Upcycle Orange farm project
Background
The Orange Farm community is a semi-rural, undeveloped area 40km South of Johannesburg. The township is one of the largest informal settlements in South Africa, with most estimates giving a population of 1 million people. The challenges that are faced by this community are high levels of poverty; low levels of literacy; lack of basic services; lack of access to justice and health care facilities; lack of consultation between the local government and community members; high levels of violence (generally alcohol-related); lack of employment which leads to increased crime.
Upcycle have spent a few years in this community on many levels and hope to continue making a difference to the people in Orange Farm one bit of junk at a time. (From teaching a group of ladies to make teddies using scrap fabric and another project about making products from waste to generate an income for themselves., we have become very attached to the people from Orange farm as they have passion and drive to make a difference to their lives.)
Progress
Upcycle have now partnered with the Human Rights Center in Orange Farm to jointly make inroads into uplifting the community – we want to empower them economically by teaching them the skills needed to upgrade the recycling centre into a more holistic Upcycle centre, where they can make PRODUCTS from the waste that can be sold at a higher value than straightforward recycling can currently produce.
The Orange Farm Human Rights Advice Centre was established to alleviate the suffering of the community members through sustainable grassroots initiatives aimed at local empowerment, to improve access to health services and justice and educational opportunities in order to fulfill basic human rights. They also aimed to make the community aware of their rights enshrined in the Constitution and to go further and engage (and influence) public policy processes which would lead to accountability at local government level. The community still continue to visit the premises seeking its services. This is why stakeholders in the community met to look at possibilities of resurrecting the centre and why the centre is still in operation despite the many obstacles it faces such as funding, land ownership, proper facilities and poor service
The Advice Centre assists in access to information; referrals, legal advice and legal assistance on a wide range of issues concerning accessing of birth certificates & identification documents; accessing social grants; labour mediation; evictions; domestic violence; child abuse, disability issues, unemployment and Income Generating Projects. They also provide assistance to refugees and asylum seekers.
In addition, the centre runs a daycare centre called Itsoseng. It was first established for the children of employees at the advice centre but there was a greater demand that was needed to be fulfilled in the greater Orange Farm community. Therefore they opened the day care centre to all members of the community who were interested.
The Advice Centre also runs a recycling project which contributes to the funds needed to run the centre. The project also alleviates pollution and empowers the community by showing them sustainable grassroots initiatives and alternative ways of making money whilst saving the environment.
The challenge
Funds generated from recycling done on the premises (collection and sorting of waste) were used to finance both the operation of the day care centre as well as the advice centre. This income stream is now under threat as the big recycling companies are taking over.
As the big recycling companies are taking over the small informal guys are getting less and less market share and are slowly being squashed out of the market. This poses a big threat to the Human rights center as the recycling was helping fund the running of the Human right center. Upcycle are training the people from the recycling center and the local community how to create products from the waste that can be sold at a higher value then recycling can currently produce.
The Orange Farm Human Rights Advice Centre was established to alleviate the suffering of the community members through sustainable grassroots initiatives aimed at local empowerment, to improve access to health services and justice and educational opportunities in order to fulfill basic human rights. They also aim/ed to make the community aware of their rights enshrined in the Constitution and to go further and engage (and influence) public policy processes which would lead to accountability at local government level. The community still continue to visit the premises seeking its services. This is why stakeholders in the community met to look at possibilities of resurrecting the centre and why the centre is still in operation despite the many obstacles it faces such as funding, land ownership, proper facilities and poor service
Upcycle Would like to assist the center to uplift its community and make a positive difference to the planet at the same time.
Your funding can be the catalyst for real, sustainable change
We would like to encourage any corporates that would like get involved in a SED or CSI project to contact Winnie McHenry atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 082 780 3673.
This community is making things happen and you would be very proud to be the funder of such an awesome group of people.