Designing Hope - Actions

Malanda Community Awareness Project

INTRODUCTION - MALANDA

The Community Hall is located at the entrance of Piggs Peak in the Malanda disadvantaged area.
It had unfortunately not been maintained for afew years, leading to broken windows and doors, a leaking roof, paint coming off the walls, no electricity or water installed, and an outside area in need of maintenance and gardening. The premises were an open space, both indoors and out, accessible to anyone, with no one looking after the maintenance. This was due to the fact that the Town Council did not have the financial means to cover any costs of upkeep.

The community center is 300m2 with a large hall and also includes 2 attached rooms on the side.
The central hall has a 3m wide and 2m long stage. There is a dirt soccer field located directly in front of the building. There is a section of land the same length of the building and 5m wide in the back, left unattended and overgrown.

MALANDA COMMUNITY HALL AGREEMENT.

Designing Hope Africa signed an agreement with Piggs Peak Town Council in January 2005 to renovate this abandoned community hall. The purpose of this action was to facilitate HIV/AIDS awareness and educational programs, linked to cultural activities such as leisure events, sports, skills and job training programs.

RENOVATIONS

This building came back to life within a few months thanks to the implication of community members and financial support of Designing Hope:
Doors and windows have been replaced, the building has been cleaned and repainted inside and outside.
The outside area at the back of the building has been cleaned, and land prepared for the planting of a community garden. Electricity and water was installed, and bathroom facilities added, as well as a small kitchen.

ACIVITIES

The community could still use the space for any of their initiatives, but Designing Hope remained free to organize any event link to its awareness and income generation projects.

Here are some of the activities developped in 2005:

CHILDREN AWARENESS AND SUPPORT
- Activities for poor children and orphins of Malanda, such as school support, drawing classes.
- Awareness organized together with a clown, HIV+ himself.
(collaboration with US NGO "Clowns without borders" - read their report on this project)

ARTISTIC WORKSHOPS
- Painting activities with Swazi painters (collaboration with the Alliance Francaise)
Swazi painter Lucky worked for one week with the children on the theme of the awareness campaign "I Love You positive or Negative". He drew a mural on the wall of the malanda community hall.
This mural is now part of the international "I Love You Positive or Negative" campaign, and wil be reproduced on condom packs and posters.

Lucky and his pice of art, so representative of Swazi landscape and culture.

EMBROIDERY WORKSHOPS
- One of the main activities has been an embroidery training was organised for a group of 100 woman in Piggs Peak in collaboration with Create Africa South an NGO based in Durban.
after getting the skills, DHA organised a second training based on the interpretation of the campaign message I Love U Positive or Negative. This was a rich source of information to build the international campaign.

HIV & AIDS COUNSELLING

The idea was really to keep the HIV program as discreet as possible, to make it more efficacious and first obtain the community’s confidence and interest in coming to this venue.
Once the trust was established, Visits were organised bringing in personalities involved in other HIV programs, such as Amazing Grace or CAS from Durban.

GARDENING

A community garden was also organised at the back of the building, to grow fresh vegetables available for the food support offered to the community.

ALSO READ

Designing Hope has been supporting Piggs Peak Hospital since 2004.

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