Art Classes

Weekly art classes are given to less privileged children by a passionate and highly skilled art teacher. This activity has proved to be a wonderful way to show these children the talents to be found within themselves. An annual art exhibition provides the children with an opportunity to 'show off'.

Music Classes

A music teacher gives free piano and recorder classes to children most weekday afternoons. Judy Weatherly-Wood has taught music classes for many years and has been an invaluable asset in bringing out the potential within each child. At the end of every year a music recital provides the children with a chance to 'show off' their skills to their friends, familes and peers. We have also started a small percussion band, which is developing very well.

Community Garden

Pieter-Dirk Uys set aside a piece of land adjacent to Evita se Perron for use as a community garden. The garden is a first for Darling and has been developed and is administered by The Darling Trust.

The community garden is located on land that has been used for years by the community as a thoroughfare on their way home from the town centre. This once-barren piece of land now proudly boasts 50 additional young indigenous trees, a number of seating benches and tables and a jungle gym which has proved to be a huge hit with the children! The garden continues to grow with kind donations from the Darling community.

The garden has truly become a vibrant area. An info sheet on the Community Garden is available for download.

Transport for people living with HIV/AIDS to the ARV Clinic in Malmesbury

Individuals living with HIV/AIDS in Darling receive their ARV treatment from a clinic in Malmesbury, around 40 km away. Because there is no public transport, the state provides an ambulance at an unaffordable cost of R25 per person per trip. This resulted in many not receiving their medication basically because they are poor and cannot pay the R25 cost for the transport to the clinic. Some patients resorted to hitching lifts to Malmesbury, but most were unable to reach the clinic at all.

Regular monitoring of those infected with HIV is crucial, both so that doctors can prescribe the right treatment and to prevent progression to AIDS. For some, it takes only a few weeks for their condition to deteriorate beyond help, so affordable transport to the clinic was an extremely urgent concern. The Darling Trust has been providing a free transport service between Darling and Malmesbury since February 2005. This has made a huge difference for those living with HIV in Darling.

As well, because a healthy diet is essential to the success of ARV, The Darling Trust also delivers nutritious food parcels to those on treatment who cannot afford to eat well. These food deliveries help to ensure that the treatment these patients receive has the best possible chance of keeping HIV under control.

Talent Show

The Darling Trust holds an annual Talent Show at Evita se Perron in Darling. This is an informal platform for all to showcase their talents and the evening always draws a theatre full of enthusiastic friends and family. A very special part of the talent show is that it bring together members of the community who otherwise would not have spent time together.

Senior Citizens

Once a month, Darling's senior citizens are treated to a cream tea and a movie at Evita se Perron. We also pay for the local old age home's newspaper subscriptions.