Playgrounds....

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello from South Africa! I hope that you all are doing well. As many of you already know, I am currently serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bhekuzulu Village in the KwaZulu Natal Province of South Africa. My time here has been amazing, in most part due to the wonderful organization I am working for and the coworkers who collaborate on my programs with me.

I am writing to you from the Bhekuzulu Self Sufficient Project (BSSP), which is based in the rural village of Drycott, in the Bhekuzulu Area of the Imbabazane Municipality in the KwaZulu Natal Province of South Africa. Our mission is to promote health and dignity for all by providing holistic, fully integrated community centered services for HIV infected and affected people throughout our entire Municipality.

Imbabazane, located in the Uthukela District, has 110,594 people and encompasses 329 sq. miles (please see attached map). Specific service beneficiaries include 150 orphaned and otherwise vulnerable children ages birth to 18, persons living with HIV/AIDS, and community members suffering from food scarcity. Our various programs include a soup kitchen, an orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) feeding scheme, a crèche, a home based care project, and a prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV program. We also operate five halfway houses, serving another 150 children, spread throughout the Imbabazane Municipality to better serve the greater community. BSSP directly serves 850 people annually as well as countless community members who receive indirect programming benefits.

The Imbabazane Municipality is located in KwaZulu Natal, where the HIV/AIDS rate is at an overwhelming 40%. In Imbabazane, the highest prevalence rate is found in pregnant women, ages 25 to 29 years, at 42.6%. This infection rate amplifies the extreme poverty felt in the rural area of our municipality. Of the 17,445 households in our service area, approximately 12,460 live below the poverty line. The unemployment rate within the Imbabazane Municipality is an alarming 89%, giving our community little opportunity to financially better themselves.

Bhekuzulu Self Sufficient Project employs 56 members of our community, thereby inputting a source of income to a large number of people in our service area. The shortage of jobs and the scourge of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis have placed the children of our community in a hard world in which to grow up. BSSP’s objective is to actively improve these children’s lives.

Currently, our center has a playground consisting of 2 swings, a climbing box, and a crawl tunnel (see below).

This playground is woefully inadequate to serve 150 children, ages 3-15. I am raising funds to build a larger structure, similar to the one at Fairview Park on the Near West Side of Cleveland. This will serve our 150 children, as well as other children in the village who are bored after school and on the weekends. We hope to raise $4,500 US in order to build the new playground. Having a playground that can accommodate our children will make a huge difference in their lives.

If you are interested in contributing to this project, please send a check made out to the Bhekuzulu Self Sufficient Project Playground to my mom:

Mitsi Wagner
1497 West 38th St.
Cleveland, OH 44113

or contact her at ohgofinno@aol.com or me at Thereseclaxton@gmail.com with questions. An account in the name of Bhekuzulu Self Sufficient Project Playground has been created at 5th 3rd Bank .

Please explore our organization’s website to learn more about what we do at BSSP.

I sincerely thank you for your interest and support!

Therese Claxton