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Homeplan is an NGO founded by Jan Tebbe, a Dutch Catholic building contractor. Its purpose is to build economic houses for the poorest of the poor.
At the end of 2010 Homeplan partnered with SACBC (Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference). In the initial pilot project, 10 two room houses (each with a 10 000 litre water tank) were built in Ndumo, and 10 in the Manguzi area (both on the border with Mozambique).
The houses were built for orphan headed households. The project was so successful, that Homeplan subsequently approved funds for the construction of 50 more houses for orphans in the Vicariate of Ingwavuma. 30 were allocated to Hlabisa, and 20 to Ndumo. These are presently under construction.
On 4 October the Vicariate was visited by Annke Tebbe – the widow of the founder (Jan Tebbe has since passed away) and the Chairperson of the Homeplan board. She was deeply moved by the plight of the orphans, and was greatly impressed by the work being done by the Vicariate to address their plight.
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The first house situated between Matshamhlophe and Mthwadlana was for Mama Dlamini and her three children. All of them are attending school. The children's biological father suffered a long illness which ended up with his death on June 2011. When the case was referred to me, Mama Dlamini did not have an ID book and the children did not have birth certificates. The father had been the bread winner but due to his chronic health condition he could not work. There was no income in the family. We assisted them with food parcels, school uniforms, identity document applications and the government social grant registration. We knew of the house condition of the family but due to financial constraints, we could not effort to improve it. Also the place where they were staying was not conducive: hilly, rocky, with no proper road and dry place. So a house for mama Dlamini from the
Homeplan is an enormous blessing. She struggled to get the new site but eventually she did it. It was a sense of great achievement. Mama Dlamini was lucky enough to get a temporal job as cook at the nearby school. While she was working the children were nursing their father.
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The second house was for the Nxumalo's eight children. The eldest who is 24 years old is taking responsibility for her siblings. The second eldest child is looking for job in different places. The youngest child is not yet attending school. Both parents are deceased. The father died in 2003 and the mother in February 2010. When he died, she and her children were left homeless. First a paternal uncle allowed them to occupy a rondavel in his homestead but the family was overcrowded and it became very problematic. Eventually somebody allowed them to stay in a small flat until they could get a proper place. We went to different offices requesting assistance but nobody helped us. She did not have an ID book and the children did not have birth certificates. It was impossible for her to access to any service. The Vicariate project assisted them to apply for all the necessary documents and to register for the government social grant. They were able to pay little by little the site they got and now Homeplan is building their house. A dream that came true!
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The third house is for a young single mother and her two children. The children are very young and not attending school yet
The young lady never had ã birth certificate, therefore she does not have an ID Book. We assisted her to do the applications. She got her birth certificate and she is now waiting for her ID book. She was staying with her grandmother who died. The condition of her house was very precarious and many nights she asked for accommodation in the neighbour's house.
For all the families who were selected to benefit from the Homeplan this is a great joy and they express their happiness with a very big smile.
