Heroine giving the gift of water in Hammanskraal
IT IS little things like the smiling faces of children who are happy about basic donations like water that has kept founder of NGOConnectSA, Latty Thlaka, motivated to do charity work.
Thlaka was speaking to the Pretoria News after she visited Hammanskraal, where she and her team handed out at least 9000 litres of water to five early childhood development centres.
She said her entity – made up of a network of non-profit organisations (NGOs) – was moved to lend a hand since the outbreak of cholera in the township, which has caused the deaths of more than 20 people.
“We found that children are unable to go to early childhood development centres, and at the same time some of them were admitted for treatment at hospital,” she said.
She believed the donation of clean and drinkable water would go a long way towards helping 521 children who have been negatively affected by the water crisis.
“We were handing out 25 litre bottles of water to each centre. They didn’t get the same number of bottles but I think we distributed 90 bottles. They get according to the number of children that they have.
“All in all we donated 9000 litres of water and each child gets a 1.25 litre/day allocation of water, and there is also an allocation for cooking and washing hands,” she said.
Thlaka said centres that benefited were Mmankone, Rebelegeng, Moleboge day care, Kedibone Early Learning and Carousel Kids.
She said it had always been her passion to help those in need.
“Whenever I feel like there is a need to assist with what I have or any skills that I have I am there. It is just something that comes naturally. It was the same thing with the Hammanskraal one. You should see the way the children were excited to receive the water,” she said.
She expressed worry that people were likely to suffer should the good Samaritans withhold their charity work, especially when the government was still working on a permanent solution to the problem.
“The water issue is a big one, I think. I was doing research as to what happens after we stopped giving them water. Is the government fixing things or what is happening? That worries me,” she said.
She added that her organisation, which started in 2021, normally did emergency response to disasters.
“Whenever there is something in the community that needs our assistance, we step up,” she said.
When she decided to start her organisation, it was because she wanted to impart knowledge on how NGOs can work sustainably.
“I looked at how international organisations are thriving in our communities, whereas community-based organisations are not doing well and people are reliant on those NGOs. We tried to create a network of organisations that will uplift others,” she said.
She bemoaned the fact that most organisations were not sustainable.
“They are here today and tomorrow they are gone.
“They are limited in the work that they can do. Our organisations are struggling when it comes to compliance with the law, and you will find that the Department of Social Development deregisters them. When there is funding they are not able to access that funding because of non-compliance,” Thlaka said.