Siyakhula: On March 8th they were able to give school uniforms to 80 OVCs in their area. On this day they held a party where the presentations were made along with speeches from government and other stakeholders from Ngqeleni. They have also been working with auditors this week to help them balance their books as March is their financial end of year. Aside from these, it is business as usual for the Siyakhula carers, doing door to door visits and running their soup kitchen with great success.

Philisa: They continue to have Imbizo awareness campaigns in the communities they are working. This week the carers from Manyosana presented Philisa to their community, to show the community members the carers who are working there. Many of the other members attended the Kwasa HIV Support Group meeting. This is the support group of which many of the Philisa members were members when they decided to start Philisa because they recognized the need n the area. Philisa has also started their own support group called Khuphukani to help those who can’t get to the Kwasa meetings. This week the caregivers also went to Nkantsini Junior Secondary School to find out how many OVCs are attending this school. They found 54 kids to add to the number they are already supporting.
For their Social Development application, they have been working on a Supplier Number application. This is a process that every NPO supported by Social development must undergo as they are supplying a service to their community. They were also able to get a support letter from the Headman, another requirement of Social Development.

Mdumbi: This week they worked very hard trying to get a system of reporting working. Lindelwa has been teaching them the TransCape reporting system and they also need a special reporting system for Social Development. They are also busy planning an awareness day in their community. They would like to invite all of the stakeholders in the area, especially the councillor, chief and social workers to help raise support for their program. We are still busy negotiating a proper site for their office. They have been given a piece of land however it is on the very edge of the ward, making it difficult to reach all of their potential clients.
As they continue to work door to door in their area, it is becoming clear that the people in this area face extreme challenges every day, even in comparison to the people living in the other wards. The caregivers have found a mama who has given birth to 7 children in her home because she was never able to make it to the hospital to give birth. Because of this, none of the children are registered and she cannot receive grants for them. The carers also found 2 orphans living alone and helped them to get grants, however after checking on them again, they have found that the older of the 2 children has been taking the money without helping the younger and the younger is suffering because of this. These challenges highlight the need for HBC in the Mankosi Area and points to the astonishing amount of work that must be done by these carers.