Meet our youngest donor: Casey Jones

Casey Jones is an exceptional little 4 year-old with a huge amount of compassion for others and a very real knowledge of the world that surrounds us. He decided to do something special to help other children after seeing charity appeals on television which clearly upset him.
Casey chose his charity all by himself and the Star of Hope appeal run by Project Hope UK was the perfect project for him. He plucked up all his courage to ask his Headmaster and the head of his school's charity committee if they would let him sell his stars and help him get the idea to the older children. He explained how he would like to sell his stars and that the money he raised would help children without a mummy and a daddy to have a better Christmas.
Casey ensured that all the children at his relatively small school (less than 50 children) decorated a star. The stars were put in the children’s bags and brought back to school the following week. He also sold stars to some of the parents at Credit Suisse, the employer of his mum, and even convinced a few of her colleagues without children to decorate a star when they were not in a meeting.
Explaining to people, especially strangers, was no easy task for Casey who suffers from autism and finds it a bit more difficult than others to socialise and communicate. He did however manage to put his point across and raised £265! He loved every minute of it and is already planning his next "mission" as he calls it, to raise more money for the children in Munsieville.
We at Project Hope UK would like to thank this entrepreneurial little boy for his efforts. We admire his determination and courage to step over his own fears to help the children in Munsieville! Casey, well done and we are proud of you!!

Brick-making machines to help build the future in Munsieville

Two brick-making machines were donated recently to the The Thoughtful Path, Munsieville by a company called Eriger. The machines will be used by a group of women to make bricks, in order to build three créches in Munsieville.
Betty Nkoana from Project Hope UK said, "There is a need for créches because the children in this community have not, up to this stage, received proper early childhood education. Project Hope UK has sent some of the women for training in childcare and development, and they will then operate from the créches that are going to be built."
On 3 October, five of the woman from Munsieville went to visit Wilkinson in Eikenhof, which produces brick-making machines. The visit’s primary purpose was to teach the women how to operate the machines. Back in Munsieville, the women signed a proposal to the councillor, to request a piece of land in Maybuye for their activities, including brick making.Councillor Paul Molapo told the women at a meeting held at the site on 12 October, that their request has been pre-approved by council. "The municipality encourages residents to use their own initiative, and supports those who do so. Once this business is registered and the quality of the bricks are approved as per the national standard, the government can use these bricks in the building of Extension 5, which is the new extension of Munsieville," said Paul.
Anna Nkunou, one of the woman involved in the project, says, "We are so happy to hear this news. We were looking for an opportunity to empower ourselves and our children, but we didn’t know what to do."
Betty said, "These women are full of ideas and energy and are determined to reach their goal. Project Hope UK is supporting them in this regard and is convinced that these women will develop a flourishing business in Munsieville."
This initiative is part of the Community Strengthening Hub of The Thoughtful Path, helping to improve the environment in which the children are growing up and empowering the community to build a better future.

Peace and possibility - our patron's 80th birthday party

Project HOPE UK's volunteers Alyson Krucher and Carola Michielsen had the honour to be invited to the 80th birthday celebrations for Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Read Alyson's account of this amazing day:
"What an awe-inspiring weekend of peace and possibility! When Archbishop Desmond Tutu enters a room, you can feel the warmth, love, and genuineness he exudes and you just want to run up to him and give him a big hug. We were in his presence this weekend to celebrate his 80th birthday, as he is patron of Project HOPE UK's The Thoughtful Path: Munsieville (where Desmond Tutu grew up). As we waited for the Mass to begin in St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, Tutu soon entered the room. The media cameras all pointed to him as he moved from pew to pew greeting everyone, but it wasn't for show. It was genuine as if he was the host of his own party and wanted to say hello to everyone. After the Mass, Archbishop Tutu took the podium to thank many people. He asked for all his overseas friends to stand, he thanked us, and the congregation applauded and cheered with such respect, admiration and thanks. Then we were all bused to Stellenbosch (wine country) to Waterford Estate where we celebrated the amazing life of this 80 year old man with his family, friends, and other organisations that he supports. It was a beautiful day: blue skies, no clouds, warm with no humidity and a slight cool breeze, all over looking the Helderberg Mountains.
Attending the first Desmond Tutu International Peace Lecture was another milestone. The interaction between 'The Arch' and His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama is very special to witness. It is playful, sincere, peppered with mutual respect and admiration. The theme of leadership was threaded within this moderated question and answer session. During my time in South Africa, I have spoken to Ward Councillors, Department of Education employees, government officials, teachers, Afrikaans people, business owners, staff of leadership academies and young adults. They all say that what this country needs is leadership. It is vital to train the youth of South Africa to become informed, productive, honest and motivating leaders of tomorrow's Africa.
The importance of leadership resonated throughout this weekend of celebration. The thread of peace and the prayers of possibility of a stronger Africa rid of poverty were palpable in the gathering of people from different nations and cultures all coming together to celebrate Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.
It was a truly wonderful, unforgettable experience!"

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!