Alternative Gifts

Children's Hospital Ministry

Zanini Bantwana meets a need in Pietermaritzburg's Government hospitals.

In these children's wards there are children who have no visitors. Perhaps their family lives far away and can't afford to make the trip. Perhaps they have been abandoned. There are children who have no toys or games. They lack stimulation, they are frightened, sick and lonely. There are children who have no teaching. If there are long-term patients they may miss months of school. This adds to their fear of the future and will certainly impact their future academic performance.

Zanini Bantwana responds to the needs of these children. Working in 3 government hospitals in PMB, Northdale, Grey's and Edendale, we seek to show God's love in Word and Deed. Our 2 full-time workers, Sihle Duma and Sethembile Dlomo, helped by volunteers, visit the wards. We spend time with the children, befriending them, playing and doing crafts with them. We provide teaching for long-term patients. We tell Bible stories, sing and pray with the children, thus meeting their spiritual needs.

Zanini Bantwana, "Come children" in Zulu, has already impacted the lives of hundreds of children. We have cared for them at a traumatic time in their lives when they are lonely and vulnerable. We believe this is true to what we are told to do in the Scriptures. In Psalm 34 verse 11 we read, "Come children, listen to me and I will teach you the fear of the Lord."

As we walk the wards with Zanini Bantwana we hope to pass on the good news of the gospel.

Malawi's Personal Worth & Dignity Project
Sewing Your Way Out of Despair

African Enterprise in Malawi trains widows, single mothers, and ex-prostitutes the skills of sewing and tailoring. They receive marketable skills to support themselves and their families keeping them off the streets. We are now seeing visible signs of spiritual growth along with self esteem in these ladies. Praise the Lord.

Zimbabwe's Feeding a Family Project
Food Parcels for the Poor

Support is needed for the basic food needs of the community members who are unable to supply their own. Political instability, economic hardship and high inflation is affecting the majority of the Zimbabwe people. Many cannot even afford a single meal a day.

Kenya's Primary Health Care Clinic Program
Basic Health Care for the Disadvantaged

The slums of Soweto/Kayole just outside of Nairobi the capital of Kenya rank amongst the worst in the world. Primitive dwellings with no services whatsoever lead to poor health and high incidences of communicable diseases. Crime, violence, poverty are daily problems that these people must endure.

As with all African Enterprise ministries, the Soweto/Kayole Healthcare Clinic exists as a witness to the love of Jesus Christ. Workers freely share the gospel with patients at the only clinic serving a community of over 52,000 inhabitants.

Your gift can help support the work and tireless efforts of nurses as well as assisting with the day-to-day medical requirements of patients.

South Africa's Community Development Training Program
Communities becoming self-supportive

Over 50% of the population in South Africa lives below the poverty level of R460.00 ($62) per month. These people live in squatter camps or rural areas where there is little or no means of self support. Water, electricity and basic comforts are unknown.

Helping families and communities become self-supportive. An intensely practical 3 year course with twelve 2-week theory modules. Once complete, participants have the skills to mobilize and establish sustainable small businesses such as brick-making, dry cleaning, poultry farming, wire fencing and other self-help ventures.

Ethiopia's Mosquito Net Project
A Net Can Save a Life

“Malaria parasite causes 300 million cases of illness and one million deaths a year, 90% of them in sub-Saharan Africa and most of these among children”
World Health Organization 2-2006

There are more deaths from Malaria than AIDS in East and Central Africa.

Research has proved that the cases of Malaria can be reduced by as much as 40% with the use of mosquito nets. Even more effective are the nets dipped in anti-mosquito chemicals which are a little more expensive.

Ghana's Prostitute Rehabilitation Program
Regaining Self-Respect

This program is to rehabilitate former prostitutes that they may received Christ through spiritual training along with learning life sustaining skills. This enables them to begin a marketable trade and provide for their children.

In Africa prostitution is often an economic necessity for uneducated and untrained women who have no other means of support for themselves and their children. African Enterprise in Ghana witnesses to prostitutes and helps converts become rehabilitated back in to society through discipleship, geographic relocation and vocational training. The women are offered training in a vocation of their choice to enable them to earn some income to sustain themselves.

African Enterprise helps support them and their children until they qualify and receive a government-recognized certificate.

Uganda's Child Immunization Program
Saving Children's Lives

This is a continuation of the immunization project that African Enterprise (A.E.) has been involved in Uganda since 1981. The strategy is to immunize children between the ages of 1 and 5 against measles, tetanus, tuberculosis, diphtheria, whopping cough, and polio and to educate all adults about the need for child immunization which continues to kill tens of thousands of small children annually. This Primary Health Care Education will include information on sexually transmitted diseases in particular AIDS.

A.E. works closely with the established government Health Care staff and helps to provide supplies and assist their own medical teams, and other personnel to ensure the success of the Immunization Project.

Uganda's HIV/AIDS Information Program
Compassion and Caring for the Afflicted

African Enterprise Uganda conducts professional, creative and highly successful AIDS information, awareness and training programs in local communities and schools in several districts. Its aim is to bring groups that influence youth (teachers, council officials, church leaders, staff from local community programs.) together behind a common goal so that a collective effort is made to help people practice a risk-free, abstinence based, lifestyle.

Peer educators are also trained to train schoolchildren with the necessary life skills to avoid or positively confront sexual advances from peers and others. Included in this training is the setting of longer-term life goals to help maintain a risk-free lifestyle. A variety of topics such as self-esteem, sexuality, domestic violence, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, children's rights and Christian lifestyle are taught.

Creative music, dance, drama, video, essay writing and art projects, packaged in a competitive manner with prizes, are utilized to encourage the participation of youth. A major goal is to build a community environment where people can freely take on the HIV/AIDS problem so that a culture reducing the current vulnerability of youth to HIV/AIDS is established.

Ghana's Street Kids Program
Giving Street Children a New Start at Life

Street children are taught a marketable trade by master craftspersons. Upon successful completion certificates which are recognized by the government are awarded.

African Enterprise will again select 100 children next year, 50 boys and 50 girls, to be trained by local master craftspeople in areas such as auto mechanics, air conditioning, refrigerator repair, welding, dress making, tailoring and hairdressing. This project serves to get them to a position where they can support themselves and help their relatives. While learning a trade they are given the opportunity to receive new hope through Jesus.

African Enterprise staff try to match the expressed desire of each child with a government registered craftsperson, paying the craftsman's fee for his time. At the end of the training, certificates are awarded which are recognized by the Trades Board in Accra. Many of the apprentices will also receive a loan from the government to purchase some essential tools for the trade they have learned.

South Africa's School Kit Program
Operation Pencil Box

In many poverty stricken communities in South Africa children attend small rundown primary schools. Sadly these children are fighting an uphill battle. They lack even the basic school supplies like paper and pencils to make learning easier. They just bring minds and hearts filled with expectation and an eagerness to learn.

In communities outside of Pietermaritzburg unemployment hovers at 50 - 60%, the HIV/AIDS crises has left many of the students to fend for themselves as well as their siblings and in many cases with no adult supervision. Families are unable to provide even basic needs.

The schools were started by local Churches to help give children the skills they need to break the cycle of poverty. Bonginkosi – Zulu for “praise the Lord” - helps explain the faith shown by the Churches and staff in starting these schools. With very little means, the Churches took a step of faith trusting that God would provide what they needed. And God has been faithful. Providing buildings, educated teachers, eager kids, African Enterprise and you.

Your help is needed to give these children the educational tools and supplies they need. There are thousands of children needing school supplies and we are committed to providing supplies for each one. Will you help? As Christ said “The faith of a mustard seed can move mountains.”