Health and safety training for creche teachers in Munsieville

On Thursday 19th January the teachers of the crèches who are in the training programme of Project Hope UK in partnership with Safe and Sound Learning Association, gathered at the Embassy for a meeting with Safe and Sound Learning Association, Betty Nkoana and Carola Michielsen of Project Hope UK and the Teddy Bear Clinic. The purpose of the meeting was to share the report with recommendations of the GlaxoSmithKline Health & Safety volunteers that assessed crèche facilities at the end of last year and to discuss what the teachers could change to make their facilities a healthier and safer place for children. For Safe and Sound Learning Association this was a great opportunity to see whether the teachers had already implemented what they have learned during the training and to reinforce the recommendations. The Teddy Bear Clinic was invited by Project Hope UK to tell the teachers something about their organisation and to give a first short training session about how to recognise whether a child has been sexually abused by observing odd behaviour. This was highly appreciated by the teachers since this subject has been touched upon in their training but they indicated they would like to have more in-depth training. Teddy Bear Clinic indicated that they are willing to organise a full day training of the teachers around this subject.
We discussed all findings and agreed on things to improve the coming weeks. All teachers will place the emergency contact numbers on the walls of their crèches, all teachers received posters on hand washing and other hygiene advice to display in the crèches as well as the poster of the Paraffin Safety Organisation. They will set up a communication network to share best practices and learn from each other. In March of this year Project Hope UK, Safe and Sound Learning Association and partners will organise a training day to practice Fire Evacuation Strategy and First Aid procedures with all the teachers. The teachers of the crèches that were assessed by the GSK team all received their individual report in order to see what they can improve in the coming weeks in their crèches, to help provide the best possible start in life for the young children of Munsieville.

2012 will be a great year for Munsieville

Pual Brooks, Project HOPE UK's Executive Director, looks back over the achievements of The Thoughtful Path: Munsieville in 2011, and the outlook for 2012:
"As I look back over 2011, there is so much that I want to thank you for, because you have been so important in helping to make this a breakthrough year for the people of Munsieville! I have the privilege of daily exposure to the momentum that is being built in the township as together we move closer to the dream of seeing thousands of children given the opportunity to turn their back on poor health, low life expectancy, poverty, abuse and lack of opportunity, so I want to send you a strong message from those children to assure you of their gratitude and recognition of the vital part you have played in planting hope in their hearts – a hope that inspires action.
Over the past year, children have been rescued from serious abuse and others mobilised in the battle to eradicate abuse that hides under a cloak of cultural acceptance; hundreds of children have learned how to adopt simple habits to make them healthier; shack homes where children live are being made safer; health services are being made more accessible, especially to children marginalised by stigma and prejudice; pre-school workers have received professional training in Early Childhood Development and are transforming the lives of hundreds of children; caregivers are turning waste ground into vegetable gardens; women have started a cooperative to make the bricks to rebuild their community; scores of community members have come forward to deliver better services to children; young people have found a voice through our Journalism Academy; emerging leaders have enrolled in the Thoughtful Path: Munsieville Leadership Academy; and, last month, the Children’s Embassy – a place of safety to champion the cause of children in Munsieville – was officially opened by our new House of Young Ambassadors.
2012 will be even more significant! Launch of a 24-hour service for children in crisis; creation of a full-time health promotion unit; creative new after-school care clubs; expansion of enterprise initiatives to inspire others to create the incomes needed to care for vulnerable children; child health services offered by the Children’s Embassy …. A year of ‘M&Ms’ – Mass Mobilisation, Measurement, Monitoring and Momentum!
Thank you for your steadfast support, encouragement and commitment – you are part of a Miracle in Munsieville."
Happy New Year!
Paul

More facilities for Munsieville creches

This story was written by Palesa Morakile, one of students at The Thoughtful Path's Young Journalists Academy, who looks set for a career in news reporting!
Glaxosmithkline health and safety group in collaboration with the Project Hope UK visits the Mayibuye crèches in Munsieville area, several assessments were conducted to check the safety conditions and health precautions that are followed in the pre-schools, Gladness Kgwadibe a teacher from Mpumelelo day care centre states “ the crèche has thirty kids and I take care of all them, my boss owns the crèche and she’s the one who does most of the things like attending different workshops and then she comes back to inform me about what should happen basically she trains me from what she learns in the workshops”. The pre-school has been operating for over five years and it is well established up to this far, the group discovered that although it is well established there’s still a very limited space for the kids and there are not enough facilities and study materials. It still isn’t a set back because they have a well fixed healthy routine for their daily meals and the kids are well taught. The size stretches up to two classes to fit the thirty kids, there’s also a kitchen with only one cooker Cindy Mathonsi “ I manage the cooking and I have a written out menu for the daily meals, I make sure the kids wash their hands every often” she mentions.
Two blocks away from the crèches there’s another day care centre which the group also paid a visit to it has a number of approximately twenty two children, Tswelopele Day care centre caters for children from the age of 1 year up to the age of six years with a number of three staff members who help out. Ms Maselele the owner of the Tswelopele day care says “ It’s unfortunate that my staff members are not qualified but I’m encouraging them to get the proper qualification so that they can become much better I believe so much in them”. She unveiled that the crèche receives health inspection from the government twice a year. It’s a well thought out construction which has signage boards everywhere for the kids to recognize their way around the centre. A daily activity programme to guide them throughout the day which includes toilet routine, washing hands regularly and rest times those are preplanned routine activities that seem to work out for the staff members from Tswelopele. The Glaxosmithkline team together with The Thoughtful Path hope to assist each other through a newly built children’s embassy which is a centre that has a huge interest in the kids of Munsieville who are vulnerable, disadvantaged, active and eager to learn to make a difference in their lives and the lives of others through the guidance from UK support group and members of the community.
Thanks for reading!

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.