Area Development Programmes (ADP's)

 

Child sponsorship funds are used to run long-term development projects called Area Development Programs (ADPs). As a model of community development, ADPs link villages that work together in regional clusters to help address the root causes of poverty.

ADPs are child-focused, sustainable development programs for between 15,000 to 100,000 people, divided into smaller community clusters. Generally, World Vision works with communities through ADPs for 10 to 15 years.

Facilitators, who are usually from the region, are trained to build relationships, help the community to identify needs and possible solutions, provide training to local leaders and encourage networking among civil society and government groups.

Mpofu ADP

This is the oldest of WVSA‘s programmes that is phasing out in 2011. The Area Development Programme is located in Nkonkobe Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province and supported by World Vision US. The ADP main focus is on: Economic Development, Advocacy and HIV/AIDS. PEPFAR funded Networks of Hope project is also conducted, focusing on care and support for the orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). There are 4 236 registered children in Mpofu and the ADP targets more than 30 000 people in 38 villages in the area.

 In the area of economic development, the ADP addresses the economic needs of more than 60% of the people in Mpofu who are unemployed.  There is a high rate of poverty in the area and the ADP is forming macro-economic entities that will create local employment. The ADP also facilitates linkages with funding agencies and government departments to assist in developing community projects. Skills training, education, and fresh produce and other markets are vital to the success of the economic development; as a result the ADP has been working with training providers to achieve this.

Through the ADP’s advocacy intervention, better roads are being constructed in Mpofu by the Department of Public Works.

The ADP is also facilitating other income generating projects for Mpofu community and these include brick-making, sewing and farming projects. The ADP is also in the process of empowering youth with skills in collaboration with local Further Education and Training (FET) colleges. The ADP puts a lot of emphasis on child welfare.

Khauhelo ADP

Located near Bloemfontein in the Free State province in an area called Botshabelo, Khauhelo ADP is supported by World Vision Canada and World Vision South Africa respectively. Projects implemented include Agriculture, Economic Development and HIV/AIDS. The ADP has close to 4 000 registered children and its goal is to improve the areas socio-economic status, promote self-reliance and improve the well-being of the poor families in Botshabelo by 2017.

The ADP  teaches communities to learn to grow its own food and not rely on buying from the shops. The backyard and communal gardens are supported with tools, seeds and technical training and monitoring to ensure quality products which have benefited 1 450 families. The breeding of local chickens benefits the OVCs and their guardians. Other families and schools have been given support to grow fruit trees. Altogether, 3 735 families have received fruit trees and they are growing very well. This is done to encourage community participation in development, and teach the children about environment and importance of trees.

Through Networks of Hope, the ADP conducts an effective life skills training programme in schools and for youths out of school. Currently, the ADP is mobilizing the community, government departments and churches to address HIV/AIDS and the plight of those affected and infected by the pandemic.

Orlando East ADP

The ADP is situated in Soweto, the largest township area in South Africa. The majority of the people in Soweto live below the poverty line. Orlando East, which is one of the townships in Soweto, has a population estimated at 40 350 (18 350 males and 21 977 females, inclusive of children). The population has increased during the past decade, caused by an influx of people looking for employment.

The major cause of poverty in the area is unemployment that is predominately caused by the lack of skills. The ADP strives to address this problem through equitable, sustainable and participatory development that is owned by the community. Orlando ADP has adapted the Urban Development Initiative funded by World Vision South Africa and World Vision Australia. The ADP is empowering communities in entrepreneurial skills and training the youth on life skills.

The wellness rooms in schools, the awards and assistance given to best senior school students and the training of children in computer has transformed this community tremendously. The ADP encourages the community, (mainly granny-headed households) to grow their own food through door sized backyard gardens.

The ADP has also implemented a nutrition project, funded by KFC in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP). It has almost 900 registered children.

Located at the centre where the Soweto uprising of 1976 started, the ADP has the advantage of hosting many visitors from various World Vision offices around the world. Heritage sites closer to the ADP office include the Hector Peterson and Nelson Mandela Museums and other centers of interest that are associated with the liberation of SA from apartheid rule.

Kodumela- Enable ADP

This is a merger of two ADPs, i.e. the Kodumela and Enable ADPs sponsored by World Vision South Africa and World Vision United Kingdom. Kodumela- Enable ADP is located close to Tzaneen in the Ga-Sekororo village in the Limpopo province. The ADP covers close to ten villages with a population of 90 000 and has a 70% unemployment rate. Seventy percent of the homesteads do not have electricity and running water. The goal of the ADP is to give birth to a transformed and resourced community with skilled people, for the well-being of all children in these areas. The ADP has more than 4 000 registered children.

The ADP constructed a crèche in Metz village, which will benefit children from 0 to 5 years. This was made possible by partnership between the ADP, the local councilor and the ADP committee. The ADP discovered a need to develop a culture of reading among the children of Sekororo. Through the help of local sponsors, the ADP established three other resource centers. The ADP also conducts awareness campaigns for TB, Cholera, HIV/AIDS, First Aid, Personal Hygiene, child abuse and teenage pregnancy. The campaigns are conducted in schools and clinics, with assistance from teachers and nurses.

In Economic Development, the ADP helped 20 women in Madeira village to establish a beadwork project, known as Lafata (taken from the Sepedi idiom meaning reaping from what you sown). They were trained and have started to sell their products internationally through the internet using their vibrant website, which the ADP has helped them develop. After diversifying into fast food and poultry production and the project has become sustainable and employs seven community members.

Kodumela is a South African version of the Integrated Programming Model. Various ADP projects are funded by different bodies including the National Development Agency, Choice, Macleans Trust funds, ABSA bank and the government. The ADP has a link with a community in the United Kingdom, Cholsey, and together they have a website called Choko which is used to raise funds. The link was established through a sponsor visit.

Mbekweni ADP

Mbekweni ADP is situated in the Boland region in the Western Cape. It is funded by WV Taiwan and has close to 4 500 registered children. The area has inadequate basic services and is isolated from the main commercial centers, making life hard for children and their families. The production of traditional crops such as green maize, sweet potatoes and pumpkins has seen participants having enough to eat and sell. The backyard gardens and school gardens have blossomed, although some have been affected by the winter season.

In Education the ADP works with pre-schools, assisting them with learning aids, toys, and enabling them to grow vegetables. A shack school in the area was replaced by a new properly built school financed by World Vision Korea, whilst another school received a new roof from the same donation. The ADP financially assists needy parents to send their registered children to school. Special visits are made to support children who have lost their parents and are now heading families. Counseling is provided and the ADP has taken the responsibility to ensure they have food and attend school. The ADP supports grassroots soccer for children with the aim to provide them with skills and entertainment. Mbekweni is the only ADP where children have had opportunities to visit their support office in Taiwan as a group to do sports and cultural activities. Mbekweni also partners with the Swedish Centre Party which supports exchange programmes between Mbekweni and Sweden.

Thaba-Nchu ADP

Thaba-Nchu ADP started in October 2007 and has more than 3 000 registered children. Thaba-Nchu area is predominantly agricultural based, with special focus on crops and animal farming. The area has land that is not fully utilized due to lack of funds and other resources. The ADP is currently focusing on establishing backyard and communal gardens. Farming inputs such as seeds, appropriate farm irrigation system, crop production and improvement of cattle breed will be central to the development interventions.

HIV/AIDS is one of the priority projects implemented by the ADP. It conducts a Networks of Hope project funded by President Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), through which 2 000 orphans and vulnerable children are currently registered for care and support. The OVCs are provided with school uniforms, shoes, warm clothing for winter, psychosocial support, and food parcels and chickens to address their nutritional needs. The ADP implemented the Caring School project in the five schools of Thaba Nchu area, funded by Nelson Mandela foundation. This project addressed the issues of schools yard beautification, vegetable gardening, life skills training, improvement of recreational facilities within the schools and provision of identity documents for the children to access government grants.

Thusalushaka ADP

Thusalushaka Area Development Programme is found towards the East of Makhado in Limpopo. Supported by World Vision Malaysia and South Africa, Thusalushaka is a Venda name meaning help the community/nation. The ADP office is based at the centre of the community and supports more than 2 000 children. It is one of the most rural and remote ADPs in South Africa. The main economic activities are subsistent farming, small-scale agriculture and small or micro enterprise. The standard of living is very poor in the area. The community has limited access to health care, electricity, running water and proper infrastructure is almost nonexistent.

The ADP has capacitated the youth with music skills and collaborated with schools with educational interventions that have raised the pass rates in many schools in the area of Mathematics and Science. The project has trained the people in Agriculture and helped them to start communal and backyard gardens.

Subsistence farming has been encouraged and the local farmers are considering starting a milling company from locally grown maize. The ADP is implementing the Nutrition Project sponsored by KFC and World Food Programme.

Atlantis ADP

Atlantis ADP operates in an area where there is a high rate of unemployment, poverty and crime. Sponsored by World Vision South Africa and World Vision Canada, the ADP has 2 892 registered children. The program creates opportunities of a better life for people through human transformation and transference of skills. Life skills programs are also conducted for the youth and skills development for the other groups in the community.

The ADP has worked with pre-schools in the area on Early Childhood Development (ECD) projects. The ADP has trained the teachers and helped the pre-schools with infrastructure development and learning equipment. Through this project, the learning outcomes of the children have improved. The ADP ensures people remain part of the transformation process in developing themselves through the opportunities provided. The ADP implements the HIV/AIDS projects and creates partnerships with various agencies in prevention, care, support and advocacy. The ADP also receives grants from the government to implement a Home Based Care project, which has helped reduce the stigma associated with the pandemic. The ADP has also implemented a project from Korea to build a multi-skills centre for the entire community.

Ixopo ADP

Ixopo ADP is situated in the South West of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal province. It is supported by WV Australia and has more than 4 000 registered children. The ADP strives to address the main causes of poverty in the area, these include; lack of entrepreneurial skills, unemployment, and low agricultural productivity.

One of the identified root causes of low agricultural productivity was the lack of agricultural infrastructure. An Irrigation pump purchased for Mhlekiswa Khumalo, a farmer from Amazabeko village, has made significant impact to create employment opportunities. Khumalo has since doubled his area of operation from 5 to 10 hectares, and increased his number of employees. The salaries enable these women feed their families and take their children to school. Khumalo has also trained seven children from Amazabeko Primary School on harvesting, grading, and packaging of vegetables.

These learners have now started a school garden project and receive support from their teachers. Khumalo is also mentoring an up-coming farmer Mpumelelo Gamede who has also been supported with garden tools and gravity irrigation system by the ADP. Representatives from 12 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) were trained in technical and business skills related to their businesses. The trainees included representatives from 5 community gardens, 4 broiler productions, a piggery production, a sewing project, a brick-making project, and a goat farming project.

The ADP established the Principal’s Forum comprising of 16 school principals from schools within the ADP area. Through this forum, sanitation in schools has been improved. Eighteen toilets have been constructed in three primary schools, Amazabeko, Maryhelp and Nokweja. The constructing classrooms in Bhensela, Sifiso, and Sinevuso schools have addressed overcrowding in these schools. Bhekukuphiwa and Mawela crèches were also constructed in ward 11 to support and encourage early childhood education.

Okhahlamba ADP

World Vision has been involved in sections of Bergville (Okhahlamba) through child sponsorship since the mid 80s. It is funded by WV USA with close to 5 000 registered children. Okhahlamba is situated under the shadow of the northern Drakensburg mountains in the KwaZulu-Natal Province, and covers 13 wards with a total population of 130 000. The area has been declared part of the 4th World Heritage Site in South Africa, because of its pristine natural environment and cultural riches.

Over the years, the ADP has introduced income generating activities to the people of this area to strengthen household income and food security. A major area of accomplishment by Okhahlamba ADP has been the movement toward sustainability and community ownership. OADP networked with the Department of Agriculture and other agricultural agencies, to gain technical expertise and advice. This project supported 116 household gardens (82 children, 27 family gardens for people with disabilities and seven health gardens for sponsored children). Twenty-six community gardens and six church gardens were also established, followed by training.  Eight community gardens were supported with irrigation systems and were assisted with linkages with markets. Currently the ADP supports more than 200 household gardens with training in organic and trench gardening techniques, food preparation to retain maximum nutrition, accessing quality seeds, seedlings, and fruit trees.

Six beadwork groups composed of disabled and able-bodied people have been established and trained to bead their way to the European markets. Ten youth have been enrolled for Computer lessons (five of which are disabled). Five disabled youths who previously benefited from the computer program are now volunteers in the ADP as administrators. They do this to gain experience and increase their chances to get jobs. A computer room has been set-up in the ADP office to empower more with computer skills.

Umzimkhulu ADP

The ADP is located within 20 – 40 kilometers from the site of the Ixopo ADP. Umzimkhulu is located under Sisonke district municipality of Kwazulu Natal province, 175 kilometers from Pietermaritzburg (the capital town of Kwazulu-Natal). The ADP operates in three wards comprised of 28 villages with a total population of 21,713. The country–side of the area is dominated by its location in the foothills of Drakensberg Mountains.

The area is one of the poorest areas of South Africa, with an unemployment rate of approximately 80%. Migrant labour practices remain the dominant form of employment.

With little economic base, many in the Umzimkulu area remain bound to subsistence farming for survival.  After decades of neglect, however, the land is not able to sustain the pressure. The ADP focuses on economic development and HIV/AIDS projects. Funded by WV Australia, the ADP supports more than 3000 children in a population.

The ADP identified 39 Churches where 27 leaders were trained on how to handle HIV/AIDS related cases in their churches. These leaders now have the ability to teach about HIV/AIDS in their churches, and the Congregational HIV/AIDS Team (CHAT) teams have been selected.

To encourage income generating projects in the area, the ADP supported eleven communal gardens and eleven schools gardens with required tools and training. This was done to promote agricultural skills in both children and adults living in the area and to ensure food security at household level. Four poultry projects were also supported each with 350 broiler chicks, medication and feeds. The garden and poultry projects activities have benefited more than 1 000 children.

KwaMaphumulo ADP

The ADP is located about 200 km north of the Durban metropolitan city and about 650 km South East of Pretoria, the capital city of South Africa. The total population of KwaMaphumulo is 120 642 of which 50 % are children under the age of 14 years. More than 50 % of the total population is women. The KMP Municipality has eleven wards with the ADP covering nine, with close to 3 500 registered children. The KwaMaphumulo area falls under the sugar growing agri-ecological area of KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. It is characterized by high rainfall averaging between 1 050 to 1 350 mm per annum. The soils are fertile with a potential to support a variety of crops under irrigation.

The main goal of this Canada funded ADP is to increase the food security of 1 337 KwaMaphumulo households (6 685 people, including orphans and vulnerable households) through increased agricultural production.  The ADP has provided drip irrigation kits, seedlings and five treadle pumps to pump water from rivers in selected locations.  This has been achieved in partnership with the Department of Agriculture. Participants will also be trained on soil fertility and compost use.

This project does not only demonstrate the power of partnership, but its aim is to remove factors that constrain people’s growth and development. The ADP Committee (comprised of community members) is responsible for this project and works together with the Food Security Team to ensure the success. The team consists of farmers from the group of beneficiaries, five officials from the Departments of Agriculture, Health and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry.

Umzimvubu ADP

This ADP comprises of 36 villages of Mabenyeng Kingdom, within the Alfred Nzo District municipality in the Eastern Cape. Umzimvubu is situated in the north-western corner of the Eastern Cape Province, on the spur of the province between KZN and Lesotho.

The aim of this USA funded ADP is to improve the well-being of children and of 25 000 people of Mabenyeng Kingdom by 2017. It was launched in 2003, after a nursing sister at the Maluti Community Health Centre identified the area as the part of the Maluti district, with needs that required urgent attention. The ADP has more than 4 000 sponsored children and 5 554 registered children.

The ADP views education as the greatest investment towards the future of children. One of the ADP highlights in this regard was the implementation of an education project. Through it relations were developed between the ADP and Department of Education, Educators, Learners and Schools Governing Bodies in the area. There are more than 2 000 learners who benefited from toilets that have been built in ten schools and water tanks supplied to nine schools.

Youth development is at the heart of this ADP. No less than 720 boys and girls have been trained in peer education. This is to enable these teenagers to properly deal with peer pressure and grow up to be responsible citizens.

The training also provided a platform for them to share their stories and challenges with their peers, whilst they were also taught how to make informed decisions about their future.

Embo ADP

Supported by WV Australia, the ADP has more than 2 500 registered children. The ADP aims to improve the socio-economic and spiritual life of the community through sustainable transformational development that put people at the center of the process of development. This enables them to realize and unlock their own potential in identifying ways of dealing with their challenges to achieve a state of interdependence rather than being dependent.

Its success during the past years is evident. Parents, who were in the past not able to afford school fees for their children are now capable of doing so. This is a result of their involvement in the community projects started by the ADP. The implementation of the sanitation project in Embo has made the community to re-consider the role of the Health Forum.  Each village has now elected a health committee.

The ADP has strengthened youth projects in the area. Working closely with the churches and other institutions of higher learning, the ADP ensures youth access of internship and learner-ships. AIDS and value-based education form the pivotal role of all engagements with the young people.

The ADP has worked with a number of partners towards the upliftment of the community of Embo. These include the Departments of Agriculture and Education, eThekwini Municipality, Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust and Scripture Union.  Together with these partners, the ADP has ensured the community achieves its goals and aspirations through the different initiatives that have been implemented in this community.

 

Umvoti ADP

The ADP operates within Umvoti Municipality which is one of the four local municipalities within Umzinyathi District. The ADP is located along the eastern border of Umzinyathi district about 65 km from Dundee and approximately 70 km from Pietermaritzburg in the KwaZulu-Natal province.

It is well served by provincial and regional roads given its location at the intersection of the roads to Pietermaritzburg. It is about 2 509 km² in extent and its population is estimated at 120 000.

Issues of concern in Umvoti are both of a social and economic nature. Access to clean potable water remains one of the key development issues facing rural communities and Umvoti is not spared from this plight. The ADP has begun to benefit from the fruits of collaborations with local stakeholders like the Greytown Child Care Forum and various government departments.

CBO’s and ADP village committees are responsible for the implementation of all the programme activities.  The ADP is engaging a number of government departments in ensuring that children enjoy good health and are cared for in a safe environment. Some of the examples of collaborations are those with the Department of Optometry, where children’s eyes are tested and severe cases referred.  The ADP also had some collaboration with national Department of Agriculture; hence the ADP is one of the pilot sites for Open Pollinated Variety (OPV) for this department.

Sponsorship

WVSA has more than 53 000 registered children in 6 of the 9 provinces in South Africa - Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Free State, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal. Approximately 37 000 of these children have sponsors.

World Vision Support Offices are US, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Taiwan, United Kingdom and South Africa.