HOUT BAY PROJECT
About Hangberg and Hout Bay project
Hangberg is one of the two townshipsin Hout Bay (Cape Town), a small community just twenty minutes from downtown Cape Town.
Hagberg has a population of about 15,000 people and within that population we find two types of indigenous groups: Khoi-Khoi and Colored. Both live in Hout Bay with a predominantly white population, which controls all economic resources.
In this small township the main problems are: land ownership, unemployment (especially youth), drugs, loss of values and lack of economic resources.
Hout Bay Project is the solution that from Meraki Bay we propose to improve the future and present of the community.
We support our project in 3 pillars: Childhood, empowerment of women and entrepreneurship.
Although the 3 pillars are different, there are synergies between them and they are our 3 forces to achieve a better community in the future.
In the childhood pillar, the goal is for Houties and Leopards children to be able to study and receive specific training so that they can later develop as professionals, as well we want the students of now to be the monitors in the future.
In the pillar of empowerment, we want to provide support to all the women in the community who support their families and, in the future, we intend to form youth workshops in which they can develop your creativity and start small businesses.
Finally, entrepreneurship as a direct way to generate income in the community and motivate locals to carry out an economic activity.
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Childhood
Education, protection of childhood, its integration into society and defense of a healthy lifestyle are our principles. We want to help the little ones. N Our current projects are: Houties, Leopards and the dental project.
Empowerment of the Women
We encourage the participation of women in the community, their economic development and their independence within it. We fight for equality. Our project consists of weekly workshops with women.
Entrepreneurship
We support local entrepreneurs by advising them and giving them technical and economic support. We want the local population to fight for its development. Our projects are the Huerto and the cafeteria.
Houties
The Project
Houties is the first youth group in Hangberg and was born in July 2018. With this program we intend to address three key points for the formation of children in the community: health , motivation and values. The aim is to address each of these aspects through games, workshops, talks, sports and excursions in a fun and enriching way for them.
The children of the community go to Houties every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and, depending on the day, we do one activity or another. They are:
- Monday Art & amp; Craft : we make crafts to awaken your creativity and sensitivity to the arts.
- Wednesday Sports : we play games and team sports so that they acquire values such as companionship, generosity and respect, among others.
- Thursday Life-skills: in the workshops the little ones have fun and we instill them and explain essential aspects for their lives, such as oral hygiene, puberty, the environment or first aid.
- Friday Outdoors : we make a small excursion and it is the reward for attending the rest of the days of the week to Houties. It is a very special day because it allows the little ones to get away for a few hours from their community.
- Saturday: On Saturdays the Houties clean the beach or the community in the mornings.
Being a program with children in delicate situations, we measure success following the assistance of each of the children in the program. The people who are in charge every day of the week have a record of attendance and, if the children go all or almost every day, it means that the program is working as we expected, the children are enjoying and we are getting that do not come into contact with drugs, alcohol, etc.
- Wednesday Sports : we play games and team sports so that they acquire values such as companionship, generosity and respect, among others.
Objective
Costs
Currently Houties has a monthly cost of 8000R (540 €€) that is used to pay the salaries of each of our monitors, a total of four, the materials of activities, snacks and excursions.
We finance ourselves with punctual and periodic donations received through our website and partnerships local companies such as Fish On the Rocks or Spar. In addition, until March 2019, we received volunteers who come to make a social experience in South Africa and make a small contribution to support the project.
Project status
The youth group is already closed. We have spoken with the parents of the children to have their consent and the training of the monitors is finalized. The team is organized by couples and every day of the week there are two responsible for leading the activity.
The number of children that usually comes ranges from 35-40 per session.
Hout Bay Leopards
The Project
The main problem with this team is the lack of funds. Previously, they had the DASH sponsor that provided them with all the material, paid the inscriptions to the leagues and provided them with a monthly amount that was used to pay the salaries of the coaches. However, the sponsor withdrew its funds and this has caused the Leopards to need funding urgently.
Objective
Our goal is to keep the Leopards running. We want:
- Get some football team to donate the necessary sports equipment, either new or second hand that the club does not need. (Obtained the Valencia Foundation for solidarity has donated material that will serve us for about 2 years)
- Campaign fundraising < span style = "font-weight: 400;"> to endow the club with funds.
- Find sponsors that through sponsorship in the T-shirts or with the name can finance the team monthly.
- Campaign fundraising < span style = "font-weight: 400;"> to endow the club with funds.
Costs
State
We have got all the sports equipment for children and coaches for two years. We keep working to get everything we need.
Dental Project
The Project
The dental project aims to take care of the oral health of the children of Houties.
To do this every 6 months (February and July) a team of professional dentists will move to Hangberg for 2 weeks, where they will make the corresponding revisions and interventions.
They will also hold Workshops and workshops on oral health and the use of a toothbrush.
A toothbrush will also be given to each child of Houties, and they will be forced to brush their teeth at each session of Houties after the snack so they can get into the habit.
Objective
Our goal is to take care of the children’s dental health (also that of the monitors) and to transmit basic hygiene knowledge.
You want to help
If you are a dentist or student in the last year and want to join our project send an email to info @ merakibay.org.
The project is every 6 months (February and July) and is carried out for 2 weeks.
The maximum number of places is 4.
Weekly Workshops
The Project
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), women, specifically women from rural areas, are one of the most vulnerable groups within the collective poor workers and that is why from Meraki Bay we have also decided to start a project with women.
Our workshops are made up of a group of six women between 55 and 80 years old. Every Tuesday and Thursday they meet in the Hangberg library and work on different projects that motivate them so they can then sell those products in a local market and get extra income. So far they have sewn the scarves of Houties and cloth organizers.
Objective
State
In our first months we made the scarves for Houties and some fabric organizers that we sold at Christmas. For 2019 we are making products to sell in local markets or through our website (events).
The material costs are covered by part of the sales revenue.
Coffee Shop
The Project
In front of the school there is a local store where they sell fruit, vegetables and sweets. Monique is the owner and proposed to set up a small cafe next door for her sister who is currently unemployed.
Objective
The objective of this project was to get the coffee machine, teach Monique how to make coffee and start the business.
Costs
We needed to raise 11,400R (€ 700) to be able to buy the coffee machine, the materials to start and make this possible. .
State
The coffee maker already has Monique and the business is underway. Little by little he is selling cafes and generating income so goal achieved !!
Objective
The objective of this project was to build an orchard at school that serves several purposes:
1. Generate a job.
2. Grow Moringa (A Super Food)
3. Grow vegetables and then sell them in a local market.
State
Currently the garden is already complete, has generated a job, Ricardo is our manager, we have sold our first vegetables and we have started to grow Moringa.
