Grassroots workers and organizations play a critical role in providing economic and social welfare in developing countries. The Amrut Foundation provides maintenance assistance to credible NGOs who serve the aged, impaired, or economically and socially vulnerable with integrity. The Foundation aims to extend this assistance to credible NGO partners in each province.
The Amrut Foundation is proud of its partnership with the Tshimangadzo Care Center (TCC) in Bertrams, Johannesburg. The TCC is a registered NPO that looks after the emotional and physical needs of the aged and retired in the areas of Bertrams, Yeoville and Hillbrow. The TCC provides one-on-one counseling, exercise sessions and providing nutritious needs for this often forgotten age demographic. In this way, the Center ensures that the elderly who often act as care-givers and financial providers for their grandchildren, are well looked after. The TCC also provides guidance and counselling to curb drug use and domestic violence in an area where the psychological effects of unemployment and drug use are widespread. Alongside their other work, the TCC provides computer literacy and programming courses in order to empower the younger generation.
The Amrut Foundation is pleased to provide long-term maintenance and functional support through a complete renovation of the Center’s premises. The Foundation also supports the TCC’s self-sustaining food program through a greenhouse facility and small-scale farming skill sharing, along with the provision of seedlings and fertilizer.
Crucially, the Foundation is proud of its partnership with the TCC in setting up a sewing skills centre. The project, aptly named Khuphuka, or rise in Zulu, aims to empower youth from the area with requisite skills in garment and accessory making, fashion and design. In the long-term Khuphuka aims to nurture entrepreneurship and marketing skills amongst its trainees. Currently, a group of sixteen youth have found an income through the upcycling of saris, the traditional garment worn by Indian women, into satchels and other products.