Quality homes built for 21 orphaned children

Mon, 28 January 2008

Ingwavuma Orphan Care: New homes for child-headed households

“We have managed to build high quality houses at a relatively low cost. With this building of new, basic homes comes the rebuilding of lives and families.”

This project is replacing ruined traditional huts with cost-effective and secure homes, helping to ensure that orphaned children are not forced to leave their family land. With this building of new, basic homes comes the rebuilding of lives and families. Apart from keeping them safe, the homes give hope and encouragement to children who have experienced extreme hardship, poverty, ill health and bereavement.

Impact

The project has so far provided 21 orphaned children and 4 adult caregivers with low-maintenance houses on their rightful family land:

• In Mthombeni 8 children and 2 aunts have been housed
• In Mpontshane 4 children and their aunt have been housed
• In Mafuleka – 2 children and their grandmother have been housed
• In Khumalo – 7 children have been housed

Each house includes a rainwater tank that increases the household’s access to water which helps with food gardens. Some children have also received basic life skills, home management and food gardening support.

Activities

Family selection

Ingwavuma Orphan Care selected families from the pool of children known to them through their other work. Referrals from staff such as social workers, home-based carers and orphan care coordinators were fed into a simple score card system to select those families that would benefit the most.

Building

Building the homes got off to a slow start until Ingwavuma Orphan Care’s builder, Wiseman, passed his driving test in April. Although delayed, the quality of the finished buildings are high. Partly because of the delay, the price of building materials was significantly higher than budgeted but this was offset by the recruitment of volunteers to provide labour; using a cheaper alternative to plastering outside (called a ‘backwash’) and getting two of the water tanks donated.

Support

Home management, food gardens and livestock management are included in the ongoing support, training and mentoring provided through the organisation’s Family Support Teams. These teams visit the children two or three times a week and act as adult mentors in all areas of life, as well as often doing practical things like housework and fetching water. To date, two of the families who received houses under this grant are within the Family Support Team programme, while the other two live in areas that will be covered in September 2007 as the Family Support Team programme is extended.

Ingwavuma Orphan Care also regularly takes children to a local game park where life skills training is given by Social Workers and Child and Youth Care Workers. A two-week holiday camp was scheduled for Christmas 2007 in partnership with Dare to Dream.

Expenditure

The budgeted cost of the project is R66,000, the final tranche payment of R26,000 was paid to Ingwavuma Orphan Care on the 25th of October 2007.

Description	Budget	Expenditure
Building Materials R 10 000 per home	R 40,000	R 53,554
Transport R 500 per home	R 2,000	R 4,555
Labour R 3 500 per home	R 14,000	R 14,000
Water Collection R2 500 per home	R 10,000	R 4,950
Total	R 66,000	R 77,059

Challenges

Transport was initially an inhibiting factor as the roads in the area are long and bad but Ingwavuma Orphan Care’s builder has now passed his driving test and has his own vehicle which has helped to ease this problem.

It was discovered in the implementation of the project that assessments and selection must be done with extreme care to avoid issues within the community. The project now has a much more involved assessment procedure with practical steps before selection, such as having community meetings to give the community an opportunity to raise any concerns.

Monitoring and evaluation

Ingwavuma Orphan Care’s Operations Manager, Vee Dlamini, undertook visits to the houses and families to monitor progress. Since he has not been involved in the project he was able to have an independent view. He reported that the quality of the houses was good but that selection criteria needed to be improved. Although the families were in desperate need of housing, there were other families who needed it even more. Improved selection criteria, in conjunction with all Ingwavuma Orphan Care staff, should address this.

The expected life changes of increased security, a better environment to do school work and keeping families together are gradual, medium-term changes which will be monitored at each contact with the families.

Conclusions

Ingwavuma Orphan Care has managed to build high quality houses at a relatively low cost. And with improved selection criteria and holistic support for the families concerned, this project is an example of good practice, so much so, that the National Development Agency is funding 20 houses in the 2008/09 financial year.

The scattered, remote settlements around the town of Ingwavuma in the far North of KwaZulu-Natal are deeply rural, poverty-stricken and hard hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The deaths of parents have left children in the care of grandparents or siblings and the skills of building and maintaining traditional dwellings have been lost. As a result, the original homes of more and more orphan and grandparent-headed families are falling apart. Ingwavuma Orphan Care’s home-building project provides safe shelter and vital support to families in these widespread communities.

Ingwavuma Orphan Care: New homes for child-headed households - Report 1

Tue, 17 April 2007

SASIX Progress Report - 22 March 2007

Ingwavuma Orphan Care: New homes for child-headed households

This project to replace ruined traditional huts with cost-effective and secure homes to ensure that orphaned children are not separated or forced to leave their family land due to inadequate shelter has got off to a good start.

Until the homes are completed, the families will not physically benefit; however, the morale of these families is greatly increased now they can see the work being undertaken.

The full cost of the project is R211.850, and so far we have received the first instalment of R25,000, paid into our bank account on 1 October 2006.

Project activities to date

• Assessment of families: families selected for new-built homes by Nov 2006
• Land assessed, builders engaged, work commenced
• Materials ordered and paid for
• Ongoing overseeing of work and progress by IOC builder and co-ordinator.

Mafuleka N family:

One of the families has had to be withdrawn due to change of circumstances within the family, and we have replaced the Myeni N family with the Mafuleka N family. In the Mafuleka N family there is a grandmother looking after several orphans as well as her own children. This family includes a 1-year old child who is HIV positive and very sick as well as a 5-year old with TB. We are supporting this family with food aid, clothing and legal aid to help them get any grants which are due.

The family of eight live in terrible conditions. Their small home of timber and mud is falling down. The damp is awful as the walls are lined with soil. In the rain the roof leaks and the family sleep on the wet earth floor. Thanks to the SASIX funding we g\have been able to start building them a new home.

The foundations are finished, although this was very difficult as we had to cut into rock. One of the older sons of the family is helping our building team and is learning a skill which we hope to use in the future. The walls are finished to the level of the window and the door and window frames are being placed. The hardest part is done and we estimate completion within two weeks.

Mpontshane family:

We are putting the finishing touches to our building projects second home for the Mpontshane family. Until last weekend, two orphaned sisters and their three small children, along with a younger sister, lived in a dilapidated timber and mud hut. It was the size of a small garden shed with day-light entering through the roof and walls.

Last weekend, they moved into their new home. This means that their brothers can also move back in with them as they have been staying with neighbours. For the first time since the death of their parents three years ago, this family is now back together. The old home will be used as a kitchen.

Mafuleka S family:

When SASIX are confident of our progress, we hope they will grant us the funds to build a house for the Mafuleka S family. The third home will begin when funds are made available The youngest child, who is 6, has now started her ARV treatment for HIV. We are hoping her health will now gradually improve.

It is a great pleasure to see this work happening and the families can at last have some hope for a brighter future. The homes should be completed before winter sets in, as the nights can be freezing up here in the mountains during the winter months. These families will have secure and insulated homes for the first time ever, thanks to SASIX.

Project expenditure

The cost of cement has increased dramatically since our initial costings; otherwise, the materials budget has been spent as predicted. All invoices/receipts are available for all purchases.

Item	Specifications	Cost per unit	Qty	Total inc delivery
Concrete Blocks	140x390	5	1150	5750
Cement	50kg	64.95	25	2922.75
Sand (River)	1x5m3	400	1	400
Sand (plaster)	1x5m3	400	1	400
Stones for foundations	13mm	1100	1	1100
Brick force small	small	13.64	4	54.56
Damp course/walls only	small	10.26	1	10.26
Nails 125mm	1x500	5.61	1	5.61
Nails #4	1x500	5.61	1	5.61
Vent bricks internal	0	5	4	20
Vent bricks external	0	5	4	20
Door Frames	99x95	121.92	2	243.84
Window Frames C2H57	0	115.75	4	463
Lintel window (1.2)	0	60	4	240
Lintel door	0	60	2	120

Expenditure per home to date is R11,755.63

Total expenditure to date is 23,511.26

Problems and challenges

Logistically, it has been difficult transporting the builders and materials to the locations as they are extremely remote and the terrain far from ideal; however, now our builder has passed his driving test and is able to do this himself without assistance, the work is progressing apace.

The only real problem encountered was regarding the selection of the families. One original family had a dramatic change of circumstances which caused us to re-evaluate their level of need. This resulted in them being de-selected and another family selected in their place.

Conclusion

We are very pleased with the overall progress. Our initial problems were logistical but these have now been addressed. Older children from the selected families are helping with the building work in order to learn basic skills which may benefit them later. This also gives them a sense of personal achievement and self worth.

When completed, the families will have shelter and security for themselves and future generations. The impact will be enormous and very significant. This is an excellent project for “social return”. It is solid evidence of the direct impact, not only on the selected families but also the community as a whole, who can see the direct benefits of the project.

The need for homes such as this project provides is overwhelming. The level of need will continue as the problem of HIV/AIDS and extensive poverty in our area increases. We are constantly fund-raising for this greatly needed project.

Communication with GreaterGood South Africa / SASIX staff on this project has been good and it has been a pleasure to work with them.

Thank you.