Building four new houses for child- or grandparent-headed households

VISION

In their words: “All children in Ingwavuma will live in safety and have good health, food, education and housing. They will have time to play and enjoy their childhood and grow up to become good citizens. We organise, empower and encourage the community to care for orphans and vulnerable children, as well as provide expert interventions through our staff where possible.”

OVERVIEW

This project – the third phase in Ingwavuma Orphan Care’s house-building programme – will provide solid brick houses to replace dilapidated mud huts for four households in the Mathenjwa, Nyawo and Mngomezulu Tribal Authorities around Ingwavuma. Families in these areas have been hard hit by HIV/AIDS, leaving many orphaned children in the care of frail grandparents or older siblings. This project to build cost-effective new homes will keep these families together and help them retain ownership of their land, as well as provide a clean, dry and safe place to grow up in.

EXPECTED LIFE CHANGE

An investment of R 94,800 will:

• Provide four child or grandparent-headed families with newly-built homes.
• Help 24 people to live in clean, dry, low-maintenance houses on their rightful family land.
• Direct life change is estimated at R3 950 per person.

The project will also boost the wellbeing of orphaned children in other ways:

• Better access to water and protection from the elements will improve their health.
• A dry, safe place to do homework will help many of these children to get back to school.
• The children and young adults are encouraged to help with the building and will learn practical skills from the workmen.

WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT THIS PROJECT

This project helps uplift the poorest, most vulnerable members of the community. It is a significant, long-term intervention based on the premise of protecting and supporting children within their community. By establishing new, low-maintenance homes on the families' rightful land, the project protects orphaned children's inheritance rights. And because it includes support strategies to strengthen child-headed families' capacity to manage their households, the project reduces the burden on this struggling community.

The greatest impact, however, is psychological – this project will give these children pride and hope and will let them know that there are people out there who really do care.

THE NEED

The progressive breakdown of the extended family, as the number of AIDS orphans spirals, has many disastrous consequences for children. Often there is no one left to maintain the family's homestead, leading to poor living conditions, families being split up, a lack of physical security and the loss of traditional rights to family land.

Many of these huts will eventually fall down, meaning that the family (usually adolescent-headed) must move to far-off relatives or attempt to build another hut themselves, which is usually to a very low standard. Physical security issues have also led to instances of rape of vulnerable children.

STRATEGY

Ingwavuma Orphan Care has been working in the area for six years, with many full-time staff working in, and drawn from, the community. Their services include home-based care, skills training and income-generation projects. One of Ingwavuma Orphan Care's key strategies is to work intensively with communities, building their capacity to keep orphaned and vulnerable children safe and cared for in their own homes. The Building for Families project entrenches the premise that these children have a right to their secure place in the community, with support and care. This project builds the communities' capacity to attend to the holistic needs of its children. Ingwavuma Orphan Care has assessed and identified those who need this intervention most, and has created a waiting list.

Beneficiaries of previous builds have been consulted for feedback, and community members will be employed in the construction of the houses. Ingwavuma Orphan Care will provide the beneficiaries with training in basic life skills and food gardening, and monitor and support them on an ongoing basis.

PROPOSED ACTION

Preparation:

Ingwavuma Orphan Care has employed a full-time builder, as it is cheaper than contracting for every bit of work. They have a waiting list of families referred by other branches of Ingwavuma Orphan Care and have existing relationships with building material suppliers and with reliable labourers.

Implementation

• Prioritise families on the waiting list: undertake visits to ascertain whether their situations have changed.
• Order materials and arrange labour.
• Builder, Wiseman Kunene, to supervise the building of three or four houses at the same time, while working on them himself. It is realistic that one house will be completed per month, on average. Builders from the communities will be employed to do the building, creating employment.
• The families will be included in Ingwavuma Orphan Care’s Family Support Programme and a team will visit the children two to three times per week, acting as adult mentors in all areas of life and offering practical assistance.

Monitoring

Ingwavuma Orphan Care has thorough budget-monitoring procedures that provide accurate expenditure reports to budget holders and funders. The building supervisor is in constant contact with the teams in the community and meets with the project manager at least once a week to report on progress and discuss any issues that need guidance. The organisation provides photographs and family summaries at the beginning and end of each build.

CONCEPT

Key Strengths

• The project addresses threats to the physical safety of the children and ensures that child-headed families are able to stay together as a family unit.
• The concept of building homes for child-headed families is aligned to the best practice of keeping orphaned and vulnerable children safe and protected in their communities and empowering communities to help these children.
• Ingwavuma Orphan Care has strong relationships with the relevant Tribal Authorities that have agreed to the rebuilding of homes and the securing of the child-headed households' rights to their family land.
• The provision of training and support helps to build the capacity of child-headed households to care for themselves better.

Key Risks – Low

DESIGN

Key Strengths

• The house design is simple, ensuring that each house build is a small, manageable project.
• The design of the houses makes them easy to maintain.
• The provision of ongoing support to these child-headed homes is consistent with the organisation's past and current activities.

Key Risks – Low

CAPABILITY

Key Strengths

• Ingwavuma Orphan Care has new leadership with excellent qualifications.
• The organisation has wide experience in community building projects, having built nine large buildings in the past six years.
• They have already built four homes that were funded by SASIX.

Key Risks – Medium Low

• There is an inherent risk of leading staff resigning and leaving the project. However, Ingwavuma Orphan Care's leadership has a strong commitment to the longevity of the organisation.

CONTROL

Key Strengths

• Ingwavuma Orphan Care has strong, accountable governance and financial controls.
• A new accountant is in place and plans more accurate costings to avoid the risk of under-budgeting.

Key Risks – Low

SUSTAINABILITY

Key Strengths

• The building of these homes secures the rights of child-headed households to their family land and entrenches their place in their communities.
• New, more secure homes will provide adequate shelter for these children in the foreseeable future.
• Long-lasting, low maintenance houses will be assets to these child-headed families.

Key Risks – Medium Low

• The holistic, integrated care of orphaned and vulnerable children in their communities is a long-term endeavour that will require ongoing interventions tailored to meet the needs of growing children.

EXTERNAL

Key Risks – Low