Our Work
Introduction
Volunteers doing home visits.
Since Woza Moya Project's early beginnings at the Buddhist Retreat Centre in April 2001, there has been tremendous growth and development. Woza Moya now boasts a team of 30 people on the ground - 4 full time staff, 2 part-time staff, 1 seamstress and 23 care workers - serving more than 5000 people in the rural community of Ufafa. The project has become firmly established and widely respected, not only in our own community, but also further a field, amongst the network of NGOs in KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa as a whole.
It has been hard work achieving our goals and meeting the challenges of the HIV/Aids pandemic that has ravaged this community. An impressive network of people in Buddhist communities, both locally and abroad matches the dedication of the Woza Moya team. Kittisaro and Thanissara have worked tirelessly, gathering funds for the project on their retreats in the United Kingdom and the Unites States. Likewise, Chrisi and Louis van Loon and the BRC have been unstinting in their support of our work.
The Aids Foundation of South Africa (AFSA) has been Woza Moya's principal funder to date. AFSA's support has extended beyond monetary funding and has included invaluable input in the form of conferences, skills training workshops and meetings. AFSA has provided (and continues to provide) capacity building for the Woza Moya team, which has laid the foundation for the informed and committed working team that now exists.
In October 2005 Woza Moya relocated from our premises at the BRC, where we had been for the past four-and-a-half years, into the community of ufafa. The new Woza Moya Community Centre is a dream come true! We are very grateful to the San Francisco Insight Meditation Centre, and Kittisaro and Thanissara who raised all the funds for this building. Louis did the design, which is beautifully simple and perfectly functional. Shirl from the BRC laid out the gardens around the Woza Moya Community Centre, which are completely indigenous and absolutely stunning. Junaq from the BRC put in the grand stairs for us and created the very attractive signboard at the entrance to the Community Centre. Junaq's unique artistic touch can be seen in other places too as she continues to b e of help here and there. There was so much to be done in our first few months of settling in, the support from the BRC staff, especially Bill, the BRC Manager, was fantastic. Leaving our premises at the BRC - the nest where we were born, in the lap of the Buddha! - was made so much easier by all the kindness and support we received from so many people.
For the people of Ufafa and the work of Woza Moya, this has been a very important and significant move. We are now located on tribal land, situated among the people of the community we serve. Woza Moya has entered yet another phase, becoming more community based and owned.
Our next priority is to raise funds for a garage for the Woza Moya vehicle and if the gods are generous (!) to make this building large enough to work as both a night-time garage and a day-time Play Therapy Centre for the orphaned and vulnerable children. Woza Moya Project is an outreach programme with a Buddhist heart and it therefore seems appropriate to call on you, the Sangha, for help. Fundraising requires imagination and stamina and is a time-consuming business. Are there any keen and dedicated people out there who would be willing to form a fundraising committee for Woza Moya? Your efforts would be much appreciated by Woza Moya and the people of Ufafa.
Looking back over the past five years, we are very pleased with the success of our work thus far and we know that we have made a big difference in may people's lives in the Ufafa community. We hope that with your help we will be able to continue this good work for the benefit of the people who need it most.
Sue