What started out as a small act of kindness has over the years become a rope of hope that pulls unemployed and underserved communities from a pit of despair.
The Villa Liza Support Group, situated in Hare Street, has been in existence since 2001. It has provided services to thousands of people in Villa Liza and Rondebult.
Their role under these services is to carry out health talks at clinics and schools. They also facilitate the HIV and Aids support group.
They identify orphans and provide care and support services by issuing food parcels, registering orphans at schools, and writing referral letters for child grants and foster care.
They also have childcare forums where they have meetings on Saturdays where beneficiaries come together and talk about their issues.
They assist youth-headed families with finding learnerships and volunteer work. In terms of the elderly group, elders meet every Wednesday where they gym and after they sit and talk about their challenges and are given a meal.
Last year the Villa Liza Support Group rendered services to 8 620 people. This year alone, they have reached out to 9 527 people.
The support group is currently being funded by the Department of Social Developments and other temporary funders who assist them to continue making a difference in the lives of people.
The organisation has about 23 caregivers who facilitate daily home visits, accompany HIV and Aids patients to clinic and if the patients are too weak to go to the clinic they go the extra mile andfetch medication for them.
There are also three social auxiliary workers, one admin person, one Expended Public Work Programme worker (EPWP), one orphan coordinator and nine volunteers.
- Challenges
Villa Liza Support Group project manager Joyce Mntungwa highlights some of the challenges they encounter in their day-to-day work.
“Because we don’t have our own site, we are operating from a rented garage and renting a full house on the same street which we use as our administrative office.
“We are pleading with our municipality to help us with this, so we can own our own land,” she said.
Some of the challenges she encounters in her line of work are foreigners who don’t have the required documentation.
“We don’t have enough resources, such as computers, stationery, furniture and telephones.
“Our caregivers also walk long distances to attend to patients who live in the squatter camps in and around Villa Liza. Having our own transport would make our job easier because we would transport our terminally ill patients to hospital,” Mntungwa said.
She said this year they had a break-in, where a computer, donated clothes, buckets and a Wi-Fi modem was stolen.
- Where it all started
The life-changing support group was started by Cleopatra (Mandisa) Nodada, who died last year.
This remarkable woman fought hard to make a success of herself and impact positively on the lives of hundreds of people in her community.
According to Nkiyasi Nukeri, who worked closely with the late founder since 2009, Nodada had a passion for people.
“Nodada worked at a furniture shop, so when she resigned she thought she would get her pension, but she didn’t. She and her family struggled for a long time to make ends meet.
“One day someone called her to help another woman who was sick. When she got there she saw a need to create awareness about HIV and Aids. The idea of supporting or caring for affected people and orphans was born.”
With the little that she had, Nukeri said Nodada mobilised a group of women who assisted her to cook for the underprivileged people she had identified.
“After some time, she was advised to apply for funding and in 2003 she formally registered her organisation.
“In 2005, she received funding from the Department of Social Development and the Department of Health and she hired caregivers to assist her,” Nukeri said.
The Villa Liza Support Group is appealing to anyone who would like to contribute to their organisation by donating computers, stationery, clothes for young children and adults, office furniture, telephones, a second-hand vehicle, stove, pots, fridge, sanitary pads, food and school uniforms.
Anyone interested in contributing to the sustainability of the Villa Liza Support Group and its activities may contact them on 081 330 8686 or Nukeri on 074 475 8330.
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