A Wetland Cleaning Initiative is Helping Families Put Food on the Table

Photo Credit: Supplied

The Ya Bana Village has a community initiative where people get to help clean the local wetland in exchange for groceries.

South Africa (11 March 2024) – Winterveld residents, known for their small-scale entrepreneurial spirit, eke out a living by selling various goods, recycling, and engaging in informal “piece jobs”. The majority of breadwinners in this community bear the additional responsibility of supporting extended families. Mr. Molefe shared his situation, “I am taking care of my four siblings, and finding food is my biggest challenge.”

Ya Bana Village, a registered child and youth care center, not only provides love and care to 58 orphaned and vulnerable children aged 2 to 17 but has also been actively involved in community outreach. They are committed to being an integral part of our community.

However, the challenges extend beyond economic struggles. Situated next to a wetland, Ya Bana Village for the Children faces the daily menace of illegal dumping. Recognising the importance of wetlands, Ya Bana Village initiated a comprehensive, long-term community clean-up project.

The “Ya Bana Village for the Children and Winterveld Community Clean-Up Initiative” was launched on Friday, 9 February 2024.

Ya Bana Village distributes refuse bags to the community, offering residents the chance to earn Ya Bana Village Moola (our own currency) for every full bag of refuse handed in. This currency is used to purchase essential food items from Ya Bana Village’s tuck shop.

“We believe in solving two problems with one initiative. It’s a collective effort to create a cleaner environment and empower our community economically,” says Naomi Brink, awareness and fundraising coordinator at Ya Bana Village.

Fridays are the Ya Bana Village and Winterveld Moola days. More than six hundred bags of refuse were recently collected on Friday 9 February 2024, and the amount of refuse collected has grown weekly over the past four weeks with huge improvements at the wetland.

The sense of pride and accomplishment on the faces of our community members participating in this Ya Bana Village and Winterveld Community Clean-up initiative will be the driving force behind a successful and sustainable project. Mama Tsakane shared the difference this initiative made in her daily life:

“It is difficult when my children come home from school and I do not have any food for them. Now I can work and collect refuse from my community and the wetland to make Moolas and buy food.”
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Ya Bana Village, a non-profit organisation, funds and supplies four thousand rand worth of Moola products per week.

John, an unemployed youth, that is coordinating the project, informs us that:

“A person can buy a bag of mealie meal with eight Moolas. Some people come with wheelbarrows filled with bags and can buy food for the whole weekend.”