Uplifting communities in the Karoo
From the Heart of the Karoo
Five Loaves Two Fish is a registered charity (204-694 NPO) that seeks to promote education, recycling and spekboom planting in South Africa. We are based in the little Karoo town of Klipplaat, about 2 hours drive inland from Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape. Here, many people are very poor, under-educated and unemployed. Many adults cannot read. This is where our project began.
A Community Project
With the support of the local church and farming community, my husband and I, Rob and Fiona Hobson, run the project. I was once a high school science teacher, was, for forty years was a farmer’s wife, and we have now retired to Graaff-Reinet.. For over forty years I have been teaching adults to read, ever since the day I discovered that some of the people living on our farm were illiterate. In 2001 we started a weekly adult literacy class in Klipplaat for the many people there who in the past had no opportunity to go to school. In 2008 we discovered that in spite of the fact that most children now attend school regularly, many of them reach their teens without being able to read at all.
We researched and found that this happens everywhere, not just in Klipplaat. With the help of the headmaster, we found some local people who were keen to be trained as remedial teachers, and the Five Loaves Two Fish remedial reading project started. I still go to Klipplaat almost once a week to encourage and pay the teachers, and to provide them with reading materials when necessary. Since 2020, the project has been expanded to include children at schools in Graaff-Reinet. In 2026 our reach will include Nieu-Bethesda.
Five Loaves Two Fish now operates three projects: The Remedial Reading Project, the Recycling Project, and the Spekboom Project.
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EDUCATION PROJECT
We raise funds to pay three remedial teachers at local primary schools in both Klipplaat and Graaff-Reinet, where many children need help with learning to read. Five Loaves Two Fish also supports several Karoo teachers-in-training who are studying by correspondence.
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RECYCLING PROJECT
The Klipplaat and Aberdeen Recycling Project was borne out of a deep desire to help the community by providing a facility that would collect materials that were eligible for recycling and compensate those that collected and brought these materials in.
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SPEKBOOM PROJECT
We are raising funds to plant up to 2000 spekboom trees on the farm Swartrivierdrift in the Klipplaat district to create lasting greenery absorbing carbon for our community. We will fence this camp off for 5 —7 years to keep out all game and allow the spekboom to root and establish
How to Get Involved
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USE OUR RESOURCES TO HELP OTHERS
Over the years we have developed our own materials, and would like to make them available online so that ordinary people can get out there and start teaching others. Our materials make it easy to make a difference to someone who cannot read.
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START A PROJECT IN YOUR OWN TOWN
Throughout the country there is a desperate need for remedial teachers who can help children learn to read. People can do this either by paying others to teach, or they can volunteer their time, and go to a school and help children themselves. Contact us if you would like ideas about how to get started.
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MAKE A DONATION
We encourage people to make donations to Five Loaves Two Fish, as we need money to pay our remedial teachers and to pay the study fees of the student teachers we support. We are a registered Non-Profit Organisation, with registration number 204-694 NPO.
