Heartbeat

Completed Project

Who are we working with?

Oaktree’s partner, the South African NGO Heartbeat, is based on the belief that communities must be supported, because they can most effectively alleviate the suffering of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs), and assist AIDS-affected families to provide for children’s needs. Heartbeat and Oaktree have a common philosophy that education is the first line of defence, and therefore work together to keep vulnerable children at school.This allows them to build their individual capacity and learn skills to provide for their own needs.

Where are we working?

The Emthonjeni Resource Centre is located in the rural community of Emthonjeni, in the Mpumalanga Province in South Africa. This area is one of many ravaged by HIV/AIDS and poverty, home to some of the 13 million children under 15 have lost a parent to AIDS, most in sub-Saharan Africa. Many children must support themselves and their families under the pressure of serious poverty. In order to work as caretakers, manage the family farm or earn income, they must leave school just when they most need to prepare for their own futures. Girls are often the first to drop out.

What are we doing?

From 2006 to 2007, Heartbeat, with the help of Oaktree, constructed the Emthonjeni Resource Centre as a base to launch educational, psycho-social and child participation programs. Non-formal household and life-skills training for child-headed households help support OVCs so that they can remain in the formal schooling system. Food Gardens and nutrition support and training are being used to improve agricultural productivity and provide another source of fresh food. Case-workers regularly visit child-headed households to help ensure emotional and physical security. Drama and other creative activities are used to educate the children and their community about their basic rights. Thus the Centre provides food security, emotional support, equal education opportunities and a community network which emphasises social, emotional and physical support for these most vulnerable children and their caregivers.

The Emthonjeni Resource Centre provides support to the whole community, which ultimately takes full ownership of the centre. By training local people and developing ongoing sources of income, Heartbeat ensures that the Centre is a sustainable investment. This is reinforced through engaging the community in children’s care and local lobbying for children’s rights through direct assistance to their families or communities.

Construction of the Emthonjeni Centre has been completed. It is run by staff drawn from local communities, who have been trained in child care, management and protection. This will allow them to meet the children’s educational needs: a library, computers, homework assistance, after school care and lifeskills education.

What is Oaktree’s role?

Oaktree began two years of support in April 2006, providing the initial capital to establish the Emthonjeni Centre. Additional funding was provided by Oaktree to cover the first two years of staffing and program costs for the centre.

With Heartbeat’s strong record of implementing and managing projects, Oaktree’s role was largely as a financial supporter. However, we complemented this through volunteer postings in 2005, where we helped design a Heartbeat volunteering program using systems and processes from our Australian operations. Oaktree-affiliated groups have also helped Heartbeat develop promotional videos.