CapeTownMagazine.com paid a visit to the Philani Nutrition and Development Project. This great community project operates in the area of the
Khayelitsha township and involved in malnutrition, child health care, the empowerment of the unemployed and the prevention of the spreading of HIV/AIDS.
The Philani Nutrition and Development Project was established in 1979 in the informal settlement or squatter settlement of Cross Roads, close to the Khayelitsha Township. It was founded to promote good child health and nutrition, to prevent child malnutrition and to rehabilitate underweight children to normal nutrition and good health.
These days the center has also the mission to limit the suffering of families infected and affected by HIV / AIDS. It plays an important role in the prevention of the spreading of this fatal disease, which has infected more than 5.4 million South Africans.
Currently the Philani center operates in nine communities similar to the one of Cross Roads. It is estimated that about 750,000 people live in these areas, where inadequate housing and waste problems are part of every day life, just like over crowdedness and lack of sanitation and running water. Health problems in these areas are numerous.
During our visit to one of the Philani centers, in Khayelitsha Site C, we saw with our own eyes the huge difference this community project makes in the townships. Apart from what mentioned above, the Philani center in Khayelitsha also teaches unemployed women weaving skills and other creative skills as fabric printing. The result is that these women earn a steady income while their children were taken care of in the Philani daycare center.
Make a difference like the Philani center does, and support these women and their children by purchasing a hand woven creation - whether it is a rug, placemats or hammock - and support an entire community!
The Philani Nutrition and Development Project is one of the highlights of the township tours organised by Cape Capers, a Cape Town based tour operator that promotes responsible and sustainable (township) tourism.
(Source: CapeTownMagazine.com / Miriam Mannak / 20 Feb 2006)
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