Data collection to empower Malacca Road community

IN a bid to assist residents with employment opportunities, The Seed Fund is conducting ‘community mapping’ to establish a database of how many people are living in the Malacca Road Informal Settlement, how many people are employed and what skills they have. The project was interrupted in June when a fire broke out, burning most of the homes in the lower section of the settlement. The team has visited about 58 shacks so far with an estimated 81 still to go.

“We go into each house and interview the owner or household head to find out how long they have been living there. We have permission from the community to do this. We ask questions about health, income and employment,” said SF founder, Arianne Hayes-Hill.

“It’s about empowering the community to enable them to find employment, pursue their passion and ultimately move out of here and find a better place to live. I don’t think it’s their choice to live here. They all live below the poverty line. And I think it’s because they have never really been shown the opportunities,” she added.

Also read: VIDEO: Residents rebuild after fire devastates Malacca Road Informal Settlement

Mapping the settlement

Footage of the settlement taken via a drone will help the SF team to map out the data they collect, assessing which households have an income and focusing their efforts on homes where breadwinners are unemployed.

“With the data, we can be a lot more targeted. Once we have the information we will know what sort of skills residents have,” she said.

Already, SF have discovered several residents who have plumbing experience and need help getting certificates.

“As we go along we are also discovering some of the skills and passions that the ladies have. There is one lady here who is very creative in terms of sewing and crocheting, so we are trying to empower her to start a business and get her set up online,”said Hayes-Hill.

Through a container donation, SF is starting a food kitchen in the community and hope to further utilise the space to offer cooking and baking classes to the residents.

“We are in the process of getting a qualified chef to come and teach. I also have a dream that one or two ladies who feel passionate about cooking might start teaching lessons. It’s about empowering the community and you can only do that when you map the community. You work with what you know, so finding out what the community knows and what they are passionate about is the first step in empowering them,” she added

Also read: LISTEN: Durban North NPO uplifts the poor with food hampers

How can you help?

Hayes-Hill is calling on the Durban North community to consider teaching classes in skills such as carpentry, sewing, arts and crafts, beading or finance and marketing skills.

“If you have a skill or a passion, tell us about it and we can use that to empower the community. We have the homework centre here which has desks in it and the food kitchen, to use for classes,” she said.

For more information, call The Seed Fund on 083 440 3126 or email: admin@theseedfund.co.za.

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