Networking in Munsieville

This week we have been busy organising our March Fundraiser and have sold 5 tables of 10 - only 35 left to go - and that was without the invitation yet being printed! I am desperately trying to find auction items that would really be a draw for the event. Anybody have any suggestions? We have some of the entertainment in place and will be doing a 'Munsieville’s Got Talent' contest in February that will allow the winner to perform at the Fundraiser.
I had some great meetings late this past week with the Chamber of Commerce, the President of the Rotary Club and some of the District officials to discuss some of the needs of the community as well as the Fundraiser. It is so interesting having these meetings since with each one I learn something that seems to be of interest to someone else in one of the other meetings I am attending. When I bring up what the other person is doing or needing it seems to fit into something they are doing or interested in doing and thus makes the connection that helps network the two together for a possible solution. For example, the Chamber of Commerce got funding for a Bicycle Repair Business to help some of the rural areas and the District was doing a bicycle programme for safe bike stands in the rural areas, so I mentioned what the Chamber was doing to the District officials when I was speaking with them and they made a connection to talk. This happened three times last week and has happened several other times while I have been here and it is great to be able to help network people together. This country is filled with so much potential and is growing so quickly it is exciting to see all the changes that can take place. And if my small part can help, I feel that I have contributed something to the sustainability of South Africa. It is a great feeling.
Great news from the Journalism Academy that we set up for some of the youth of Munsieville, as one of the young men was offered an internship with Primedia who owns the radio station which we visited in November. On the first day of his internship in the new year he was offered a job! Congratulations Solomon. So there are truly some exciting things happening in Munsieville. The other project we are quite busy with is Connecting Continents where school age children in South Africa and the UK or US correspond with each other. My daughter Caroline’s teacher from last year is involved with it and her class wrote some beautiful letters on decorated paper that looked like a present to the children in one of the 5th grade classes in Munsieville. The Munsieville children in turn wrote letters to them as well which will soon be posted on our Web site for everyone to read. The 6th grade here in Munsieville did the same and it was truly an eye-opener reading the letters from them. The issues they struggle with are so different from the ones our children do - violence, rape and HIV are such a prevalent theme in their letters, while that is not something that would even cross the minds of most 6th graders in the US or UK. It just reminds us that all the work we are doing to help the children grow up to be healthy, productive adults is so imperative.
So as you can see we are busy as ever and many projects left to do in 8 weeks or less. Next week I will tell you about the Adopt an ECD project I am working on as well.
Thanks for reading,
Michelle Webb, GSK PULSE volunteer