How we help you
Palabora Foundation is here to assist communities to be self-reliant; in other
words, we help them to help themselves. We don't
give grants; instead, we work with communities to put programmes and projects
into action.
We help communities within a 50
The Foundation helps in these main areas:
- Education (whole school development, learner support programmes, early childhood education and environmental education)
- Skills training
- Business development
- Community health (HIV and AIDS)
- Local economic development and tourism facilitation
- Small scale economic development projects
Our departments
Administration and Finance
All of the Palabora Foundation's work is underpinned by the Administration and Finance department. Without tight financial controls and sound administrative support, the rest of the Foundation cannot function.
Education
Our education programmes benefit people at all stages of education, from early childhood onwards. We help learners, teachers and school governing bodies in about 50 schools around Phalaborwa. Our programmes are aimed mostly at improving the standard of mathematics, science and technology in the communities that were previously disadvantaged under the apartheid regime.
As well as the general education programmes, PROTEC (Programme for Technological Careers) is a special programme which selects students with high-achieving potential and offers extra tuition. This leads to bursaries from various companies, usually to study engineering.
Skills Development Training
We offer affordable 6 month (NQF) training courses in food preparation, construction carpentry and brick laying, and sewing. Originally just for unemployed youngsters, the programme has now expanded to include anyone who would like to learn one of these job-related skills. Some trainees go on to start their own businesses, often with the help of our Business Development team.
Business Development
With help from SEDA (the government's Small Enterprise Development Agency), we provide a range of help to companies and individual people in the area to enable them to develop their small business within the government's BEE guidelines.
The Enterprise Information Centre provides free office facilities to the community such as photocopying, plus training and advice to people who want to start their own business.
Phelang Community Centre
With the high infection rate in South Africa, most of our community health programmes deal with HIV and AIDS. Our activities are based at Phelang Community Centre in Namakgale but also include programmes out in the community such as home-based care and HIV awareness talks in high risk areas.
In addition, the Bana Pele programme helps orphans and vulnerable children to register with the Department of Social Development for social grants and food relief.
Local Economic Development and Tourism
Phalaborwa became a town due to the mining opportunities in the area. Although the mines support the communities now, this cannot continue for ever. Tourism has been identified as one of the most important way of moving away from the mining industry in the future and forms the main activity of our Local Economic Development (LED) programme. LED is designed to ease poverty and create a fairer economy. It involves supporting sustainable economic activities and integrating the second economy into the first economy.
Small Scale Community Projects
Where formal employment is not an option, particularly for remote rural villages, Palabora Foundation helps communities to start small projects, such as sewing co-operatives and community gardens. We assist them for 2-3 years until they are ready to run the project on their own.
Run with assistance from the European Union