Learning from life not textbooks

Greetings from rainy Randfontein! Over the last two weeks, several storms have doused the Gauteng province, but the rain is necessary to turn the landscape green again and help usher in spring. While the intensity of the thunderstorms is unlike anything I have previously experienced, I am not letting the rain put a damper on my work in Munsieville. Last week Courtney and I led part two of our surveying and research methods class, and we taught the class how to format and administer a survey. We included lessons on the layout and visual design of the survey, how to format questions and avoid bias, and the different methods used to administer questionnaires and interviews. There were eleven people in attendance, and everyone seemed engaged in the lessons.

The best part of the class was teaching interviewing techniques and conducting mock interviews to demonstrate the process. Courtney and I exemplified both a good and bad way to interview someone and then asked the class to name some positive and negative aspects of our demonstration. Next, Courtney and I paired up everyone in the class, gave them a mock interview scenario, and had them act out a good and bad interview based on what they had just learned. Everyone demonstrated understanding of what Courtney and I were teaching. All the groups really expressed their creativity, and I was pleased that the class was so engaged in the activity. Courtney and I also got to conduct two Garden Soxx® training classes in Mshenguville. Because Safira had some trouble contacting some of the families, the training had to be rescheduled several times. It was exciting to finally have not one, but two Garden Soxx® classes in the community. After so much interest was shown in the project at the first class, Safira, Courtney, and I decided that a second class would be beneficial so that more people could learn about the Garden Soxx® project.

Because Courtney and I had already created our own Garden Soxx® sock and knew how to assemble it, we went to the first class and demonstrated how to create the sock. Once we did the demonstration, we let the ladies there work together to assemble a new sock. At the second class, Courtney and I let the ladies from the first class teach the new members who were at the second class, and the ladies created three new socks together. We felt this was a good way to encourage the women of Mshenguville to take ownership of the project because they are now the ones instructing others on sock assembly. I am excited about the future of this project, and I think that it will be sustainable in the community of Mshenguville in Munsieville. I am also happy to report that some of the ladies at the Children’s Embassy are starting to use the vegetables from the keyhole garden to made salads for the community! It is exciting to get to see the bountiful results of a small initiative that was started at the beginning of my internship. One of the highlights of last week occurred on Thursday when I got to spend an afternoon with Mama Gloria, the sister of Archbishop Desmond Tutu! Desmond Tutu is the patron of The Thoughtful Path and a respected social rights activist who has earned several awards and recognitions for his work. His sister lives in Munsieville, just down the street from the Children’s Embassy. It was a pleasure to spend the afternoon with Mama Gloria and hear her talk about her daily life and the people in Munsieville. She is truly an inspiring lady, and I am fortunate to have had the chance to meet her! Even though I am using several skill sets learned in my public health classes, there are some lessons I am learning that have not come from my textbooks. I don’t recall there being any chapters on how to converse with the sister of an Archbishop or drive in a foreign country and navigate my way through new places. Henry Rollins, a performer and spoken-word artist, said, “There are lessons that you can’t get out of a book that are waiting for you at the other end of that flight.” That quote has proven to be true for me over the course of this internship! Travel truly brings enriching experiences and new lessons to be learned.

New recruits join The Thoughtful Path team

Project HOPE UK is pleased to welcome several new recruits to The Thoughtful Path in Munsieville.

Joining Betty Nkoana, Director, Operations are:
Thuli Mpanza, Project Coordinator
Thandi Ngaloshe, Public Health Mentor
Saffiera Sello, Public Health Mentor
Imelda Phetoe, Mental Health and Well-Being Mentor.
Gladys Hanxa has also joined the team, supporting Betty as office assistant.
We look forward to reporting on their work in the coming weeks.

Highs and lows of life in Munsieville

Sarah Hatfield, a GSK PULSE volunteer currently working in Munsieville, shares her experiences from the last month: "Some days I feel on cloud nine with the excitement of what’s being accomplished here. Someone will totally impress me but then something else occurs, usually not to long after something positive and it will take me down to a low point. We had scheduled a wonderful inspirational day for the leaders of the seven hubs of The Thoughtful Path. I had put together a workshop to educate the leaders of each hub on how to write an operational plan. We went over vision statements, mission statements, objectives and tactics for each hub. Everyone was so engaged and sharing their hopes and dreams for the children of Munsieville. It was so exciting to see everyone sharing their goals and visions for a bright future. In the afternoon, Paul (the Executive Director) along with Betty and the rest of the team had a wonderful presentation which included having the children come in and dance. It was a celebration of what The Thoughtful Path has achieved since it started in Munsieville 3 years ago. Everyone was excited when they left that day. It was truly a great day of celebration and learning. We announced the new members hired from the community who start late August early September. The following day, was a low point. We found out that, that evening a shack had burned down with children inside.

But then there was something positive that picked me back up again.......The Youth Hub organised a health day for the kids aged 6-14 on Saturday, August 18th. The youth teachers taught the kids about the dangers of substance abuse, although this is just one of the very serious issues that people have to deal with here. One of those issues is abuse (including rape, domestic assault and child neglect)and the sad thing is so little is done about them, although The Thoughtful Path is trying to change that. Watching these young teenagers provide a great positive influence to 100 kids was truly inspirational! This week, I was able to be uplifted again as I started the Leadership Academy selection interviews. One of the mamas helping me with the interview process was a graduate herself in June and is now one of the new members of The Thoughtful Path as a full time employee. She conducted a workshop this week where she used the skills she obtained during the 6 courses in the Leadership Academy, to teach others in the community about conflict management and communication.

One of the candidates I interviewed this week for the class of 2013 shared his thoughts on why he wants to be a part of the Leadership Academy and helping the community. He said, “You need to be the change you want to see. I need to be that change.” He was referring to being a role model and leading others towards the positive. I was moved by his genuine spirit and passion to help his community. Another candidate, almost brought me to tears as she shared her role in helping kids who have no one else. She runs a safe house and orphanage and she talked about how many of these young kids have no one to love them and while the community talks and judges them, she just shows them love and the right path for moving forward. She shared her story that she has things in her past, but the key is to look at who she’s become and that’s what she shares with these children to show them that they have a choice. These are people that inspire me, and I hope that I am also having an impact on their lives."

African challenges

It is hard to believe it has been over a month since I have written. Africa Time!! I have heard this expression a lot since I have been here. Over the last month I have really started getting into my assignment. Trust is not something that is given, it is something that is earned over time. I can honestly say it has taken this much time to get into the assignment. I am on the ground here to effect positive change with household safety. Cooking is done on paraffin stoves, lighting in homes with no electricity is by candles and/or paraffin lamps. Paraffin is bought in local shops and taken home in 2 litre coke bottles or whatever is available. The easy part of the assignment is assessing the situation and identifying obvious changes needed and behaviours that need to change. Where I see great potential, hope and spirit is in the youth and children of the community and the Mamas of the community who want to make changes for their families.

After getting to know people and listening I engaged more broadly with the women of the townships. After discussing the best approach with Betty, the manager of the Thoughtful Path in Munsieville, we called a meeting to introduce me and my assignment more broadly across the community. The meeting was held on a patch of land in the township. The meeting was arranged by word of mouth and incredibly when I arrived at 5pm, 16 ladies joined myself and 20 min later there was a total of 69 and shortly after over 100. All of them are very interested and wanting to make necessary changes. 17 people volunteered to assist me directly. The next week I arranged a meeting with these 17 volunteers and 31 showed up. The enthusiasm to be involved, to be a part of the tide of change is fantastic and genuinely shows their concern for their communities and their children. For change to be sustainable these are the people that need to agree to the change and make it happen. It is all about empowerment to prioritise the changes needed and education on the best course of action. Check back soon for a report on the improvements in shack safety that are being made by these volunteers.

Never judge a book by its cover: the beauty of Munsieville

Abi Brooks is an International Development student from Portsmouth University, currently on assignment in Munsieville. Here are her first impressions of life in the township:
"Before my visit to the country I was very aware that I would be exposed to a different way of life and a level of suffering I had never previously encountered. In the weeks prior to my arrival in South Africa I had tried my best to prepare myself for the things I would witness and how it would make me feel. Well, the first very evident lesson I learnt was that there could be no 'preparing myself' for the things I would see and the plethora of emotions I would feel for the township of Munsieville. On my first week I was taken on a tour of the township. As we made our way through I realised the diversity of the place in terms of wealth and living conditions. On the outskirts of Munsieville I was surprised to see some reasonably large and well-kept houses as well as some smaller ones, however as we got deeper into the heart of the township we saw a very different scene indeed.

Tiny one-room shacks made from rusty corrugated iron, often home to whole families; piles upon piles of rubbish at the side of the road; unhygienic and unsafe communal toilets; tiny children running around barefoot without an adult caregiver in sight. At the end of my first week I felt shell-shocked - confused and saddened on a different level than I had felt before. My view of Munsieville was one dimensional - it was a dangerous, depressing, ugly place and no one should have to live there. Well this one dimensional view would soon change when I met the people of the community and heard their stories...
South Africa has some of the most beautiful sights on Earth...vast landscapes, buzzing cities, game parks, amazing rare animals. None of these can be found in Munsieville. To find Munsieville's beauty you have to look much deeper, past the piles of rubbish and rotting corrugated iron. It's the laughter of a child that feels safe and loved at crèche because of the sheer passion that their caregiver has for their well-being. It's the 'Mamas' (or ladies) of the community who, in their later years rather than settling into retirement like most their age, have stood up and taken action because they have faith in a brighter future for their township.

It's the single mother who barely earns enough to feed herself or her children but who welcomes newly-orphaned children into her home and shares everything she has with them, purely out of love. The beauty of Munsieville isn't something you can necessarily see with your eyes, rather it's something you can't help but feel in your heart when you meet the people, hear their stories and experience the love and warmth that this community has to offer."
Check back soon for more insights from Abi's journey on The Thoughtful Path: Munsieville.

Focusing on the children

Here is GSK PULSE volunteer Sarah Hatfield's update from her second week in Munsieville:
"This week was full of so many great experiences. The Youth Leaders facilitated an amazing 5 day Munzie Kid Holiday Club where the children of Munzieville had a place to go while school was out for winter break. The main reason Project Hope was involved was to ensure the kids had a safe place off the streets and would take this opportunity to learn about health.

On Monday the children learned about personal hygiene i.e. washing their hands and brushing their teeth. Tuesday was about Environmental Safety i.e. the effects of littering and ensuring fresh drinking water. Wednesday was a very important topic focusing on messages about zero tolerance to child abuse. These children learned what is appropriate, what is not, how to report, and their rights as children. Thursday was focused on Home Safety i.e. how to plan in case there is a fire. Friday was a day of review and fun which included performances from the children on what they had learned throughout the week.

I will be working with each of the 7 HUBs: Early Child Development, After School Care, Youth Support and Development, Community Strengthening Initiative, Child/Youth Community Sports Program, Child Rights and Protection Unit, Community Based Organization Partner Capacity Building all which breakdown the barriers to health, well-being and personal development of the Orphans and Vulnerable Children. This week I specifically, along with the rest of the Thoughtful Path team, worked on the issues of: ”Poor Physical Health”, “Poor Mental Health”, “Poor Nutrition”, and “Violence”. It felt amazing to see these children play, dance, sing, and laugh while also learning some valuable lessons to keep them healthy and safe."
Thanks for reading!

Hello from Munsieville, South Africa

Daphne Van is a GlaxoSmithKline PULSE volunteer working with us in Munsieville for the next 6 months - read her update from her first week in South Africa:
"I left Canada on the 16th June and was in London for one week of training with Project Hope UK in preparation for the work that we will be doing in Munsieville, South Africa. The week was busy in trying to understand many aspects surrounding what we will be doing in Munsieville and The Thoughtful Path programme. The Thoughtful Path: Munsieville is a ground-breaking initiative from Project HOPE UK that will act as a catalyst for change, by serving as a role model for other disadvantaged communities worldwide.

It will engage an entire community in changing the way 15,000 orphans and other vulnerable children are cared for in Munsieville, an impoverished township near Johannesburg, South Africa. This initiative focuses on the community members and their involvement in making sustainable change. The programme is made up of seven hubs, which are serviced by local people in Community Based Organisations (CBOs) to ensure sustainability. I am partnered here with Sarah Hatfield who is also on Pulse assignment and works from San Francisco as a Senior Regional Sales Manager. Sarah and I have quickly become friends and have already shared a lot of laughs and mini adventures together. We arrived in Munsieville last Monday after an 11 hr flight from London. We were happy to be on the ground and anxious to see the township. The director of the charity, Paul Brooks is here with us for the remainder of this week. The project manager here in Munsieville is Betty Nkoana. Betty is an amazing woman who understands the pulse of the community, leads the Thoughtful Path and ensures that we, as volunteers, have what we need.
We have other volunteers here with us as well: Abi Brooks (Paul’s daughter) who will be here until September and will be focused on early childhood development, and Yi He who is from China and studying epidemiology at the University of Tennessee in the USA.

My assignment is to work with the “shack communities”. These are homes that are built by the people themselves from whatever they can find, mostly metal. My assignment is to focus on health and safety within the these homes. On Friday we had two young women, Connie and Julia, took us on a walking tour of communities within Munsieville. Pictures say more than a thousand words ever could. The problems in these communities exceed the issue of their living space. There is poverty, lack of work, food, shoes, sanitation, electricity. And then there is what you do have: Curiosity, smiles as you walk by, children playing and laughing, mothers happy to say hello. Two families invited us to see the inside of their homes. Shocking to us, yes. But as you look around there are little things that you notice that indicate to me that even though they have very little they make the best with what they have. Pictures, photographs hanging on the walls for decoration and memories. A small space that is well organized. There are hazards in terms of the fuel they use to cook with and heat their homes. I will be working with the leaders in the community to look at real changes we can make now. Changes they would like to make knowing that they can!"