"What a Sunday. Lots of drama, lots of pain and effort but a great fun day had by all." Gloria
£800 was raised by our wonderful supporters who rode on a hot Sunday in September to raise funds for Thatu.
The cyclists were members of the Business in the Community Youth Advisory Panel (http://race.bitc.org.uk/membership/YAP): Marcel, Valerie, Mustafa, Ozzie, BeAnna and their Manager and one of our Trustees, Gloria and Jan (a neighbour of one of our Trustees).
Thank you from all of us at Thatu!

In 2016 we will help five hard pushed and overcrowded rural and peri-urban schools to grow food, improve literacy and numeracy, and improve the environment.

The Home Food Gardening programme in the Cape Flats has expanded now to 18 impoverished communities. The 12 month programme results not only in families having much needed nutrition, but also skill development and also employment opportunities for some. In 2016 we are happy to be able to help another 800 home gardens to be developed on small wind swept plots, whilst also providing occasional support to 600 existing home gardeners.

MMEP, one of the projects Thatu has been funding for some years now, continues its good work in the Howick area of KwaZulu Natal. It has continued to work with schools to develop their food gardens and this year has added two more schools to its list!
 
With high levels of poverty in the area and so many HIV/Aids orphans, knowing how to grow your own food is not just a satisfying thing to do, it’s of real practical help. Good nutrition for a child benefits that child throughout its life.

The schools have a fun time when MMEP comes to visit, with quizzes, nature walks, stories and other activities – it’s not just hard digging!

This year has seen the start of another Thatu supported project – The Superbug Club. This is a group of 10 – 12 children selected by their teachers who meet monthly with a Superbug from MMEP. These children have all experienced trauma of some sort.  They do different exciting things at each meeting but at the same time have an opportunity to seek support and help with their problems. The Superbugs will give them guidance and refer them on to other organisations when appropriate. The children sign up to this for one year and the aim is to help the children cope with the difficulties in their lives.
 
Thatu is proud to have supported MMEP in these ways. The area that MMEP works in is a very rural and impoverished area of South Africa, worlds away from the sophistication of Cape Town or Johannesburg. We know that our funding makes a difference to many young lives.

In 2015 Thatu has continued supporting the expanding Soil for Life Home Food Gardening programme in the Cape Flats. By  mid-year only 5% of the 250 new home gardeners in seven different districts had dropped out. Considering the fragility of many peoples lives, this small loss points to the continuing success of the programme. As well as getting their first produce from their home food gardens, most of them have started compost heaps, and some even mini-nurseries. 10 existing home gardeners have had refresher training, as have also 11 new assistant trainers.

We have also supported the developing Health and Wellbeing Programme. By June 185 people had attended workshops in six districts. This programme is an important extension of the objective to equip people in these areas with the knowledge and tools to improve their own health and wellbeing.