Henry Ford once said: "Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."
This quote seems to hold water in Chavani, a rural village situated a few kilometres outside Elim, where a group of 12 people have joined hands in starting a community-based organisation that aims to relieve poverty by creating employment for those who actively involve themselves in it. The organisation, called Damboni Project, focusses on crop farming, nurseries, and animal farming. They have goats, plant trees and flowers, and cultivate the land.
Damboni Project was initiated last year right after the national lockdown was announced and many people were faced with retrenchments. The heightened unemployment rate is what inspired its members to come up with initiatives to help struggling families.
"Some of us have been unemployed for years, and Covid-19 only came to worsen our living conditions," said Damboni's secretary, Ms Tintswalo Makhubele. "So, we came up with the idea of starting an organisation from which we could benefit, like a poverty-relief employment, while we work to empower our communities at the same time."
Damboni Project was lucky enough to be able to utilise a piece of land in the mountain for their activities. They started with farming, where they also planted spinach, muxe and tomatoes. Once the harvest season came, they sold the produce to the local communities and used the proceeds to purchase at least five goats. They are also into poultry farming, consisting of country chickens such as Orpington and black Australorp.
"The goats soon multiplied to 14," Makhubele said. "We were left disheartened when 10 of our goats got stolen. We then moved the goats from the mountain to our new place, belonging to a fellow community member who offered us the space as part of a partnership."
Damboni's treasurer, Mr Nhlanhla Mangezi, said that they were looking forward to creating more ceramics, planting more vegetables, and rearing more animals to ensure that the project reaches its objective of adding value to the local communities.
"We sell some of our products in the public spaces along the R578 road, and motorists stop and buy," he said. "We would also like to buy more goats and a few sheep, for we have great, fresh pastures in our areas, and as a result, our animals multiply easily."
Damboni Project's chairperson, Mr Herman Molewa, said that the love and respect for one another were what kept them together. "We assign duties to each one of us and then make sure that no one moves around idly. If we let ourselves talk too much and do less work, we might end up in chaos," he said.
Damboni Project might still be new, but it is geared for growth. Members have vowed to work harder to ensure that the project does not die along the way.