Outreach and education
SOHO, a U.S.-based nonprofit, transforms lives in Eswatini through its subsidiaries, Seeds of Hope and Hope Seekers Alliance. We provide nourishment, education, and support to children and families, fostering hope and brighter futures in struggling communities.
Nhlambeni
Through Seeds of Hope Outreach, we operate the Hope Discovery Learning Center (HDLC) in Nhlambeni, which operates a preschool for orphans and vulnerable children from nearby communities. Here, the preschoolers learn how to read and write, do math and art. They sing, play, develop interpersonal skills and receive a daily meal. An important factor is that the center provides a secure environment as many of these children are not safe at home. After graduation from the preschool, the children receive sponsorship support to stay in school.
In addition to the preschool, HDLC offers enrichment programs including tutoring, volunteer clinics, sewing and skills training. Recipients of food parcels gather there monthly to receive food aid. Our outreach coordinator provides counseling services for families. In addition we often have volunteer teams of psychologists, educators and other professionals visit HDLC and help challenged children.
Marekamp squatter’s camp
Seeds of Hope Outreach also conducts outreach activities in Marekamp, a squatter’s camp where scores of indigent families cluster, living in undesirable and unsanitary conditions. The place is almost a last stop for children without care and people with nowhere to go in life. Here, the grannies make cheap home brewed beer, which is consumed by young men and even primary school aged children. Abuse is part of life as the site is targeted by traffickers.
In response, SOHO has established a feeding center at Marekamp where children get a balanced meal daily. We also bus preschool children to our Hope Discovery Learning Center in nearby Nhlambeni. On the weekends, we take children to church and host sports, singing and learning acitivies. By encouraging a sense of personal worth and purpose, children at Marekamp have opened a window of hope in their lives.