Priorities for 2023

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Thank you so much to everyone who supported our work in 2022. We are so proud that we are able to support and serve the community of Domasi, and it wouldn't be possible without your kindness.

As always, we spent the first month or so of this year holding community and staff meetings to work out what we should focus on in 2023.  We are unique in the fact that all of our project ideas come directly from community members themselves - we arrange meetings regularly with the people living in our district and find out what they really need assistance with and the resources that need to be provided. Through this mentality and process we can be sure that donations are going exactly where they are needed most and that we are promoting empowerment and self-sufficiency.

SO, what did our community meetings find...

​Our community meetings showed us that the main challenges facing our families in Domasi at the moment are:

• Food insecurity: putting it simply, our community members do not have enough food. The price of maize (the staple food in Domasi) has rocketed, as has the price of fertiliser. This is having a negative impact on our school children's concentration, and it has led to an increase in divorce, school dropouts and child marriages.
  
  
• HIV and AIDS: we have seen a rise in the number of people living with HIV and AIDS in our community. We now have 35 members in our support group, compared to 25 this time last year.
  
  
• Child welfare and nutrition: we have also seen a rise in the number of orphan children looking after themselves. Many of them are living with HIV, most of them are living in extreme poverty and they are disengaging with education. Their nutrition is extremely poor.

We have also noticed a rise in cholera cases and staff have flagged a need for a new office, bicycles and uniform. We want to do all we can this year to alleviate the above issues for our community members, and continue building Community Highlight into a sustainable organisation. We will do this through a combination of:
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• Awareness campaigns
• Small-scale sustainable community projects
• Sponsorship programmes
• An expansion of our feeding programme
• Increasing our work with Nsangeni Support Group

Donate to our 2023 fundraiser

But to do this we need your help. We have the expertise, we have the project plans underway, we have an incredible team that work around the clock to make things happen, but sadly, as always we need money.

As part of the UK team's plan this year we want to formally register as a charity which will allow us to seek funding from trusts and corporate parties. But until then we are still largely reliant on you fantastic people. Times are really hard for us all, and life is still not feeling quite as chilled as it did a few years ago, but if you do have any capacity to give, and you do want to support the people of Domasi, please consider donating to this appeal through this link.

Your money will have a direct and positive impact on our community members, and 100% of your donation will go straight to the cause. We are all volunteers here in the UK and we cover all of our own running costs so you know that your money is going exactly where you thought it was.

Throughout the year we will update you on social media and via our mailing list which you can sign up to here but if you have any particular questions or concerns you can always find us at [email protected]

Thank you so much for reading this blurb and for believing in our work.  Together we hope to make this year a big one, and we hope to make life a little easier for the people of Domasi.

Donate to our 2023 fundraiser