The Matjele Community Project based in Mapetla in Soweto works with vulnerable children, supporting over 130 people with a feeding scheme and other services. The project is about to expand to include the Indigenous Trees for Life Programme run by the NGO the Wildlands Conservation Trust, where participants will be taught to grow trees from seed and trade them for goods.
Support by law firm Webber Wentzel has helped Julia Mokoena to develop the Matjele Community Project, which provides a feeding scheme for vulnerable children, as well as counselling, HIV and TB education, and assistance in adherence to medicine regimes. The project also helps with access to grants and assists people apply for documents such as birth certificates and identity documents.
Webber Wentzel has now committed support to the environmental NGO the Wildlands Conservation Trust to set up the “tree-preneur” project whereby the community are afforded the opportunity to earn by growing trees. Wildlands runs the programme as part of their Sustainable Communities Programme, and project manager Hlengiwe Mthembu from Wildlands will work with Julia Mokoena and the Matjele Community Project to appoint and train facilitators, who will then teach participants how to propagate trees from seed.
“Once the facilitators are in place, training of tree-preneurs should take place in July so that seeds can be in the ground during August. We are excited to be spreading the project further in Gauteng, after a project we started in Vosloorus was such a success.” Hlengiwe Mthembu said.
The Indigenous Trees for Life programme first took root in northern KwaZulu Natal, and now has 23 projects across KwaZulu Natal, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Western Cape.
“This project will allow the children and adults to set goals. To decide they want to grow trees in order to buy food, school uniforms and things, will be very good. It is not handing people fish, but teaching them how to fish for themselves,” said Julia Mokoena, head of the Matjele Community Project.
WILDTRUST (registered as the Wildlands Conservation Trust - IT No: 4329/1991/PMB)