Forces for good at work in Munsieville

'Forces for Good' is a book that talks about the practices of high-impact nonprofits. Nurturing nonprofit networks and collaborating with other NGOs on common interests maximises resources and increases efficiency. Uncovering the interests of corporates instead of just accepting a grant and communicating with the local government on what their goals and initiatives are for their municipalities and how they link with those objectives of the nonprofit are strategic measures to ensure success. Here are some of our own examples of partnerships at Project HOPE UK on its Thoughtful Path programme in Munsieville:
Project HOPE UK supported Human Youth Coordinators of Humana in a Sports Day in Munsieville while GSK South Africa Consumer Division contributed Lucozade for the event. The children of Munsieville enjoyed a day of competitive soccer games and received recycling messages to help keep Munsieville clean.
The Children's Tshepo Festival held on December 2nd had support from GlaxoSmithKline South Africa Consumer Division. The Mobile Dental Clinic was present to instruct children on oral care and lots of Aquafresh was given away.
The Sterkfontein Heritage Lodge supplied 1000 hot dogs that community members such as Ivy, and Walter, a waiter at Heritage Lodge, as well as some US and UK GSK employees cooked and distributed to all the children at the festival. Whether you are an employee of a nonprofit organisation, a philanthropist, business executive, movie star or sports figure, board member, small business owner, government official, or volunteer, working together towards common goals for the good of a community eliminates duplication and ensures success in arriving at a goal faster and in a more sustainable way.
Through these wonderful partnerships, hopefully lasting, the most important thing that Project HOPE UK will never lose sight of, is that these efforts are for the children of Munsieville; to ensure they have a healthy and safe environment to flourish into confident, self-sustaining, contributing adults.

Health and safety messages for Munsieville

Tim and Candy from GSK shifted this week from being part of the crèche/shack safety team to the assigned objective of focus on the health and safety of the staff and stakeholders of The Thoughtful Path. First, we spent time observing and listening to understand key issues and challenges. Next, we met with Paul Brooks, Director of The Thoughtful Path, and Betty Nkoana, Project Manager, to discuss feedback about our key observations. We summarised recommendations for impacting the health of the TTP team and Tim delivered a coaching session to increase awareness of sustainable good health and resilience practices. Alyson Krucher, GSK Pulse Volunteer, held a leadership training workshop attended by Leadership Academy candidates, House of Young Ambassadors and other TTP stakeholders. We prepared a presentation and delivered this as part of the leadership training agenda. We asked the leaders to be aware of their health practices as they influence the community. We’ll be working tomorrow with a large crèche on fire drill training. Barbara and Mary went to The Victim & Empowerment Center this morning, which is housed in the Police Office. This is a community resource for children and adults who have suffered abuse. Barbara and Mary shared immediate feedback and observations with the staff and reinforced the connection with the Children’s Embassy, which will function as a safe environment where children can come for support for any issues. We all came back from the day's activities to a big storm of lightning and rain which took out the power (and internet access for Thurs night and Friday morning), so we ended the day with a candlelight dinner with the great team of people who run the Sterkfontein Heritage Lodge where we are staying.

Paraffin safety in Munsieville homes

Last week, the GSK Health and Safety Team spent the day visiting the section of Munsieville referred to as "The Shacks", an area of immense poverty. The team focused on Health and Safety issues, particularly around the use of paraffin. At least 90% of the shack housing in South Africa uses paraffin for energy/cooking and its misuse causes over 2,500 deaths each year. Many of the mothers that we spoke to said they had experienced shack fires due to paraffin. In addition several had children who had suffered paraffin poisoning through ingestion, as the plastic bottles containing paraffin are stored on the ground where they can be reached by toddlers.
During the visits the Team provided on advice on fire safety and first aid, as many had a real lack of awareness of the hazards of paraffin. The aim is that this will help mitigate the alarming number of children that are harmed every year by ingesting paraffin and also those who sustain burns through accidents.
We have developed a poster outlining key paraffin safety and first aid messages. These posters will be available to all the creches and homes in Munsieville, through the Children's Embassy. We have also drafted a paraffin safety education leaflet for use by the key stakeholders (The Thoughtful Path's local volunteers) who will be sustaining this initiative when we depart, with input from Joe from the Paraffin Safety Association. The plan is that in the medium term Joe will liaise with The Thoughtful Path and external bodies to source bottles with proper safety caps that can be used solely for the purchase and storage of paraffin.
Check back soon for further updates from The Thoughtful Path's work in Munsieville!

GSK Health & Safety team in action at Munsieville clinic

Today the clinical members of the GSK team had a very productive day, when we each had the opportunity to spend the morning with a nurse in the clinic in Munsieville. The clinic was very crowded and we estimate about 200 patients are seen per day. Between 9:00 and 12:30 we saw 30-40 patients in each area - child immunisations, TB/HIV/family planning, primary care and chronic disease management. The clinic opens around 8:00 and the patients begin lining up outside to be seen around 6:30 am. There is no doctor present on Wednesdays and the professional nurses (who have 4 years training) function in a very similar way to nurse practitioners in the UK. They take a detailed history, do a focused exam, diagnose, and dispense medications according to national guidelines. We were very impressed by their knowledge, dedication, and abilities. There is clearly a lack of space and resources. They have little time to spend with each patient, but do a great job with what they have. We identified some areas for improvement, for example in efficient use of administrative staff and nursing assistants, infection control, and health promotion/patient education. We are excited about the relationships we formed today and look forward to learning from the nurses we met, as well as hopefully making some useful suggestions.
Check back soon for more updates from our visit to South Africa.

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!"