An information and consultative meeting regarding a sustainable, multi-facetted enablement centre planned for farm worker communities in the Swartland was held in Malmesbury.
The envisaged enablement centre was the result of collaborative thinking and action by development practitioners from Cence and U-Grow Rural Development/Landelike Ontwikkeling.
The meeting, themed Reconciliation and Hope through Collaboration, was attended by representatives from specific farms (farm owners and farm workers), as well as representatives from stakeholder entities in government and civil society. The local Ecumenical Forum and the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) were among those invited.
It was envisaged that an existing outbuilding on a farm would be repaired and transformed into an enablement centre that would make provision for, among others, learning support facilities for learners, skills training that create sustainable job opportunities for the unemployed, as well as any other facilities and developments that may be identified as critical needs of this community.
It was expected that not only a plan with attainable goals and actions, time frames and responsible parties, but also the necessary financial support, would be realised so that the envisaged Enablement Centre would arise as a beacon of reconciliation, hope and growth to both the farmers and farm workers of the Malmesbury district.