Non-profit works to keep Umgababa beautiful
The project has provided part-time employment to 44 people.
LITTLE by little, a group of workers, led by Erwin Vermaak and Nompilo Msomi, are turning Umgababa into the beautiful place it is supposed to be by leading cleanups and planting communal vegetable gardens.
Erwin of Amanzimtoti and Nompilo of Umgababa are working with the non-profit organisation (NPO), We Feed SA, to provide part-time employment to 44 young people, with one group led by Erwin and the other one by Nompilo.
Erwin said he has been involved in some relief projects in Umgababa’s Area 38, but Covid-19 wiped out all the resources and he had to stop.
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“This year, I was contacted by We Feed SA who asked me if I could run a programme of planting vegetable gardens and running clean-ups in the area. We Feed SA then provided some protective wear and tools, but we still needed more equipment. Unbeknown to me, Nompilo was doing the same thing in the area, and we decided to join forces so we could have more impact. The 44 people are employed two days a week and get a salary. We are two groups, but Nompilo and I plan together,” said Erwin.
He said they still need help from the whole community to get funds, tools, seeds, knowledge, manpower and anything else that could be used to conduct cleanups and maintain food gardens. Nompilo said they have acquired pockets of land that they have started to use to plant vegetables. Outside the offices of her NPO, she said the thriving garden is on a piece of land that the area’s councillor allowed for its use. Nompilo has also been extensively involved with poverty alleviation projects in Umgababa for a number of years.
“The group of young workers in this project that I led were previously community safety patrollers whom I put together in an effort to watch for crime. When the We Feed SA opportunity came along, I absorbed them into this project to keep them busy so they don’t become dejected and end up doing wrong things,” said Nompilo.
Since the programme launched on September 11, the workers covered a wide area, and the residents of Area 38 are amazed at how beautiful it looks just weeks after work started. Both Erwin and Nompilo said the project runs until May 2024, but it is their goal to make it continue if enough resources can be found. They plan to sell the vegetables in various feeding schemes and sell the surplus to raise funds to keep the project running.
Anyone who would like to offer some help can contact Nompilo on 083 741 1266 or email her at nompilo123@icloud.com. Erwin can be contacted on 082 891 7578 or mailed at erwinv07@icloud.com.
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