2 0 1 0 - 2 0 1 1 A n n u A l R e p o R t

In a gentle way, you can shake the world ~ gandhI

ContentsLetter from Director ....................................................................................... 2

mission statement ........................................................................................... 5

the possibLe Way .............................................................................................. 7

UniteD by compassion .................................................................................... 9

initiatiVes meaLie meaL ........................................................................................... 10

DaiLy emergency fUnD .......................................................................... 11

hoUses for the DestitUte ..................................................................... 12

engagement With LocaL commUnities ............................................ 13

raising aWareness ................................................................................ 15

raising fUnDs ......................................................................................... 17

strategiZing empoWerment taKhona’s story ................................................................................... 19

bUiLDing a commUnity aroUnD the WorLD ambassaDors ........................................................................................ 20

financiaLs ...................................................................................................... 22

the fUtUre ...................................................................................................... 25

pDi choir cD ‘Voices for the VoiceLess’ ..................................................... 26

thanK yoU ...................................................................................................... 29

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Letter F r o m Th eDirector

Dear Friends,The artist Mary Engelbreit once wrote “Open your heart. Open it wide. Someone is standing outside”.

There are few places in this world where Mary’s words ring truer than the 32 rural and remote communities in the mountains of Swaziland where Possible Dreams International focuses its work.

In a country where 70% of people live in conditions of extreme poverty, a country which continues to have the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world, you don’t have to look very hard to find an outsider.

They take the shape of young men and women afflicted with AIDS, orphaned children leading households bereft of any adult presence and grandmothers bravely taking up to 20 orphans at a time into their tiny houses in a valiant attempt to stem the ceaseless tide of suffering.

In the context of such visceral despair, Possible Dreams International is vibrantly present. 365 days of the year our team visits families and communities in the most remote and disease ridden areas of the Lubombo Mountains of Swaziland.

This year we have provided 238 critically ill rural people with lifesaving transport to hospital and medications without which they would almost certainly have died. A further 122 people were given further interventions such as hospital admissions or urgent medical investigations.

47 families identified as living in extreme conditions of poverty and/or disease were given special needs assistance such as provision of bedding and comfort packs for terminal illness.

This year saw PDI build four new houses for destitute families. We have worked with our builders to create a ‘PDI standard’ for every house we build so that our houses are both highly durable and functional. Our builders are derived from the community and every house is built with community involvement and approval at every step of the process.

Our Mealie Meal project to provide nutritional support for Gogos (grandmothers) with multiple orphan children (up to 22 in some cases) continues to grow. We currently provide monthly energy rich nutritional supplementation to 178 people (on average 145 of these are orphan children under the age of 15). This emergency relief aid occurs for a fixed time period during which we commence families on an income generation project and help them grow a vegetable garden so they can support themselves.

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Letter F r o m Th eDirector

As part of our commitment towards true empowerment and the creation of sustainable change, PDI has commenced income generating projects for families living in extreme poverty. 13 families were given indigenous chicken farming training and 14 families were given training focussed in agriculture and vegetable production. 8 indigenous chicken projects were commenced with PDI being involved in every stage from designing and building chicken coops to assisting in creation of business plans and marketing strategies so that families would be able to receive the highest income from their projects. 5 new large vegetable garden projects were started for families in need with an aim to sell vegetables for income whilst 11 pre-existing gardens were cultivated and optimised with assistance from PDI.

As part of our commitment to create and nurture relationships with families in need, rural makeover projects were commenced for families with many orphaned children who are living in dire conditions. Many families who live in conditions of extreme poverty not only have very few material items, but those they have are sometimes in disarray; dirty and unhygienic. The PDI team enlists the support of the community and family members and spends a full day with a family, helping them with house cleaning, clothes washing, and educating the children and young adults about how they can do these things on a daily basis. These makeover days cost very little but are a great way of re-connecting with the families we serve and showing them that we care about every aspect of their well-being.

The PDI water project in the rural community of Mambane which provides water to up to 3000 individuals has been re-vamped and a recently broken pump has been replaced so that it continues to serve the community with clean, fresh water.

The Possible Dreams International Choir is a choir of young people from the rural areas of the Lubombo region of Swaziland. Their compassionate hearts and beautiful voices have touched people around the world. When PDI builds a house, the choir is there to usher in the new chapter in the family’s life. When we have a very sick patient in the community, the choir will visit and sing to that patient, songs of hope in the darkness. 2011 saw the choir’s first international release – ‘Voices for the Voiceless’. It features two songs donated by Brendan Graham and Rolf Løvland , composers of the worldwide smash ‘You Raise Me Up’.

We are so grateful to our ambassadors who donated generously and held fundraisers throughout the world in support of our projects. The ‘It’s not just a truck, its life’ campaign raised enough funds for the purchase of a truck for our important work in the field. Without this generous support we would not be able to continue our lifesaving work in the field. Our ambassadors are truly diverse in their backgrounds and ways of living. We are united by compassion in working towards empowering those in need.

In 2012 we hope to consolidate and expand each of our projects in the field and grow our ‘pay it forward’ program so that every family who is assisted in turn helps another family within their community in their own creative way. Our mission is true empowerment in the setting of poverty and disease, and we will continue to strive 365 days of the year to live out that purpose.

Our Co-ordinator of projects, Cyprian Ngozo, told me last year “Doc, we are no longer simply partnering with the community. Possible Dreams International is part of the community.”

We thank you for the part you continue to play in making the dream possible.

Together we can,

Maithri

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Mission Statement

PossIble dreams InternatIonal emPowers communItIes affected by hIV/aIds

and extreme PoVerty through the dynamIc synthesIs of comPassIonate

health care and sustaInable deVeloPment.

We hope to achieve this goal by:

• Raising funds for and assisting in the organization of projects within communities which are designed to empower and engage community members as they walk the road to self-sufficiency and freedom from preventable disease.

• Increasing awareness of issues facing the developing world such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic, extreme poverty, malnutrition and endemic disease.

• Building bridges of understanding and compassion to overcome divisions of nationality, ethnicity, religion and social status.

United by compassion to empower communities in need.

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neVer gIVe uP . neVer, neVer, neVer ~ wInston churchIll

t h e p o s s i b L e W a y

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there are tWo main arms to oUr WorK in the fieLD.

This represents Possible Dreams Internationals commitment to both creating lasting, sustainable change within communities and assisting people in dire and immediate need with life saving and life enhancing interventions.

For every project which PDI embarks upon, be it at a micro (individual/family) or macro (Community) level we carry out a similar process.

1. emergency reLief aiD

2. sUstainabLe DeVeLopment proJects

encoUnter• The PDI team meets with and discusses the issues with the family/community on several occasions.• A detailed needs assessment is performed as well as a project proposal created.• Community leaders (e.g. chiefs) and community members are involved from the outset.

engage• We seek to engage each person/community which we assist in the process of developing self sufficiency.• At the inception of a project, the person/community being assisted is asked to share ways in which they might be able to assist and become involved in the project (e.g. Helping with building/providing food for workers etc).• We engage the local community, often holding community meetings and asking community to become involved in the project.

empoWer• We seek to empower people so that they can help themselves and others within.• Once a project is completed, each person who has been assisted becomes an ambassador.• This “Pay it forward” philosophy means that even the poorest of families is empowered.

loVe Is not consolatIon. It Is lIght. ~frIedrIch nIetzsche

1 Australian Fundraising Team (absent - Helen Donovan, Elaine Ong, Khalid Omar, Faye Buchanan, Wendy & Max Parrish)

United by CompassionThe Australian Fundraising team is a group based in Victoria which meets regularly to organise creative ways of raising funds and awareness for the work of Possible Dreams International in the rural and remote areas of Swaziland.

The team is truly multi-cultural and has members from a large diversity of religious and ethnic backgrounds. They are a living example of one of Possible Dreams International’s core beliefs – Unity.

In a world and a time where human beings are so often separated along divides of culture, race, religion, sexual orientation or ideology at Possible Dreams International we believe that our common humanity is far more salient than our superficial differences.

We are united by compassion in our efforts to support and empower our brothers and sisters in the poorest, rural and remote areas of Swaziland.

Whoever you are, whatever your journey has been, we invite you to join us in a Possible Dream for those who are suffering in the mire of extreme poverty and endemic disease.

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gogo/mealIe meal Project

Initiatives

What We Do What We achieVeD Who benefiteDThere are many Gogo (Grandmother) led and/or orphan-led households in Swaziland.

Due to the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, these Gogos are also left caring for their grandchildren and other village orphans.

Provided 17 families with amonthly food supplementconsisting of:

- 25 kg of Mealie Meal- 60 eggs- Sugar/beans/soup- +/- milk

Helped these families to cultivate gardens to sustain their nutritional and financial needs.

Gogo Shongwe: Feeds 12 children

Gogo Dlamini: Feeds 15 children

Gogo Matsenjwa: Feeds 16 children

Gogo Magagula: Feeds 17 children

Gogo Gama: Feeds 6 children

Gogo Myeni: Feeds 5 children

Gogo Xulu: Feeds 7 children

Gogo Nhlabatsi: Feeds 2 children

Gogo Mvoti (disabled): Feeds 3 children

Gogo Masimula: Feeds 9 children

Gogo Mtseftswa: Feeds 5 children

Gogo Dlamini (Mdodi): Feeds 8 children

Gogo Gina: Feeds 9 children

Gogo Fakudze: Feeds 5 children

Mary Kunene: Feeds 2 children

Lillian Mbisi: Feeds 5 children

Sipho Matsenjwa: Feeds 3 children

Mambane Care Point: Feeds 36 children

TOTAL: 165 orphaned children and 17 Gogos provided with monthly food supplementation and agricultural support

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Initiatives

What We Do What We achieVeD Who benefiteDA fund used by the GoodShepherd Hospital Home Based Care (HBC )team on its daily visits to 32 rural communities in Swaziland solely for critically ill patients or patients in extremepoverty

This emergency fund is designed to supplement the work home based care does on a daily basis and support the treatment of patients with stage 3 and 4 HIV, tuberculosis and complications of extreme poverty.

Patients who receive funds from DEF are identified by the team as being in life-threatening need of support.

NB:HBC also provides Food assistance to Patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy (not included in DEF)

Emergency transport to/from hospital for critically ill patients living in rural areas

Emergency Medical Care in hospital:- medical consultation and outpatient fees- Xray/Ultrasound/Blood tests- Medications

Emergency Special Needs for patients living in conditions of extreme poverty:- purchase of mattresses and blankets- Temporary food assistance- Urgent Home renovation/ repairs

238 critically ill patients

122 critically ill patients

47 families living in extreme poverty identified as needing urgent assistance

daIly emergency fund (def)

Initiatives

TOTAL: 360 critically ill patients & 47 families living in extreme poverty

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What We Do What We achieVeD Who benefiteDBuild houses for destitute families who are living in conditions of extreme poverty.

Repair and renovate existing structures to provide security, shelter, and comfort for those living in conditions of dire need.

Engaged local students and contractors to build and renovate houses.

Engaged community leaders and members from the beginning, to ensure PDI was implementing projects in a sustainable and culturally appropriate manner.

Enlisted support of families and individuals in building the housing projects to instil a feeling of ownership and personal contribution.

4 families living in extreme poverty now have safe and secure housing thanks to the efforts of the PDI team and their supporters.

house for the destItute

Initiatives

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Initiatives

What We Do What We achieVeD Who benefiteDEngage and inform local communities about PDI initiatives in the areas of HIV/AIDS, extreme poverty and advocacy.

The 20 person PDI community choir joins with the community to sing songs of hope in the rural regions of Swaziland and support those suffering with HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty.

Ongoing Discussions and engagement with Good Shepherd Hospital staff and administration about future collaboration opportunities.

Ongoing discussions and engagement with Chiefs, rural community leaders, and Members of Parliament.

Discussions with every family or individual PDI has assisted at every step of the project (beginning, middle, and conclusion). This includes ongoing monitoring and evaluation of projects to ensure their sustainability.

Education by the Home Based Care team on their daily medical visits to rural communities.

As part of our commitment to hire, train and engage local Swazi workers, we commenced a weekly debrief discussion in si-Swati (the local language) to address their psycho-social needs. These discussions are a supplement to the ongoing dialogue we have with our Swazi staff members on a daily basis.

Ongoing “Pay it Forward’ program:

All individuals and families assisted by PDI agree to help support their own community once their PDI project is complete (e.g. weekly visits to a sick community members’ homestead, collecting bi-weekly water for orphan families).

The 20 young community members who volunteered their time and voices to address issues of HIV/AIDS, extreme poverty, malnutrition and advocacy within their own communities.

Local Community members in 32 rural communities engaged in PDIs’ work as equals and partners.

Individuals who are part of the Pay It Forward program are empowered and encouraged to help their own community and extend the chain of kindness.

Community members whose projects are approved and implemented by PDI.

engagement wIth local communItIes

Initiatives

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What We Do What We achieVeD Who benefiteDRaise awareness around the world regarding the issues of HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty.

Build bridges of understanding and hope.

15 speeches given throughout Australia in 2010 – 2011

5 speeches given across the United States in 2010 - 2011

Media Publicity in Australia and in Swaziland in the ‘Swazi Observer’

Maintained 2 Blogs from the Swaziland field office

Updated our website with greater interactivity, wider breadth of content and improved interface

Those who have been engaged by the stories of the Swazi people and the work of Possible DreamsInternational and gone on to find creative ways of helping.

Those living with HIV/AIDS, extreme poverty and endemic disease in rural Swaziland.

raIsIng awareness

Initiatives

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Burwood Heights Uniting Church’s Chinese Banquet Fundraiser(Organised by Wai Leong and Chris Sparrow)

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Zumba Fundraiser

Massachusetts FundraiserOrganised by Linda Rineheart Neas - author of “Gogo’s dream - Swaziland discovered”.)

Her book of poetry is based on the work of PDI and funds raised from sales go towards our work.

What We Do What We achieVeD Who benefiteDRaise funds for those who are suffering with HIV/AIDS, extremepoverty and endemic disease

Fundraising campaigns throughout the year included:

1. Burwood Heights Uniting Church Fundraisers2. US - New York Fundraiser3. Massachusetts – Poetry reading / art exhibit & discussion for PDI4. Victorian Zumba Fundraiser5. High Street Road Uniting Church Fundraiser6. Forest Hill Uniting Church Fundraiser7. Wesley College8. Australian International Academy9. Charity Runs by Liann Brookes-Smith (UK), Catherine Mark (UK) and Mandy Hubbard (Australia)

Formation of Australian Fundraising Committee

Launched an online store selling PDI gifts & clothing:http://www.cafepress.com.au/possibledreamsinternational/

Released the PDI Choir CD ‘Voices for the Voiceless’ on iTunes and Amazon

Donations page on Website/PayPal

Donations made at speeches/fundraising events

Maintained transparent accounts in both Australia and Swaziland – improved our accounting processes and prepared accounts for auditing.

Those afflicted by HIV/AIDS, extreme poverty and endemic disease.

raIsIng funds

Initiatives

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Holiday CardsChoir CD

Strategizing EmpowermenttaKhona’s story

“Possible Dreams International is re-defining the culture of development in Swaziland by replacing sporadic, short term gift giving with long term strategic empowerment”

~ Dr. M. Goonetilleke

Takhona is a young woman who lives in the rural community of Makhewu. A few years ago Takhona was widowed and was left with five young mouths to feed (all under the age of ten).

In a state of grief, without a source of income and lacking guidance in raising her family, Takhona became immobilised with despair. Several times she tried to flee her situation, but her love for her children brought her back to her home in Makhewu.

The Possible Dreams team engaged with Takhona and began a conversation about how she might be able to empower herself. We built her a new home and assisted her with emergency food assistance for her children while encouraging and teaching her to cultivate her own field. She soon had built a chicken coop and had planted a crop of maize which was so plentiful that she no longer needed food assistance.

She gained employment and now has started her own shop where she is selling items to her own community.

What is more, just across the road in the very same community, there is another young woman who finds herself in a very similar circumstance to the ones in which Takhona was in just a few years ago. She has six children to care for on her own and has reached out to PDI for assistance.In addition to creating an empowerment strategy for Lena, Takhona has now connected with her and is now offering her support and understanding as a sister who has walked the same road and overcome her obstacles. Takhona’s story is the embodiment of the PDI philosophy, a living dialogue of empowerment which brings steady, long term change into the lives of those living with extreme poverty and endemic disease.

Takhona’s new house alongside her old house

Ambassadors

bUiLDing a commUnity aroUnD the WorLD

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Puerto Rico

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bUiLDing a commUnity aroUnD the WorLD

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Puerto Rico

Financials

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SUMMARY OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE FOR2010 – 2011 FINANCIAL YEAR

Total Funds raised and Interest received for the financial year: $68,286 ($AUD) Total Expenditure for the financial year:$56,326 ($AUD)

Projects $aUDDaily emergency fund 1,126mealie meal project 4,036special needs 1,237building houses / homestead work 13,541Project reLAteD eXPeNsessalaries for local swazi workers 7,410motor Vehicle • Purchase of new truck for field work• Maintenance & Operational costs

8,77112,518

FUNDrAIsING eXPeNses 3,020ADMINIstrAtIoN eXPeNses 4,667totAL $56,326total project and related expenses (86%) $48,639total fundraising costs (6%) $3,020total administration costs (8%) $4,667

BREAKDOWN OF EXPENDITURE FOR THE2010 – 2011 FINANCIAL YEAR

Financials

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totaL expenDitUre breaKDoWnby inDiViDUaL proJect

Projects $aUDDaily emergency fund 1,126mealie meal project 4,036special needs 1,237building houses / homestead work 13,541Project reLAteD eXPeNsessalaries for local swazi workers 7,410motor Vehicle • Purchase of new truck for field work• Maintenance & Operational costs

8,77112,518

FUNDrAIsING eXPeNses 3,020ADMINIstrAtIoN eXPeNses 4,667totAL $56,326total project and related expenses (86%) $48,639total fundraising costs (6%) $3,020total administration costs (8%) $4,667

eVerybody can be great...because anybody can serVe. you don’t haVe to haVe a college degree to serVe. you don’t haVe to make your subject and Verb agree to serVe. you only need a heart full of grace. a soul generated by loVe.~martIn luther kIng, jr.

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NURTURING RELATIONSHIPS WITH FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES

PDI has a commitment to all those families and communities with whom we are working in 32 rural areas of Swaziland. The relationships which we have forged with each of these families or communities will continue into 2012 and beyond.

We intend to continue consolidating and expanding our projects as well as further developing holistic strategies of empowerment for affected families and individuals. Particular attention will be given to ongoing development of the ‘Pay It Forward’ program which allows all families whom we have assisted to extend that kindness to others within their neighbourhood and thereby empower the community itself.

MEETING THE EVER GROWING NEEDS OF RURAL SWAZILAND

The immediacy of human need in Swaziland is ever present. We already have nine houses on the urgent waiting list to be built and large numbers of families requiring assistance with agriculture and income generation. Our commitment is to continue to do the best we can with the resources available to us to create positive and sustainable change in the lives of those affected by extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS and endemic disease.

GROWING A GLOBAL COMMUNITY OF COMPASSION

Through a diversity of awareness and fund raising projects, we intend to continue to connect compassionate individuals from a diversity of backgrounds and nationalities as they work towards a common goal of bringing tangible hope to the sickest and poorest areas of rural Swaziland.

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The FutureProjects

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PDI TeamInternational and Swaziland

Maithri Goonetilleke

Jacquelyn Eisenberg Chelsea Peacock

Mandy Hubbard

Kathleen HartmannAl Hartmann

Maureen McCarthy

Julia Da Rocha

Bekezela Bhembe and Sphamandla MbuliCyprian Ngozo

Matron Anna Zwane

Thank You!PDI Team

International and Swaziland

W All our supporters, ambassadors and donors around the world

W The members of the PDI team both Internationally and in Swaziland: Thembi Bhembe, Bekezela Bhembe, Julia Da Rocha, Jacquelyn Eisenberg, Maithri Goonetilleke, Kathleen Hartmann, Al Hartmann, Mandy Hubbard, Sphamandla Mbuli, Maureen McCarthy, Cyprian Ngozo, Chelsea Peacock, Matron Anna Zwane.

W Special thanks to the Home Based Care team at the Good Shepherd Hospital for the wonderful work they do and supporting our work through the administration of the Daily Emergency Fund and Maternal Child Health Fund project.

W The Swazi People and community leaders for their support and example of courage and compassion.

W The Australian Fundraising Team for their dedication and compassionate support of our vision & work.

W All those involved in the organisation of the annual US fundraiser.

W Brian Crimp for his ongoing expert advice and wonderful assistance with accounting procedures.

W John Couch for his amazing photography capturing the stories and faces of the Swazi People.

W Inspiration Peak http://www.inspirationpeak.com/ for setting up the ‘Big Heart Project’ where people can help PDI purchase food supplements for families in need.

W Brendan Graham and Rolf Løvland for their generous support of the choir and our projects in Swaziland.

W Danica Keighra for her assistance with graphic design.

W Special thanks to Lynne Cattell, Faye Buchanan and Chris Sparrow for their extraordinary fundraising efforts.

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C o p y r i g h t © 2 0 1 2 P o s s i b l e D r e a m s I n t e r n a t i o n a l