Grahamstown’s GARDA reverses unemployment

The city of Grahamstown, also known as the “City of Angels’” due to its abundance of churches and historical significance, is also home to some of the top educational institutions in the country. Despite Grahamstown’s rich history and ‘anything goes’ attitude towards life, there is another side to the small Eastern Cape town that is not as obvious.

Grahamstown has an 80% unemployment rate, a grim indication of the social reality that many disadvantaged areas in the Eastern Cape face, and where many families are forced to live below the bread line.

In light of the socio-political realities facing the town, such as poor municipal services, there are groups of innovative people coming up with alternative means of employment who are empowering themselves.

The Grahamstown Area Distress Relief Organisation (GADRA) caters to a broader spectrum of people in need of alternative sources of income or skills training. One of the projects that GADRA runs is skills development training for the Blind and Partially sighted. Learners are taught how to read and write in Braille; they are given computer skills and nurtured through various income-generating projects such as food gardens, chicken farming, bee-keeping and marimba drums.

“We let learners stay as long as they need, [so they can] learn at their own pace, as some struggle to learn Braille,” explains GADRA Director Carol Venter. “Many have nowhere else to go and would just sit at home, withdrawn from the community if it were not on our programme,”

There is also a lifestyle aspect to the programme, which includes attending gym, going on various outings and attending discussion groups about current affairs. The GADRA programme has 15-18 learners completing the programme each year.

Although some remain unemployed, others go on to a special school or tertiary institution. Some learners find that they are more competent with everyday activities like making tea or withdrawing money from the ATM. GADRA itself also employs some of the learners directly.

Organisations like GADRA are vital in ensuring that the people, who are often the most neglected in society, are given the skills to live sustainable, self-fulfilling lives.

Image1 : Bongani Nanto has been working for GADRA for the past seven years, teaching learners going through the programme how to be more self-sufficient and self-reliant. Whatever is produced in the garden is sold to local fruit and vegetable markets, half of the money going to GADRA and the other half to Bongani himself.
Image 2: Richard Nzwana also employed by GADRA teaches learners how to read and type Braille.