#walkingforhope - Please sponsor a km

Since lockdown has begun we have unfortunately needed to halt all of our outreach projects in order to protect the residents and the community/ NPO’s that we have supported. We have continued as best we can to provide soup to the feeding programs and to provide a meal or two to the little community in town that we used to do work with.

Hlokomela, who does a major amount of work in the area https://www.hlokomela.org.za, has continued to work tirelessly throughout this time. They were fortunate enough to be supported by an initiative #walkingforhope that was facilitated by the Tshemba Africa Foundation http://www.tshemboafricafoundation.com which raised a substantial amount of funds for the Hlokomela projects.

In response, Hlokomela staff, have decided that they will also walk for hope with the aim of reaching 1,000km this week. As Jahara Treatment Centre we would like to join them in helping to raise awareness and of course some donations so that they may continue to assist the community during these difficult times.

In true Jahara Fashion we do not like to do anything half-heartedly and so our aim is to start walking on Monday morning at 09:00 and to continue walking in shifts for 24 hours a day until Friday at 17:00. We will have a minimum of 2 residents walking at a time but will allow anyone to walk whenever they have the time. There will be a board with the names of each walker who will mark down each time they complete a lap. Each lap is approximately 500m.

We are hopeful that those that support Jahara will support us in our endeavours to assist Hlokomela. Individuals are welcome to make any donation towards this initiative or can pledge to donate a specific amount per kilometre walked.

All donations can be made to Jahara Treatment Centre, Standard Bank, 310483107 with reference walkforhope.

Below some details on the initiative:

Our Origin

The Tshembo Africa Foundation was created in response to the COVID 19 pandemic. Due to the collapse of tourism many people have lost their income and business had to close. We strive to raise awareness and money to support the symbiotic relationship between conservation and communities. Based in the Greater Kruger National Park, in the town of Hoedspruit, we strongly care about supporting protected areas, enhancing livelihoods in communities and funding conservation initiatives.

Our Campaign #walking4hope

#walking4hope was initially started by  Bruce Lawson and Sean Pattrick who are two very well-known and highly respected guides who have been in the Southern Africa Guiding industry for a combined 53 years.  They proposed and undertook a 150 km walk around respective home gardens (600 kms apart) during the South African lockdown period.  Walking track length was 400m around their houses, and as such 375 laps.  They did this walking with an 18kg backpack, purely to raise funds to help the local communities in the Hoedspruit and surrounding areas.  Their effort in this has now inspired numerous people around the world, many of them guides who have been personally trained and mentored by Bruce or Sean. 71 participants in 14 different countries, such as South Africa, Botswana, USA, England, Ireland, Sri Lanka, Germany, Switzerland, Scotland, Belgium, France, Australia, India, Tanzania, Cambodia, have walked a total of 11’700 km thus far in 32 days. #walking4hope is still ongoing and everyday we have more people joining in this meaningful journey to raise funds and awareness. 

Where is your donation going?

Affected by the COVID 19 Lockdown, thousands of people have lost their jobs and therefore their income to sustain themselves. This campaign focuses on distributing wholesome food parcels to people in need into the surrounding communities and helps to sustain their livelihoods by boosting immune systems through healthy foods and so actively helps in combating the Corona virus and job loss pandemic.  

Tshembo Africa Foundation has chosen the Hlokomela Herb Garden Community Wellness Mission as their beneficiary. Hlokomela (NPO) employs people from various communities bordering the Kruger, and provides health care services to a large portion of the lodge staff that operate throughout the Greater Kruger Park Region. The Herb Garden grows herbs, vegetables and some fruit to supply the lodges around Kruger and other outlets with organically-endorsed, fresh, seasonal produce. The lodges are of course closed because of the pandemic lockdown, and this has given rise to the newly launched, not-for-profit project, the Community Wellness Mission. Their mission is to provide wholefood baskets (comprising a diverse range of locally grown, wholesome, nutrient dense food) to those in need, beginning with the vulnerable members of the community. This support will develop to include providing access to all aspects of natural farming practices (seed, seedlings, compost, educational pamphlets, skills development workshops), and other aspects of holistic wellness. Conservation through community development, appreciating the direct link between healthy, happy communities and healthy, secure wilderness areas.

Bruce and his local and international band of displaced trails guides and friends are sweating for donations to support Hlokomela’s enterprising work. By providing employment, supporting other local farmers and working to ensure food security within the local communities around the Kruger to Canyon Biosphere Region, community goodwill for the Park is being generated with the considerable effort currently underway to reduce the lure – and need – to enter Kruger to poach for bushmeat. 

You can find us on 

Facebook @TshemboAfricaFoundation or on 

Instagram @tshembo_africa or 

Twitter @tshemboA or on www.tshemboafricafoundation.com