Yearend message from Sbo – our director

A constant feature of my adulthood has been that the years seem to get shorter and shorter. It feels like it was only the other day we were saying ‘happy new year’, and now that year is pretty much over. Such is the experience of growing up, I guess.

Looking back, 2022 has been an eventful year for The Valley Trust (TVT), and mainly in a positive way. Following a period of downsizing from 2020 to 2021, 2022 saw us consolidate and strengthen our activities in the communities we serve.

In our Khula Kahle Mntwana Project, we served more than 2,700 beneficiaries from 1,500 households. The majority of these beneficiaries were children under six years of age. We worked with the caregivers of these children in their homes, and provided support in ensuring that their children grow up physically and mentally healthy.

New funding received from PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief) and from the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund enabled us to enhance our service offering. We formed new or assisted existing support groups to ensure that caregivers and their children adhered to HIV treatment. We also helped early childhood development centres strengthen their curricula and establish vegetable gardens to feed the children in their care. We are grateful to these donors for their support.

Our Valley Youth Opportunity Centre saw more than 40 youth complete the various computer courses on offer. We will have a graduation ceremony in November to celebrate their success.

Following the floods that ravaged our city in April, we worked with partners to provide emergency assistance in the form of food, shelter and other materials needed by households to rebuild their lives. Sadly, a few of our beneficiaries, including young children, lost their lives. However, it was encouraging to see such a large number of stakeholders, from near and far, get involved in the relief effort.

A special highlight of our year was when TVT was selected as the launch site for a national programme in which 10,000 families will receive food aid over a nine month period. The ‘Isondlo’ programme, sponsored by Tiger Brands and delivered in association with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, will benefit over 900 TVT beneficiary households.

Hot on the heels of the launch, we had our breakfast fundraiser at Millflour Cafe in Hillcrest. With author, columnist and satirist Bhekisisa Mncube as our keynote speaker, the breakfast was a roaring success and went a long way towards establishing new relationships and strengthening existing partnerships. We are grateful to all who supported the breakfast in various ways, from sponsorship to attendance at the event.

On the governance front, TVT bid farewell to two trustees – Dr Zodwa Ngobese and Ms Nonkqubela Bantubani – and welcomed a new trustee, Dr Sihle Ndlovu. Another structure that is crucial to how we function is the Community Action and Advisory Committee, which is made up of community members and helps guide the delivery of TVT’s programmes. We are grateful to all the individuals who serve on these structures for giving of their time and expertise to help TVT thrive.

We wish all our supporters and friends a safe and restful holiday season, and look forward to connecting with you again in the new year.

Breakfast Fundraiser
with Bhekisisa Mncube
TELLING IT LIKE IT IS!

Thank you to those who supported our recent Breakfast Fundraiser.

Sharing steak-knife sharp observations, with stand-up comedian wit, uncomfortably accurate home truths and a 360 degree vision, award-winning columnist, journalist, satirist and author of three books, Bhekisisa Mncube, was a fabulously refreshing guest speaker at The Valley Trust fundraising business breakfast which was held at Fig Tree Farm in Hillcrest on Friday 21 October.
The theme for his address was “SA at a Crossroads…. with Potholes.”

His introduction set the tone: “I write speeches for politicians. Some of whom can’t read.”

He offered equal-opportunity incisive criticism and astute social observations. He covered a wide range of topics: Zuma (“good for my career, bad for SA”); Durban City Hall (“the worst political administration since 1996”); Ramaposa (“poster boy for the Stellenbosch mafia”); Sipho Shabalala (“he taught the comrades how to steal”) and the many corrupt politicians (“we need to keep the people who stole our children’s future, in the docks”).

His patter of many interesting and wry observations, although bleak and down-beat, ultimately weren’t morose. He was clear that we all have a role to play in being active citizens.

“If you haven’t emigrated, stay and build. If you can’t stomach it, leave.”

KZN Slots sponsored our demo garden

“Gardens are not made by singing ‘Oh, how beautiful!’ and sitting in the shade.”
– Rudyard Kipling, “

We are delighted with the progress of our newly built demo garden sponsored by KZN Slots. This garden will be used to train our home visitors in growing and food security. They will implement their knowledge into the homes of our beneficiaries who will be taught to grow enough produce for their family. We are inplementing gardens in 11 ECD centres within the local valley community.

These gardens act as a promising strategy to decrease food insecurity because of their ability to provide our lower-income beneficiary households with access to nutritious food, resulting in better health and financial savings.

So wonderful to see our Home Visitors, tilling, planting and learning to grow the right way. The beneficiaries and ECD Centre’s that we work with will benefit directly from this productive new garden situated on The Valley Trust property. Thank you KZN Slots for helping us grow this new space!!!
We are grateful.
Siyabonga!!

Tiger Brands and NMCF launch

33% of deaths of children under 5 years old in South Africa are due to malnutrition. In the first five months of 2022, at least 199 children died of malnutrition. In response to this worrying statistic, Tiger Brands – Africa’s largest food manufacturer – in association with The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (NMCF) and The Valley Trust (TVT), today launched the Isondlo Child Nutrition Initiative in an event held at TVT.

The initiative, which is national in scope and with a budget of ZAR42 million, aims to distribute nutritious food hampers to 10,000 households of children under 5 per month, for a period of 9 months. Each family will also receive a ‘garden kit’ with the first distribution, and in the kit are vegetable seeds with instructions on how to prepare a garden to plant the seeds. The intention is that after the end of the hamper deliveries, the households will be able to significantly supplement their nutritional intake through produce from their own gardens. The event consisted of a formal function at TVT, followed by a visit to one of the beneficiary households in the Valley of 1,000 Hills. CEO, Noel Doyle, and Chairperson of the Board, Dr Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, led the Tiger Brands contingent, while NMCF was represented by Interim CEO Dr Stanley Maphosa and members of his management team. At TVT, we are proud to partner with these two organisations on this initiative which will enhance our service offering to beneficiaries of our Khula Kahle Mntwana (Grow Well, Child) Programme. Siyabonga Tiger Brands and NMCF!!

A day in the life of a Home Visitor

Life of a TVT Home Visitor – Nhlakanipho Dlamini

1)How long have you been working at the TVT?
I have been working at the TVT organization from 2016 to date.

2)How many families and children have you interacted with?
I have been assigned to work with 200 beneficiaries and currently I’m sitting on 206
which is made up of 91 family households with 115 children. They are all being
served as TVT beneficiaries.
However, as we all know that there are many more community members facing
societal ills, and they all need a helping hand. I have helped more than the number
assigned to me and continue to assist affected people that I encounter.

3)An exciting day at work
There was this one day I woke up early in the morning and started doing home visits as usual part of my everyday job.

I was doing Child Stimulation that day.I entered the premises of this homestead, and when I was about to pass by the window I overheard one of the children calling out my name. When I looked through the window I saw the children were alone and no parents were present. Two of these children were TVT beneficiaries and I didn’t know the third one. I stepped back a bit to listen and heard them doing a role play, and had assigned themselves into different roles. One of the children took my role as a facilitator and called himself by my name, “Malume Nhlaka”. The other two acted as learners. The one who imitated my role was teaching them how to count. They were using stones as learning tools.

Seeing that made me feel very honored because it showed me that the effort we put into supporting the community members is being valued, and the children are now placing high value on studying and using their playtime to self-actualize without the help of an adult person. That was the happiest day of my life.

Reporting day: Friday. This is one of the exciting days of my work with the team as I am out in the field with the community and I experience many challenges and often don’t have a solution. During reporting time with my colleagues, I get advice and we discuss ways and find a solution.

Success Story
There was this family of three; a mother, father and a child. Both parents were HIV positive. The wife was taking the treatment even though her viral load was high and the husband was not on medication.
I intervened by conducting sessions where by I was giving HIV/AIDS lessons.

Topics covered:
a) CD4 Count and viral load
b) Adherence
c) Healthy Diet
d) Acceptance
Furthermore; I accompanied the husband to visit the local clinic to get help and counselling, where he received medication. I continued to do home visits, and the wife told me that the husband has stopped taking medication. I, again sat down with him, and let him know the importance of Adherence and acceptance and also discussed topics related to the situation. He went back to the clinic for his medication. Ever since then he’s eating healthy, and adhering to his medication.

4)What I love about my work?
As a community development worker, my job is to help communities, bring about social change and improve the quality of life in the local area.

This strengthens my values as a human being, increases my self-confidence, self-esteem, brings life satisfaction, and a sense of identity/ belonging.

5)How has your life been impacted working at TVT?
I have had many downfalls in my life . Some were more severe than others. I could see my life fading. But one day I sat and had self-introspection, that’s where I changed my mindset and said no, I can do something meaningful with my life.

I got hired at TVT and enrolled in Higher Education and Training pursuing my studies to become a teacher. I am about to complete my course.

Ever since I changed my mindset, I am a better person than I was yesterday and have found more meaning in my life and have become more supportive to my community where I am faced with many struggling families..

The variety of training I have acquired at The Valley Trust has changed my perspective of how one should raise a child, how to conduct myself as a member of the community and how much I can positively influence people in my community. Now I have seen lives change before my eyes because of my intervention. I’ve seen parents who were neglecting their responsibilities starting to connect with their children, playing with them with the intention of educating and prioritizing their child’s holistic development.

6)What is my dream for the future?
My dream for the future is to see all the societal ills lessen.
To see every individual become an active participant in the community, being able to live freely, being advocates for themselves, working hard to self-actualize and be better independent individuals.

Spread the love this Christmas

The Khula Kahle Mntwana (KKM) Programme (isiZulu for Grow well, child) seeks to ensure that young children grow up with healthy bodies and minds, do well at school and become productive adults. The project addresses the developmental needs of the child in a holistic way through working in the home directly with the child and caregiver.

Spread the love this Christmas and sponsor a child. We want to expand our efforts to reach even more children in The Valley , but we can’t do this without your help!

We’d love your pre-loved goods

The Khethokuhle Charity Shop, situated on our property in Botha’s Hill, contributes to our fundraising efforts and relies on donations of pre-loved goods to keep our shelves full and customers happy.
The pressing need for charities to create sustainable ways to maintain supply of valuable services to communities in need has never been more evident. Our projects provide health services, food security and child education to the valley of 1000 Hills and surrounding areas.
We are reaching out to the community and business sector for donations of good condition clothing, kitchenware, linen, bric-a-brac, crockery, books, records and furniture.

Are you looking for an event venue with overnight accommodation?

Situated in the picturesque Valley of 1,000 Hills in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, The Valley Trust combines spectacular scenery, peace of mind and value for money in its offering of office space, residential units and conferencing facilities all available for rent on its property. In addition, there is backpacker-style group accommodation for up to 30 guests and WiFi available in parts of the property, plus we have a clinic located on our doorstep to cater for any health emergency needs.The premises have 24-hour security with armed response which ensures the safety of our tenants and guests.