Update from Munsieville's young journalists

Our GSK PULSE volunteer Carola Michielsen caught up with the Youth Voice Journalism Academy students last week - here is an update from her meeting:
Last week I spent some time with some of the journalists of the Youth Voice Journalism Academy (YVJA), a year-long course that trains the young people with journalism skills, in order to develop literacy, accountability, self-confidence and leadership, whilst engaging the young adults in constructive activity. The YVJA aims to inspire the whole community by writing articles about relevant news or topics that concern the community or by the video diaries that the participants make which tell about their lives in Munsieville.
One year ago 20 young adults from Munsieville started this training. Some of them got jobs, moved or just dropped out so that by mid-October 2011, 10 of them will complete their curriculum. I met some very ambitious and talented participants (see picture). They are willing to make the best out of the course and are searching for ways to create more awareness in the community. They showed me their portfolio and I was really impressed by the quality of their work. Palesa was even asked by Caxton magazines to write an article for their magazine. She wrote an article on the origin of the word “kaffer”, which nowadays is used frequently by young children as a curse word but they have no idea where this word originates from. With the article, Palesa is trying to make the children aware so that they can rethink when they use this word. The students also made a HipHop magazine "Element" that looks very professional and trendy and is over 40 pages long!! They are eager to have this printed and have plans to discuss it with Caxton magazines, one of the companies they visited during their monthly site visits. This company has no magazine yet for young adults and this could be their first one and more importantly this could be the first magazine coming from Munsieville.
The students told me that they find it very difficult to create awareness about their work in the community and I challenged them to think about it - they came up with great ideas for creating a monthly newsletter and organising an exhibition of their work for the community! I think that the journalists I met last week do have talent and do believe that they can improve life for the young people in their community. With the right encouragement and support Project Hope UK will be able to help these young ambitious journalists achieve their goals and make their vision come true!!
Thanks for reading!

The power of connections in the Munsieville community

Alyson Krucher and Carola Michielsen, our two GSK PULSE volunteers, spent the day in Munsieville on Tuesday, meeting some of the local community. Here is Alyson's report from the visit:
"The day started with a meeting with Vuyani (the man in the white zip-up jacket), who is a youth coordinator volunteer for Humana and a resident of Munsieville. He and I share a strong desire to have a more structured and consistent sports programme in the schools of Munsieville as well as the community. Vuyani has a vision of building a sports complex in Mayibuye, the more established part of Munsieville. On our way to see the field, we ran into the women I like to call, "The Entrepreneur Women of Mayibuye". We were greeted with the same excitement and love we always get when they see us. Elizabeth and the rest of the women updated us with their progress in writing to the Councillor to ask for land to put their soup kitchen and brick-making facility. The letter was already drafted and on its way - another display of urgency on the part of these business ladies!
Vuyani needs the support of the adults in this community if his sports programme is to be sustainable. Mayibuye is the area of Munsieville that has the most young inhabitants but organised sports are nonexistent here because the parents do not see the benefit. Vuyani and I discussed the need to address the parents and emphasise the importance of sports to the overall well-being of their children. His interaction with the ladies today will help Vuyani establish rapport and these women will be able to spread the word to other adults in Mayibuye about sports. In return, Vuyani asked the ladies about what they are doing and Elizabeth explained about her bubble soap-making business, the bricks, candles, gardens, and home-based care.
Since my time is short here in Munsieville, I realise early on that it is important for me to facilitate connections between volunteers, community members and government officials and gently nudge these engaged people in a direction of productivity, trusting relationships, and results!"
Another step along The Thoughtful Path as the community of Munsieville moves towards a better future!

Holiday activities give Munsieville children a healthy start

Megan Quinn and Twanda Wadlington from East Tennessee University recently spent several months working on The Thoughtful Path in Munsieville. Here is another of their stories showing how changes are already happening to transform the lives of the children there:
The Thoughtful Path partnered with Legae La Bana (The Home of the Children) to create a two week health promotion programme during the recent winter holiday break. Sessions covered health, essential skills like reading and writing, arts and sports. Staff of Legae La Bana were present during all the sessions and were trained in all topic areas so that they can now develop an after-school programme with health-related themes.
The children of Munsieville were provided with a safe, productive way to spend their holiday break, and in return The Thoughtful Path gained knowledge on health-related issues in the community as seen through the eyes of the children. In addition, several strong, smart, outgoing children were identified to assist The Thoughtful Path with future projects such as The House of Young Ambassadors.
The activities organised for the children helped to foster positive growth and build confidence and self-esteem. The programme at Legae La Bana laid the foundation for this group of children to lead healthy, productive lives and they will now be able to serve their community by educating other children on basic health issues. The activities organised for the children also helped to foster positive growth and build confidence and self-esteem.
Check back soon for more stories of success as Munsieville takes further steps along the path to a better future for the whole community.

Vegetable gardens put the 'heart' back into the community

The people of Munsieville are resilient, welcoming, and ready for change, but have to face the daily struggles of poverty, crime, and substance and child abuse. In an effort to end hunger, malnutrition, and poverty a community garden scheme has recently been started by The Thoughtful Path. By going back to the land and planting homestead gardens, the scheme engages the elderly women of the community to create a sustainable way to provide healthy, nourishing meals for themselves and their families.
Seventy four women from the Muyibuye area of Munseieville gathered to develop and implement the gardening project. Group members helped each other to build gardens at their own houses and to train other community members on building gardens. The “keyhole” garden method was used as it is proven to work in small spaces, various weather conditions, and uses recycled materials readily found in the community. This method utilises a series of layers and an inner compost circle to provide nutrients and proper irrigation to the seedlings. People collected materials from around the community for the layers of their gardens (bricks, cans, straw, ash, and soil). Seedlings and compost were provided via donations from the United States. A variety of crops were planted, including beetroot, parsley, cabbage, spinach, lettuce, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and spring onion.
The women involved in this project immediately made it their own, developing their own garden shape and creating strategies to feed the orphaned and vulnerable children with the vegetables from their gardens. The women observed that the “keyhole” shape looked similar to a heart and began creating distinctly heart-shaped gardens. One woman even remarked that the gardens would put the “heart” back into the community! Lastly, the women want to open a soup kitchen to feed the orphaned and vulnerable children in the area. The vegetables from their gardens will help make this an affordable and successful project. Ten gardens were built up to August 6, 2011, with plans for additional gardens as donations are received for seedlings. The owners of the gardens were empowered, gained confidence, and now have a sense of accomplishment as they are growing food for their families. The garden project shows that the Thoughtful Path: Munsieville is successful as it engaged community members, provided new skills, and created a greater sense of community among some of the most deserving residents. Gardens were built by people helping each other and used recycled materials readily found in the environment. The individuals involved in this project were immediately motivated and served as an inspiration to other community members and volunteers from abroad.
Check back soon for more success stories from Munsieville!

Two new GSK volunteers join Project HOPE UK

Project HOPE UK welcomes two new volunteers from the GlaxoSmithKline PULSE corporate social responsibility programme who will be working on The Thoughtful Path: Munsieville for the next six months. Carola Michielsen will be developing our communications strategy and Alyson Krucher will be building new corporate partnerships to widen the support for The Thoughtful Path. Their work will be helping to empower the community of Munsieville to change the way it cares for its orphans and other vulnerable children forever:
Carola is from the Netherlands and has worked for GSK since 1999. She says "before coming to GSK I studied biology and did my PhD at the Veterinary Faculty in the Netherlands. In 1999 I started at the medical department of GSK as a medical advisor. In 2004 I became a brand manager and then in 2006 I started working as Head of Marketing for paediatric and travel vaccines. In September 2009 I was appointed Head of Marketing for respiratory and urology products, leading a large team of 12 people being brand managers, project managers and marketing assistants. In August 2011 I started my Pulse assignment with Project Hope UK, working for The Thoughtful Path Munsieville. This opportunity allows me to do really more for society and I am very happy to be part of the Project Hope UK organisation! I like doing and watching sports, hiking and travelling. One of my first trips to Africa was to Madagascar and since that time I have been impressed by the beauty of Africa’s nature and the colourful African people!"
Alyson has been with GlaxoSmithKline for 17 years, first as a sales representative in Southern Connecticut, USA. She says "I remained in the sales division through two mergers, and became a Sales Manager in December 2003. Currently, I am an area sales manager in the New York area. I will be working with Project Hope UK in Munsieville where my role is to partner with South African and international corporations and government officials to link their resources with those needs of the township. I am tasked with fostering confidence and the sharing of best practices within the community so that the resources from the corporations are leveraged by the Munsieville community and solutions are generated by the people themselves. I have always had a passion for helping people and this PULSE assigment is a great fit for me to immerse myself in another culture, uncover opportunities to help, and make a sustainable change in a community while at the same time fostering skill sets that will make me a more productive and valuable employee of GSK."
Check back soon for more news from Carola and Alyson as they start to make a difference in Munsieville.

Munsieville students visit Caxton Magazines

Students from The Thoughtful Path’s 'Youth Voice Journalism Academy' in Munsieville spent a day at Caxton Magazines recently at the start of their latest assignment.
The team of journalists at 'Your Family' magazine gave the students some first-hand experience in magazine editing and production, including tips on how to create a professional layout. After a day of presentations and in-depth discussions with the journalists, the students went away put their own draft magazine together.
Women's magazine, men’s magazine, Sports, Beauty, Entertainment... which title would they choose to work on and put to print? The students went back to Caxton Magazines a couple of weeks later to have their work edited, and got some really positive feedback from the Your Family team.
Well done to the students for their efforts – look forward to the next good news story from Munsieville!

Green shoots of hope in Munsieville

This week saw another community clean-up in the area of Munsieville known as 'Little Mshengoville', a collection of shacks clinging to a steep hillside. Until recently, the community rubbish dump, surrounded by the shacks in which children are living, was overflowing with stinking garbage. Not only was this unpleasant to look at and to smell, it was also a threat to the solitary water stand pipe serving the whole area, home to several hundred people. Now, thanks to the efforts of the community and the local council, the area has been cleaned up and the community will be able to enjoy a safe, clean water supply.

In another way to improve the environment and tackle hunger and poverty, The Thoughtful Path has recently shown the first group of community leaders how to build keyhole vegetable gardens. These will help to' green' up Munsieville and more importantly to provide food for children and an income for families if surplus produce can be sold locally. More training sessions are planned for the coming weeks to spread the word and provide the community with a way to feed and support themselves.