Amathuba Community Upliftment Project (Amathuba) is a registered nonprofit organisation (NPO no. 056-063-npo) dedicated to creating opportunities within the Embo and surrounding communities for people to learn the skills to build a better life for themselves and their children.
Amathuba was the vision of Suzy Lyle and Robert Zuma who in 2006 combined their skills, resources and knowledge of the local community and customs, to effectively coordinate and manage the project.
Lyle, who passed away on 5 March 2011, was a qualified psychotherapist who was passionate about empowering people to create the results they want in life. Lyle, who was born in the United Kingdom, was shocked to discover the poverty and unemployment among the previously disadvantaged community in neighbouring Embo, when she settled in Hillcrest, on the outskirts of Durban.
Embo is an informal settlement of some 35 000 people, 88 percent of whom need some form of poverty relief. Many of the homes are traditional mud huts or tin shacks with no electricity or running water.
Before her death, Lyle worked tirelessly to raise funds for the building projects. She also set up Suzy’s Crew, a small construction company managed by Robert Zuma, to teach members of the community carpentry, bricklaying and plastering skills as well as to create employment.
Zuma is a well-loved and respected Embo community leader, who leads the community building project and helps mobilise and train other community members in skills such as bricklaying, plastering, plumbing and painting.
Amathuba’s mission is to bridge the gap between black and white, rich and poor and the vision is to create a model for sustainable development for impoverished communities, by transferring skills.
Although challenged daily by poverty, unemployment, HIV and lack of resources, the community is tightly knit and supportive; more affluent members routinely donate leftover roof tiles, bricks and other building materials to neighbours who have nothing.
Operating at grassroots level, Amathuba unites people in working together to clear land and provide labour for the building operations. Over the past seven years Amathuba has built a number of homes for destitute single women (usually grandmothers) caring for large numbers of children, such as Gogo Gaza, who received her new home just before Christmas 2012. Having outlived her children and her granddaughters, Ntombi Gaza is raising a disabled grandson and three great grandchildren on her own.
In October 2012, her neighbours came to Amathuba for help, as Gaza's traditional mud hut was on the verge of collapse. Before Amathuba was able to start building, it was washed away. With funds and a donation of concrete fencing Amathuba built her a brand new three roomed home.
Amathuba has also upgraded a number of crèches, including Tholulwazi Creche in Inchanga and Mbali Enhle Creche in Embo. The upgrades included plastering, painting, rewiring, and plumbing to make the buildings safe and watertight, providing a healthy environment for the 120 young children attending these crèches.
Amathuba is awaiting plan approval for a brand new crèche in Embo for Ngongoma, who is currently using a container and an outbuilding
Amathuba offers opportunities for caring and compassionate individuals and businesses – both locally and around the world … to get involved in sharing their wealth and their skills to guide others towards a better quality of life.
The biggest area of need is a fundraising champion, following the death of the co-founder. Regular financial donations are required to cover Amathuba’s modest running costs including insurance, diesel and maintenance for the Amathuba vehicle and communication costs, including airtime for the project manager – in addition, to funds for specific projects.
Apart from the urgent need for decent housing, the Embo community would like to build a Community Centre with a clinic. Part of the vision is to build a factory for the production of bricks, trusses, solar panels, window and door frames, where members of the community can learn new skills, contribute to the building of new homes and earn a living.
Amathuba not only builds much need facilities, but contributes to the upliftment of communities through skills transfer, which has long term benefits on society.
To view the Amathuba Community Upliftment Project in the Prodder NGO Directory, click here.
