News from our projects

April 2025: The new year has begun with many emotional moments, challenges and pleasing progress for our projects in South Africa. We are delighted to give you an update from our four projects today.

Children's home

Thanks to your generous donations over the Christmas period, we were able to finance school materials, school fees, clothing and hygiene products for the children at the beginning of the year. We were particularly pleased about the new playground for the younger children. It offers them a safe space to play and let off steam, and also helps to promote their motor development.

We would also like to inform you about a major change at the children's home. The director Pieter Swanepoel, who has run the children's home with much dedication for 28 years, left end of March to take over a pastor's position in the parish of Vryheid, a 3-hour drive north of Greytown.

We thank him from the bottom of our hearts for his tireless care and valuable work. Even though he has left the home, he will continue to provide temporary support as a consultant. On 29 March, Pieter and his wife René were given a grand farewell at the children's home. As a token of our long-standing friendship, we gave them a photo album with memories of our collaboration since 2004.

We will miss Pieter and René and their warm manner very much. Since April, the management of the children's home has been shared by the head of social work and the head of administration and finance.

Township-Project

We were once again able to finance school uniforms for 13 needy children at Copesville Primary School. The uniforms are compulsory in South Africa, but are unaffordable for many families in the township.

In addition to the regular supply of survival parcels (food and hygiene articles such as adult diapers), this year we are planning to equip kindergartens in the township with urgently needed learning materials. Another goal is to finance training courses for unemployed youth so that they have prospects on the labour market - for example as security guards or cashiers.

Village project

In February, severe storms caused serious damage in the region around the village of Keates Drift, where three of our supported preschools are located. The Sinamuva preschool was particularly affected - its roof was torn away by the storm. The teacher Jelina from Ekucabangeni preschool also lost her entire house. Fortunately, the other preschools largely withstood the storm, but many of the simple mud and straw huts were damaged. Project manager Paul and his dedicated team of volunteers are supporting the reconstruction work as best they can.

One ray of hope was a great outreach project at the beginning of March: 15 high school students from Greytown got involved as part of a social project and actively helped to renovate the Sikhulile preschool.

One student reports enthusiastically: “On Saturday, March 8th, the form 6s had the incredible opportunity to visit Sikhulile Crèche in Keate’s Drift for an Outreach project. With teamwork, they helped maintain the vegetable garden by clearing weeds and planting beetroot. They also painted the bathrooms, treated the jungle gym with linseed oil, and carried out much-needed repairs—fixing gutters and windows. Thanks to the generous support of the Siyabonga Foundation, they had the resources they needed to make a difference. This experience was a reminder of the importance of giving back and that small acts of kindness go a long way.”

Feeding project

The soup kitchen continues to provide people in need with a hot, nutritious meal twice a week. Whenever possible, bread, milk or fresh fruit and vegetables are also distributed, especially to the elderly.

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Appeal for donations - help for reconstruction

Thanks to your support, we can continue our projects and give people in South Africa new hope. In particular, we are currently collecting donations to help repair the damage at the village project after the devastating storm and to finance a new roof for the Sinamuva preschool. Siyabonga - thank you for your help.

We wish you a happy and sunny Easter.