Page 61 - Rural Voice III - Responding to a Pandemic
P. 61

 Witzenberg community engagement, food & Katriena Kamfer (client) and right Marieta learning supplies distribution Hartzenberg WRDC Paralegal
When we had our first infection, there was a lot of chaos, because people weren’t sure how it would affect the rest of the town. The numbers then skyrocketed. We heard the infections started at the Ceres fruit growers’ factory. There was a lot of emotion, because people felt that this factory needed to close down, which meant they would have to stop working. Also, workers would go home and infect other people, as there wasn’t any social distancing. The owners and managers of the factory did give people PPE [Personal Protective Equipment] and implemented social distancing.
Fortunately, no one at our office and none of our immediate families were infected. My aunt, who works in an office of one of the factories, was infected, but she quarantined at home with her husband and child. She followed proper precautions.
projecTs and programmes in response To The covid-19 pandemic
We distributed food parcels, sanitisers, masks and pamphlets. We ran campaigns to make people aware of COVID-19 and what they should do to protect themselves. When we bought food parcels, we made sure soap was included. When we distributed the food parcels to community members, we also gave them cooked meals and explained to them how they should hand wash and sanitise to keep themselves safe. We assisted people who were dismissed from work, advising them using our phones, as we had to socially distance. We also monitored schools, to see if they were ready to receive learners when they opened their doors.
Many people came to our office for help with SASSA payments and we monitored to ensure people received their COVID grants. We assisted people who didn’t receive the TERS [COVID-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme] money and made enquiries with their employers. We supplied food for those who could not go back to work or who had lost their job. In total, we helped over a thousand families in Mduli, Die Bossie, Pine Valley and Bella Vista. We cooked food from our stock and then a school gave us their leftovers and private people also contributed after seeing our pictures on WhatsApp. A woman who worked for a landscape architect collected food and gave us a bakkie full of fresh vegetables and other produce, and food parcels, to give to people in the informal settlements. Fruit was also donated, which we went to fetch at Klapmuts, near Stellenbosch.
Food parcels distributed
172
COVID grant funding given to LDA’s
R 50 000
RURAL VOICE III: RESPONDING TO A PANDEMIC
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