In 2004, COPES-SA launched its community-development flagship programme – ‘The Mustard Seeds Programme’. The Mustard Seed is the smallest of the seeds and “yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.”

The following are just some of our achievements through this flagship programme:

1) The Community Garden Project
Subsequent to the Women’s Day Workshop, 24 men and women registered for the community garden project in 2004 and with the assistance of COPES-SA got permission to use land from a local school, Faranani Primary School. They spent the rest of 2004 preparing the arid soil for planting. The work began in earnest in 2005, but the number of participants had unfortunately decreased. With the help of the Gauteng Department of Agriculture, twelve people received training on vegetable production and later start-up garden implements such as spades, forks, hosepipes, and seeds and manure.

2) The Craft Project
Fifteen women received free training in the craft of beading. Most of these women are now trading on their own and providing support for their families.

3) The Debating Project
In 2004 two high schools, Reashuma and Tetelo benefited from this initiative. The primary aims of this project are to equip young people with skills in listening, conflict resolution, effective communication, and negotiation. Plans for 2005 were to expand this programme to seven schools that had shown great interest. We unfortunately had to shelve these plans as most of the volunteers who were championing this programme moved on due to employment and further studies.

Other community development projects we were involved with are the COPES-C2C Soccer League and the Reading Programme.