COMMUNITY UPLIFTMENT PROJECTS
Background :
St Francis Bay is a village on the South-East Coast of South Africa, situated between Port Elizabeth in the east and Plettenberg Bay in the west and is a popular holiday and retirement destination.
The population consists of a small affluent community, with the majority of the formal housing being holiday homes of people residing in the big cities. The balance of the population is a disadvantaged community residing for most part in shacks in an informal settlement adjacent to the village, and for the slightly more fortunate in the “formal” settlement, consisting of basic council housing or RDP houses. This part of St. Francis Bay is called Sea Vista.
The main industries, which the disadvantaged community rely on, are the fishing industry, and to a lesser extent the tourism industry, both of which are seasonal. The unemployment rate amongst this community is in excess of 50%.
Alcohol and drug addiction is rife, with spousal and child abuse a common occurrence.
The St. Francis Rotarians are a growing, passionate group, who feel that as representatives of a bona fide international service organization, they can make a real difference in this disadvantaged community.
Vocational Areas:
Within Sea Vista there are several institutions making a difference by providing assistance in the following vocational areas:
- Education
- Health and Medical Assistance
- Skills Training and Job Creation
- Mentorship for Teenagers
- Environment and Conservation
All the institutions have attempted to obtain funding from various sources, with little or no success. Only two institutions receive limited, but insufficient financial support from Government. All the other institutions are reliant on support from donors or the private sector.
The Rotary Club of St. Francis has supported these institutions over the years and is well placed to provide a conduit for the management of funds raised and the identified institution. Funds deposited into the club’s bank account are ring-fenced for the relevant project as specified by the donor, with our Rotary club being responsible for the allocation, monitoring, usage of funds, providing feedback and reporting to ensure funds are applied and accounted for as intended. The listed recipients / institutions below have all been supported by the Rotary Club of St. Francis and as such have been verified as credible organisations that fulfil their purpose as stated.
- Disney Land Creche
- FOSTER (Friends of St Francis Nature Areas)
- Kromme Enviro Trust
- National Sea Rescue Institute
- Sea Vista Primary School
- Sibanye Ladies Group
- St Francis Clinic in Sea Vista
- St Francis Hospice
- Talhado Children’s Haven Montessori Pre-Primary
We invite you to peruse some of the various projects and follow us on Facebook. Please revert back to us with any queries that you may have and consider making a contribution to or adopting a project.
CONCLUSION
We appeal to potential donors or BBBEE contributors to consider making a contribution to or adopting one of our projects.
If you require any further information please contact our Club Secretary (contact@rotarystfrancisbay.org) or visit our website www.rotarystfrancisbay.org.
Bank details
Standard Bank
Rotary Satellite Club St Francis Bay
Account number 186525753
Branch – Humansdorp 050015
Swift Code SBZAZAJJ
Bank Address : 35 Main Rd, Humansdorp 6300
All contributions no matter how small will help to sustain these projects and will be most gratefully received.
Sibanye Ladies project
Sibanye (meaning “we are one”) is a recently formed NPO organization aimed at guiding children and young people, (the youth in its community} away from substance abuse, drugs and alcohol, crime and teenage pregnancies, all rampant in the community of Sea Vista.
The Sea Vista community is being ruined by substance abuse, drugs and alcohol, crime and teenage pregnancies.
As caring mothers, the ten Sibanye founders decided to intervene with a direct action initiative aimed at children and young people.
Sibanye strives to provide the following services to the youth in the Sea Vista community.
- Provide support, care and counselling for the youth in our community.
- Afford the opportunity for personal development through the provision of educational, sports and job training programs that will enhance life skills, self-image and vocational motivation.
- Provide facilities and activities to meet the needs of our present and future young generations by the removal of exposure to temptations and criminal activities and by building community capacity to do so.
- Empower the less fortunate to improve their access to livelihood
Sea Vista Primary School
The initiative to raise money for the Sea Vista Primary School Educational Fund was started in 2018 by the St Francis community to relieve the educational crisis at the primary school, which serves the under-privileged community in Sea Vista. The communities of St Francis and Sea Vista are very proud of the new school, which was opened in 2017. However, as available funding has been reduced by the National Education Department, the number of teachers allocated from government to state schools has been reduced. Sea Vista Primary School has been severely hit by these reductions in staff. The situation is further challenged by the rapidly expanding population of Sea Vista. The school of nearly 600 children from grade 0 to grade 7 has been allocated a headmaster, a deputy head and 9 other teachers which results in a pupil teacher ratio of over 50 to 1.
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Talhado Children’s Haven Montessori Pre-Primary School
This school provides Montessori pre-schooling for children aged from 3 to 6 years old. This is one of very few Montessori schools operating in an underprivileged community on the African continent. All teachers have been fully trained in this teaching format and are paid through donor funding. The principal who acts on a voluntary basis is internationally accredited. All students receive a wholesome breakfast and lunch. The school also offers a media centre and after care facility for older children in the afternoons to assist with their scholastic projects. An evening basic computer skills course for the adults in the community is also run from this school.
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Disney Land Creche
Disney Creche provides crèche facilities for nursery school children from Sea Vista’s under-privileged community. The Government’s Social Development department will only provide funding of R15.00 per child per month for up to a maximum of 20 children. This subsidy is paid over quarterly, but unfortunately the full amount due is never received. They do receive some support from local fishing enterprise Balobi consisting of R5000 worth of food with R400 for telephone and electricity per month. The crèche levies fees of R120.00 per child per month, however no action can be taken against defaulting parents as Social Development opposes such action. Currently, there are 50 children registered at Disney Creche and this important nursery school struggles to keep up with the need in the community. This is an essential service for the young women in Sea Vista who need to leave their children in reliable care when they set off to work or to find employment.
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St Francis Clinic in Sea Vista
This clinic is the first port of call for anyone in the broader community who does not have access to private health care. For many folks in the disadvantaged community, Sister Bertha Strydom and her staff are a lifeline providing access to basic healthcare which they would otherwise have to travel great distances to get to, impossible for most of these impoverished people. From pregnancy and childcare advice, to TB and HIV Aids treatment and counseling, the dedicated staff of this small under-funded clinic dispense with compassion and skill.
This is a Government facility, but the funding provided is nowhere near enough to properly serve this community. Various doctors from the broader community volunteer their services on a continual basis including a retired optometrist who runs a regular eye clinic.
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