Coming to life: Sinikithemba/UKZN Vegetable Garden Project

The Sinikithemba Support Group vegetable garden was initiated by the University of KwaZulu-Natal?s student project volunteers in December 2004, and it began with nothing except a patch of ground ? not even the money or supplies needed to plant the garden.

The garden was created with and for the Support Group, which is based at McCord Hospital in Durban, with the aim of supplementing the food parcels the Group receives from the McCord / Sinikithemba / HIVAN Feeding Scheme Project. This feeding scheme was proposed in 2001 by four UKZN Psychology students, and facilitated by the Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking (HIVAN) and its Campus HIV/AIDS Support Unit in partnership with McCord Hospital and the Sinikithemba Care Centre. The scheme provides healthy food packages to families affected by HIV/AIDS on a regular basis. Funding for the scheme is provided mostly through University staff members, who donate a monthly amount that is deducted from their salary.

When the Vegetable Garden Project was in the planning stages, student volunteers approached academic departments on their campus and motivated staff and students in a drive to raise money for start-up costs. They raised R475, which covered the purchase of basic materials for the garden: manure, fertiliser, a hose-pipe, shade-cloth and several garden tools. The students then planted seedlings donated to the project by the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust: spinach, beetroot, onions and green pepper.

This year, when the students returned from their year-end break, they found that the garden had come to life, with the vegetables they'd planted in December flourishing!

Through their generosity and willingness to help - whether from their pockets or in the planting - concerned members of the University community have made the launch of this project a great success. An ongoing donor awareness campaign is underway to ensure that the produce from the garden, and the provision of food parcels for the Support Group members and their families, can be made sustainable by continuous support throughout the year.

For more information about the Vegetable Garden Project and the Feeding Scheme, please contact Dudu Zondi, HIVAN?s Community Outreach Co-ordinator, on:

Tel: (031) 260 2132 or e-mail on [email protected]

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