The Hope Project

The Hope Project is a registered NPC (2016/137082/08) that assists minority families who have fallen on hard times and/or who live in squatter camps/informal settlements. There are currently over 500 minority camps in S.A. We focus mainly on helping each family to empower themselves through skills development where possible and assist in finding work for the unemployed. Our purpose is to uplift, assist with job procurement, help supplement meals, clothe the kids and ensure they go to school.

We provide the tools they need to plant vegetable gardens and improve living conditions, and to build self sustainable communities. We basically assist them to start over again. We aim to give hope to the hopeless, dignity to the elderly, and a purpose to adults that have lost everything, including their self worth and dignity. In a country where minorities form 8% of the population, it’s astounding that more than 1 million are living in crippling poverty as a result of governments Employment Equity Act, which effectively excludes them from obtaining employment, and the ability to provide for their families. They are often exploited for personal gain by the landowners who allow them to squat on their land, at a price.

Children are malnourished and sick and parents dehumanized and desperate. They live in tents, makeshift structures, and tiny outbuildings. Battling winds, rain, hail and heat in unhygienic circumstances, often without running water or ablution facilities. They are reliant on the community to provide meals and clothing. These people work at menial jobs like car guarding, at less than minimum wage, in an attempt to survive. In a lot of instances, meals are days apart and survival is an uphill battle. If electricity is available, they’re restricted to 5 amps in most cases, and charged rentals that range from R800 to R2500 per month. They are often evicted at a moments notice if non compliant. Residents are ex cops, traffic officers, teachers, government employees, paramedics, highly skilled professionals and tradesmen. Ordinary folk like you and me.

Our motto is to assist, not enable, to ensure our next generation has a future. One random act of kindness creates a ripple with the ability to change the world, one person at a time, one day at a time. We have the ability to change a life, forever. We collect clothing, food, appliances, household items, and basically anything people can spare. We do not receive financial support from any government departments, and do not have any long-term commitments from corporate sponsors. We rely completely on public funding, donations and proceeds from projects, which we implement ourselves. Our biggest need on a monthly basis is food and toiletries. For more information with regards to the camps, locations and numbers, please visit Refugee Camps South Africa or Censorbugbear’s webpages. Both are independent sources, and more or less accurate up to January 2015. Numbers have increased drastically since then due to the unavailability of employment in South Africa.

Hope also assists orphanages, old age homes, safety houses and families that are battling to survive. Please visit our FB page to get more of an idea of the initiatives and projects that we’re involved in https://www.facebook.com/groups/1467261096865420/.

Below is a list of the communities that Hope assists on a monthly basis where possible.

• Geluksdal Brakpan 32 families

• Withok Brakpan 24 families

• Loved Ones of God, Brakpan 168 residents, 82 elderly

• Tinker Road, Brakpan 12 families

• Kingsway Hotel, Brakpan 31 families

• Northdene Road Brakpan 18 families

• 7th Avenue Bredell 78 residents, 25 elderly

• Vereeninging 16 families

• Meyerton 12 families

• Krugersdorp 166 families

• Filadelfia Ark 245 families

• Sonskyn Hammanskraal 42 families

• Elspark Safehouse 18 kids

• Talita House 21 kids

• Casa Carites 49 handicapped

• Cradle of Hope 16 babies

• 39 families in garages and backyards in Brakpan, Boksburg and Primrose

• Old age residents on Cason Road, Boksburg

We can use, and would appreciate, almost anything that people are willing to donate, but our biggest monthly needs are:

Food and beverages (ideally non-perishable) – Toiletries – Cleaning products – Baby foods and formula – Clothing (including underwear and socks) – Shoes – Linen, towels and blankets – Furniture

Sincerely DALENE NAUDE (Director) 072 486 1009 dalene.naude@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/groups/1467261096865420/