By Louise | Managing Director
February has started with a real bang; we are still dealing with issues from the recent flooding such as roads and bridges being damaged or destroyed which is preventing us from accessing easily certain areas. Imagine areas which are more potholes than road, at depths you can’t see, until it’s too late, because of pooling water. We are very concerned about the possible damage to our vehicles so that makes traversing the terrain even more difficult.
Schools have resumed, many teachers are faced with the same issues concerning their own vehicles, the only ones winning at the moment are the tyre and suspension businesses. Even taxi’s (minibuses) are being more cautious.
As predicted previously we are now dealing with lots of water lying around causing health problems primarily due to flooded pit latrines, including water borne illnesses such as diarrhoea, vomiting, dysentery and the increasing risk of malaria. These latrines are standard for the villages in which we operate, and the anopheles’ mosquito which is endemic in the north of Limpopo, is responsible for malaria. It is too soon to share any statistics with you, however we are on the cusp geographically normally for malaria without the floods, so this situation will make it much worse. Despite treatment, malaria can still kill, so we need to be very mindful that the runoff water is a breading ground for the mosquito and possess a serious health hazard.
Once the ground is dried out properly people will be able to plant small crops for their sustainability which will add to their food security over the coming months, we have received a donation of seeds from Sakata a local seed produce and distributor so KTD196 will be able to assist with the distribution of the seeds plus training in producing door-sized food gardens that the children can participate in. This will be in 3-4months the families should be producing their own food.
Sadly, we are expecting another cyclone to hit later this week, it is coming via Mauritius and Mozambique and will be building speed and intensity over the next few days. The weather here is very cloudy, overcast and ominous, the humidity is difficult, but we are praying that all 3nations will be spared this further deluge.
This coming weekend, despite the weather, we will be holding an Introduction to Adult Learning or IAL training. We will have people attending from Groblersdal, Seshego, Mangweng and from Greater Tzaneen, we are starting to get interest from teachers who are joining the program which is wonderful. This will assist with us implementing our Child Participation project within the schools as well. Our footprint for the children’s program is growing. Despite the rain, we are determined to continue on.
Thank you for being a part of the solution. Thank you for believing in our mission and vision, thank you for partnering with us through the ups and downs.
Blessings
Louise
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