Micro-farming among the poor Cape Town

Hello everyone and also to all of you who have contributed to Abalimi because of Grace Wong! Just to let you know that she and Flavia (her friend from her church community) came and visited Abalimi. She says she will report back to you as soon as she gets back to the States. It was really good to meet Grace and show her around a bit. She should have quite a few photos to share with you! She visited a few of the community gardens and also attended our 25 Year Birthday celebration, where over 200 community gardeners and micro-farmers came to enjoy an end-of-year meal with the staff of Abalimi!

Secondly, I am posting a brochure for you to read about an exiting new initiative, which Abalimi is launching called Harvest of Hope. Harvest of Hope is very much a capacity building initiative, as well as a social business, so it fits in perfectly with our current project. Its a pdf file and I hope it shows up on the GlobalGiving website ok. If not, please let me know.

Thirdly, I am posting a couple of articles I wrote, which appeared in a couple of national and international publications. Hope you can access them and hope you find them interesting!

This may be the last you hear from me in 2007, although it is possible that I may get a chance to post another update before Christmas. If not, I wish you all the very best for Christmas and for 2008.

As ever Rob Small

• Harvest of Hope- Abalimi's latest capacity building project (PDF)
  
• Article published by Alternative Technology mag UK (PDF)
  
• Article for the SA Corporate Social Responsibility Handbook (PDF)
  

Dear Friends I have just recieved notice from Dana Ledyard of Global Giving that USD 299.54 is being transferred to our project. This amount has come from 9 donors and will be enough to train at least two people in organic micro-farming and working with kids in the outdoor classroom, who in turn will affect the lives of many hundreds.

If any of you would like to check out our latest Friends Newsletter (# 34), please go to www@abalimi.org.za and read for yourself the results we are getting. If you would like a hardcopy, please send me your request and postal details to info@abalimi.org.za ! I will post you a hardcopy and thereafter you will get a Friends Newsletter in the mail twice a year.

It is a very special and wonderful thing that you, who live virtually on the other side of the planet, care enough to put their own money into our work. This is deeply inspiring to me!

Thank you one and all!!

best regards Rob Small

P.S. One of you, Grace Wong (hi Grace!), is coming to visit us in November. I and the rest of the team are looking forward to meeting her. Perhaps she will also post a report on her experience afterwards!