Projects

Through Wil Groot's stay in South Africa we have gained an extensive network of projects. Based on our experiences in South Africa we have decided to financially support a number of projects. We have defined the following three focus points that we will devote our support to in 2009:

1. Ons Plek (Our Place)
As in previous years we will support the running of 'Ons Plek' in Bloemfontein in the Transkei and contribute to the expansion of the housing and care capacity.

2. De Transkei
We want to contribute to reducing malnutrician in the area around Coffee Bay (located in the Transkei). These activities are coordinated with staff from Ons Plek however it is intended that the benefits will extend beyond Ons Plek.

3. De Ciskes around Cape Town
"Ciskes" is the collective name that Wil gave to homeless youths in his weblog from townships around Cape Town, in reference to an endearing street kid from the Dutch movie 'Ciske the Rat'. For this type of smaller projects we have allocated 10% of our budget. We are working together with Homestead, an organization that provides shelter for these youths at the Selesian Institute and educates them through their 'learn to live' program.

Ons Plek

Ons Plek is a project of Deon Mulder from South Africa. Deon provides free healthcare to people with HIV and AIDS through his not for profit organization. Deon has worked in healthcare since 1984 and founded Ons Plek in 1999.
Deon Mulder provides care to people that have nowhere else to go. These people often become outcasts to their family and social circles as a result of fear, ignorance and shame. Ons Plek gives them the required care in a domestic setting.
We have decided to support Ons Plek because we know that our funds are not spent on high salaries. We have experienced for ourselves that a relatively small financial contribution can achieve a big effect at this project.
Willen & Doen supports Ons Plek with making contributions towards renovations to improve and expand the project. Ons Plek also receives a monthly contribution of 1500 Euro from us towards the running costs. In addition to these contributions we are developing activities to improve self-sufficiency and independence of residents together with Ons Plek.
This project consists of two locations: Ons Plek Bloemfontein and Ons Plek Transkei

Ons Plek Bloemfontein

Ons Plek has two sites in Bloemfontein. The first is the original Ons Plek (OP1), and the second is the so called Pink House.

OP1
From 1999 to August 2008 the housing and care of adults and children was combined in OP1. Now that the Pink House has been opened for the children, OP1 predominantly cares for adults. There are still some children in OP1 who are cared for together with their mothers. The residents often have a sad history of abuse and being an outcast. For many Ons Plek has been their last place, but it has been the home to them that they had lost.

Most of the work on at the project is done by PWAs (People With Aids). These people have little chance of employment elsewhere and can restore their self-worth through working at Ons Plek. The PWAs who work as caretakers receive a wage. Besides this the project relies on volunteers.

The composition of the people at Ons Plek in terms of numbers, age, gender and ethnicity is often changing. Sometimes there are 20 people present, and at other times twice as many people may be present.

Besides the monthly contribution towards the running costs Willen & Doen funded necessary repairs to the foundations of the building.

The Pink House
The Pink House was purchased in August 2008 to provide care and housing to the children at the project. By South African law children and adults can not be housed in a single house, which made establishing a separate facility for the children a necessity. The Pink House is named after the colour of its exterior walls, officially this building is known as OP2.

The Pink House was purchased by a trust set up by friends of Deon Mulder, and is made available to the project indefinitely to house the children. 20 children can be housed at the Pink House. Ideally the Pink House is not a permanent place for the children; where possible the aim is to place the children back with (distant) family. In making these decisions the child's wellbeing is the most important factor.

The Pink House used to be a residence. When the building was purchased Willen & Doen funded the necessary adjustments to make the house suitable for occupation by the children. This was made possible by a donation from the Trutfonds.

We also have brought the Pink House to the attention to KLM's Wings of Support program, and with a donation from this organisation we were able to build a new bathroom, living room and replace the carpet with tiles.

In the mean time a small vegetable garden has been planted near the house. The garden is maintained by HIV-positive people from the township, which is an excellent step towards self-sufficiency in addition to providing food.