,7 litre Toyota Quantum. Although a new vehicle would be ideal, experience of using a 3 year old, low mileage, secondhand vehicle on another RC Breede River Winelands project has been very satisfactory.
VEHICLE REQUIREMENT:
Toyota Quantum 2,7 litre
(Licensed and registered)
Competing vehicles are at similar prices. However, although a new vehicle would be ideal, experience of using a 3 year old, low mileage, secondhand vehicle on another RCBRW project has been very satisfactory. Such a vehicle could probably be bought for US $ 25 000 but the exact price will depend on vehicle availability at the time when funds become available.
2. WASTE WATER DISPOSAL Cost US $ 3 500
The existing arrangements for disposal of waste water and sewage are not acceptable to the municipal authorities and must be up-graded. A fully equipped containerised kitchen has been donated by overseas benefactors but this can only be utilised after improvements to waste disposal have been made.
3. POWER SUPPLY Cost US $ 1 000
ESKOM, the electricity supply company, has installed power only to the site boundary. Onward connections are the responsibility of the site owner and power will be needed to connect to the kitchen container, which is already fully wired internally.
4. PLAYGROUND REQUIREMENTS Cost US $ 2 900
Although Grade R children (5-6 years old) were originally taken care of at Bonnie People, new government regulations now require them to attend the school at Krabbelland pre-primary school in Happy Valley, a suburb of Bonnievale town.
Recreational facilities there are non-existent: there is no shade, no grass to play on, no sand pits, no trees and no playground equipment. It is a very unwelcoming, unfriendly, environment. Children simply line up against the wall during breaks, as there is not much stimulation on the playground.
The proposed equipment will also benefit the wider community, since it will be used by all of the 150 children attending Krabbelland. The equipment needed comprises a jungle gym with swings, slides, see-saw and a climbing frame; sand play stands with tools & shade covers; and an irrigated grassed area.
5. VEGETABLE GARDEN REQUIREMENTS Cost US $ 1 800
This garden, a very important part of the Bonnie People Centre, serves three purposes:
* to supply fresh vegetables, herbs and fruit to the kitchen
* to teach children and adults that you can grow your own food
* to have enough to sell and make the garden self sustainable.
At present there is an enclosed fenced area where some vegetables are grown. However, due to the lack of effective access to water, not much can be done. With correct facilities the garden will ensure a good supply of vegetables and fruit.
The Sonneblom Trust, established several years ago with support from the Rotary Club of the Breede River Winelands, created and now operates many community vegetable gardens. The experience of the Trust staff in setting up irrigated vegetable gardens can therefore be utilised for Bonnie People.
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