Where We Work

Last-mile villages of the Alfred Nzo District of the Eastern Cape, where South Africa’s grasslands meet the Lesotho mountains, are some of the most under-served rural places to grow up.

Communities like Lugada, Pontseng, Letlapeng, Bhubesi and Mzongwana lie far from the nearest town, on dirt roads that wash out in the rains and with very limited transport. Most homes have no piped water, many don’t have mains electricity. Cell signal is patchy, sometimes available two days a week. A clinic visit, a birth registration, or a trip to buy food can mean a full day’s walk, or a taxi fare families can’t spare.

The numbers show the strain:

• Nearly two-thirds of children live in food insecure households
• 27% of children under five are stunted
• 60% of young children are completely deprived of structured early childhood learning and at least 25% miss out on critical cognitive and emotional stimulation during their first 1,000 days of life
• Unemployment sits above 75%
• Large numbers of children and adults have no ID or birth certificate, and no path to grants, schooling, or healthcare without one
• The Eastern Cape has South Africa’s highest rape rate, and Alfred Nzo is among the worst-affected districts

But isolation hasn’t erased what’s here: strong traditional leadership, tight community bonds, fertile land, and women and youth ready to lead. The will is there; what’s missing is the skills and systems to act on it, and the long-term support to keep going. We work on that, village by village.