Page 59 - Rural Voice III - Responding to a Pandemic

With our second payment from SCAT, we went to the farms to hand out food parcels. We communicated with farmers and luckily there were no labour issues. However, once the alcohol ban was lifted, farmworkers involved in quarrels with farm owners lost their jobs.
communiTy supporT neTworks ThaT helped during The pandemic
SCAT was our biggest supporter during the pandemic. We also applied to Food Forward for food to start our nutrition centre, where about 70 people come to the office and receive a balanced cooked meal three times a week.
With limited funding, to think out of the box is the only way a small NGO like us can survive. Money is not the only resource. We started COVID-19 workshops, where the clinics came and shared information about the pandemic, the virus, and how to keep ourselves safe. The workshops were kept small, with only 30 people invited at a time.
We also arranged a gender-based violence workshop, in which more than 50 people participated. For the first time, the police participated. We also had Molo Songololo there, a new partner that works to protect the rights of children.
lessons learnT from The pandemic
COVID-19 is still here, and is probably going to be with us for a long time. I have a son in grade 12. I remember the first two weeks of lockdown in my own space, in my own house. I’m a community worker, but I’m also a single mother, so there’s no caregiver who stays at home when I go out to work. I remember a moment in the first two weeks of lockdown when I saw the fear on my child’s face. I told him that if God allows COVID-19 to come here, we will face it together. The lesson learnt from the pandemic is that nothing is promised. We must do whatever we can do today, and do it to our utmost. with COVID-19, there’s no time to show off or be in the spotlight. When I saw poverty and uncertainty in the eyes of our community, I realised I must do something good from my heart and make a difference.
“With limited funding, to think out of the box is the only way a small NGO like us can survive. Money is not the only resource.”
Training workshops
R 5693
Grant given for data and connectivity
R 1788
RURAL VOICE III: RESPONDING TO A PANDEMIC
59