Women and Children Project in Port Elizabeth

Background

Port Elizabeth, now renamed Nelson Mandela Bay, is inhabited by aproximately 1.1 million people. It has the fifth largest city population in the country and is the second largest in terms of geographical area. The population of Nelson Mandela Bay is multiracial with Whites, Blacks, Coloured and Asians inhabiting the city; the predominant languages spoken are English, Afrikaans and Xhosa.

The areas where the Sisters of the Good Shepherd are ministering are Helenvale, Windvogel and Salt Lake, which are among the poorest areas.  According to 2008 statistics, the population in these areas is 23,991. The main occupations in the area include construction and taxi transportation, however, nearly half the population, mostly women, remain unemployed.

Problem

Although the municipality boasts of having met the basic needs of the poor, hundreds of families continue to live in shacks and are unable to get the basic services of education and healthcare. Because of extreme poverty, alcohol and drug addiction, as well as prostitution are rife. In order to increase employment opportunities, the women must be offered a variety of skills training which will also empower them, and enable them support themselves and their families

Objective

• To promote dignity and sense of self worth
• To provide them with hope for a better future.
• To educate and empower the women and children
• To create income generating projects

Activities

• Skills Training: Sewing, Toys, Bead work, Greeting Cards
• Finding markets for the products, locally as well as abroad through the Sisters of the Good Shepherd’ Projects known as: Trading Circle, Sharing Fair and Handcrafting Justice
• Offer counselling and workshops for Human Development and Self Awareness
• Offer Day Care for children
• Provide nutrition for people living with AIDS

Progress/Results:

June 2007: Sewing and soft toy making classes began, with five women from Windvogel, Hillside, and Salf Lake. Women were taught basic sewing techniques and later lerned to make bags, aprons, tablecloths, pyjamas, hankerchiefs and toys.

June 2008: a sewing group received an order for 200 handbags, providing the women great encouragement and reward for their efforts. Four women have since begun their own small businesses of jewelry and bag making.

August 2008: On the 19^th of August, the Feast Day of St. John Eudes, a daycare center was opened, with 14 children from the age of three years to six years. Children enjoy activities such as learning alphabet rhymes, and are fed three times a day. The number of children at the center has now grown to 24. However, because of the lack of space and an insufficient number of toilets, the project has been put on hold. The sisters are negotiating with the government for a piece of land in Ground Fields to put up a center and to get in registered under Social Development. They are hoping the land will be donated or at least leased for 50 years.

Food parcels begin to be distributed to the needy, including those suffering from HIV/AIDS and Teberculosis. The soup kitchen distributes food to hundreds of children twice a week in various areas including Green Fields.

The Good Shepherd Sisters give special thanks to the following donors for their generosity in helping to fund this project: Harris Fraser, Ford Foundation, and Hauss Foundation.