BigThink » South Africa GDI

ThinkImpact Supporter’s Guide

Saul Garlick — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 20:32:15 +0000

Check it out! It gives a tour through our comprehensive program of creating social businesses in rural Kenya and South Africa.

ThinkImpact Supporters Guide

Filed under: From the Office, Kenya GDI, South Africa GDI

Hidden Moments of Beauty in SA Village

Saul Garlick — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 17:32:54 +0000

By Chelsea Coalwell

“I don’t want to be cliché and say that this summer was “life changing” but it was pretty extraordinary. I not only learned what poverty is really like and the role of non-profits, I learned a lot about myself. I wouldn’t change this summer for the world. I strongly recommend that anyone interested in doing an internship think big and take a risk, because you never know where you might end up.” Read the whole article by Chelsea on her ThinkImpact experience

Filed under: Buffelshoek Trust, From the Office, South Africa GDI

Update on South Africa GDIs and the Village Cup

sarahsaleeb — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:18:17 +0000

Letter from Team Leader, Sarah Whitney, in South Africa:

The GDIs have been working especially hard over the past week, and we have seen great results. They are continuing their monitoring and evaluation of past ThinkImpact initiatives. The groups from Utah, Dixie, and Makrepeni have been evaluating the Samson Primary School and Shiviti Primary School libraries, the Utah Microfinance Initiative, the Mundzuku Scholarship Program, the Manyangana High School soccer field, and the Utah Community Center. Interns have been working closely with translators and community partners to find the value and impact of each project that ThinkImpact has played a part in over the past few years. This work is incredibly valuable to the organization and a excellent experience for those who hope to pursue international development and non-profit work in the future.

This week has also been filled with a lot of fun surrounding soccer and the World Cup. While South Africa and the USA are out of the tournament, the interns are still enjoying this exciting time for the country and the communities. On Wednesday, everyone traveled to Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit to watch Australia take on Serbia. On Saturday and Sunday, the interns put their leadership skills into practice as we partnered with FUNDaFIELD, a group of 8 American high school students, to host the 3rd Annual Village Cup. This year’s soccer tournament included twenty teams from around the region, and thanks to the interns hard work, hundreds of community members were able to enjoy the weekend’s fun. We were also lucky enough to have a visit at the tournament by Sidney Frankel, founder and CEO of the Buffelshoek Trust, and Deputy Chief of Mission Helen La Lime of the U.S. Embassy in South Africa. This weekend also saw a visit from Saul Garlick, executive director of ThinkImpact, who was able to get to know the interns and share his experiences with them.

It has been a busy week here in South Africa, and I am sure the weeks ahead will be filled with just as much fun, excitement, and hard work. We can’t wait to update you again soon.

Filed under: South Africa GDI

Global Development Interns Arrive in South Africa

utacommunitycenter — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:50:23 +0000

Posted by Sarah Whitney

It has been an exciting week so far in Manyeleti, South Africa! The Global Development Interns for ThinkImpact have arrived in Dixie, Makrepeni, and Uta. There are 12 interns this year and they will be living and working in the communities for eight weeks. The ThinkImpact staff has already recognized so much potential in this year’s South Africa GDIs in the short time since we began training in DC last week. The GDIs spent the day yesterday visiting all of ThinkImpact’s past initiatives in Manyeleti, including the high school soccer fields, primary school libraries, and community centers. Today the GDIs began using field work tools for asset-based community development (ABCD) to learn more about their communities and create a foundation for the work they will be doing over the next eight weeks. With the excitement over the World Cup reaching its peak in South Africa (only three days before the competition begins!) we are equally excited to see what the GDIs will accomplish this summer.

As the Uta Community Center nears completion, we are anticipating an exciting opening celebration and great chance for the Uta GDIs to get involved. As soon as electricity is installed, the community will be able to watch the World Cup games at the center. This will provide a safe space for fun for the whole community and a great start for the revenue-generating activity and small business involvement at the center. Women will be able to sell snacks, drinks, and other goods at the games and community members will pay a small fee for entrance. The GDIs will be completing monitoring and evaluation assessments of the community center over the next month to determine the “social return on investment” of this ThinkImpact fellowship initiative. The GDIs will also have a chance to attend the opening of the center and will be able to see the development of community programs over the next two months. This will be a great resource for the GDIs to get a first-hand experience of the successes and challenges that come with pursuing a fellowship as they complete their internship field work and begin to develop a sense of where they wish to go next. We are excited to see the advocacy projects and fellowship proposals for social businesses that come out of this year’s GDI in South Africa, and will be updating you soon on all that’s going on Dixie, Makrepeni, and Uta.

Filed under: South Africa GDI, Uncategorized, Uta Community Center

Announcing 2010 South Africa GDIs

Saul Garlick — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 20:33:59 +0000

We are proud to announce the 12 students from around the nation that have been selected to go to South Africa this summer as Global Development Interns. Here is a little information, so you can get to know them!

1. Clara Brodie is a student at Wellesley College

“I’m really excited about the prospect of seeing another part of the world and learning about healthy, sustainable growth. I think that resource based assessment is a unique and innovative approach to the challenges of the developing world.”

2. Tyler Confrey-Maloney is a student at North Carolina State University

“I am excited to pursue a deeper understanding of how a community can grow in both environmentally and economically sustainable ways. I love to travel and cannot wait to see a new part of the world! I also have a very serious interest in photography and was excited to learn about the photojournalism advocacy path.”

3. Paolo Singer is a student at Harvard University

“I’m excited to do health and education work this summer with Think Impact. I am especially interested in the role of social enterprise and government policy in helping achieve human security in the Manyeleti communities and beyond.”

4. Connor Gillivan is a student at Quinnipiac University

“I am looking forward to this summer and my experience in South Africa with Think Impact because it will be my first opportunity to live and understand another culture. I’m seeking to grow as a person in both mind and heart this summer so that I can help the people I create relationships with in South Africa as well as relay my newfound knowledge and passions to those I return home to.”

5. Justina Towns is a student at Towson University

“I hope to gain hands-on experience that will foster agency in the community we will be working with and also connect with other students who are interested in international development.”

6. Tim Skaggs is a student at Indiana University-Bloomington

“I’m so pumped about going because I can change lives and a community. The change will be long lasting and will grow with the community.”

7. Jimmy Pappadeas is a student at University of Maryland

“I am excited to see first-hand what it takes to be a part of development in another country including both the approach and actual implementation of projects and ideas to help a community. Learning methods that have already been used with success will help me better understand how to effectively tackle the pressing issues people face every day.”

8. Chelsea Coalwell is a student at Regis University

“In the Jesuit tradition of “men and women in the service of others” I look to serve not only those in my immediate community but also those in the global community. This internship is a way to serve others while learning more about the challenges of global development which stand in the way of alleviating poverty for so many.”

9. Will Smith is a student at Georgetown University

“Having been lucky enough to spend four months in South Africa already, I’m very excited to head back. I’m also looking to begin a career in international development, so I’m very much looking forward to the opportunity to experience a development project on the ground.”

10. Kate Loose is a student at Cornell University

“I am looking forward to an exciting summer where I will be able to gain development experience and get to know and build relationships with people in Africa. I am excited to learn more about sustainable business models and deepen my knowledge of development projects and microfinance in particular.”

11. Olive Nwosu is a student at Oberlin College

“I am excited about this trip because I look forward to working closely with an organization and community committed to fighting poverty through hands-on, intensive and sustainable business ideas. I
am also particularly enthusiastic to meet college students who share the similar ideas and goal as I do.”

12. Christina Williams is a student at Catholic University Columbus School of Law

(Next week we will publish the 2010 Kenya GDIs)

Filed under: From the Office, South Africa GDI

Condoms for all in Manyeleti

Saul Garlick — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:31:45 +0000

Posted by Saul Garlick, Executive Director

In 2007, SMRC hosted its first Global Development Internship. After the life changing and deeply rewarding summer of working with youth in Manyeleti, South Africa, the US students that had joined us had made close friendships across the globe. Among the biggest issues that the GDIs (then known as American Participating Students or “AMPS”) were exposed to and discussed at length was the rapidly spreading HIV/AIDS issues.

When we returned from South Africa that August, we saw a headline for a condom recall in the region where we had been working and continue to work. The recall stated that “Choice Brand” condoms were faulty. The idea of faulty condoms in a high-risk HIV/AIDS region looked like a human rights violation – and we were all devastated. As a response, SMRC sent around a petition for condoms to be donated from quality companies to the community.

This year the condom issue has taken a different, much more promising direction. This summer GDI Trae Watson and the Buffelshoek Trust organized for 60,000 condoms to be donated per month to the community in the effort to combat HIV/AIDS. We are grateful to him and Jasper Watson for their hard work. What an achievement for health!!!

Posted in Buffelshoek Trust, From the Office, Saul Says..., South Africa GDI

Makrepeni GDI-Halfway Point!

Saul Garlick — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:20:26 +0000

We are halfway done with the internship and time has really just flown by! We have all been finishing up our “Monitoring and Evaluating” reports about the past SMRC projects in Makrepeni. For these reports we have looked at the Communtity Center/Creche, Samson Primary School Library, and Samson Primary School Computer Lab and through observation and interviews we have determined whether they have met their original goals. Unfortunately, progress has been slow and many of the improvements from last year have fallen apart. We are spending the next three weeks on our own small projects to once again improve these places. Camps are over now; the kids had a blast at field day and hopefully learned a lot during our education classes. Another main focus of the next few weeks is the planning of the Soccer for Real Change Soccer Tournament 2009. We have been organizing the soccer tournament/health day for August 1st at in Utha. We are trying to get some big name sponsors for food and water and money to buy other resources like soccer balls and jerseys. It should be a very fun and exciting day filled with sports and education, raising awareness about HIV/AIDS and getting tested. We have done a few things for fun in the past weeks. A group of twelve went to the Djuma Game Reserve last Tuesday for one night and the remaining people go this Tuesday. The first group had a great time on safari, taking showers, and eating great food! Our retreat to Hazyview has been rescheduled for next week and we are all looking forward to that as well. On Saturday we threw a big braai (barbeque) for all the interns and stuffed ourselves with beef and Boer worst…mmm! It is hard to believe there is less than a month left, but we are having a great time and learning a lot!

Posted in South Africa GDI

Groups focus on goals for final weeks

Saul Garlick — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:50:30 +0000

Interns have now decided on fellow and non-fellow tracks within the GDI program. Non-fellow projects within Makrepeni range from tidying up the library at Samson, adding new mice to the computers in Samson, minor fixes to rainwater project at Makrepeni community center, clean-up of office area in community center, trash pick up and creating a check out system in the library at Samson to encourage more use.

Posted in South Africa GDI

Week One-Makrepeni

Saul Garlick — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:45:29 +0000

Hello Everybody! So we have been living in Makrepeni for a week and a half now and have had a number of exciting, fun, and interesting experiences. The six of us arrived to the village on Saturday afternoon and got settled into our homestays. Callen, Kevin, and Kelvin are living in the old house of one of the teacher in the community, Depa, who has been extremely friendly and helpful in assisting us in our transition. Jessica and Kate are living with Depa’s sister and her family, two teenagers and three children, right down the road. We have spent a lot of time with Depa’s nephew Tumelo and his friends, who are all in grade 12, speak very good English, and will act as our translators and resources in the community for the next several weeks. We have been getting to know the community over the past week, learning how to live as villagers and perform the daily tasks. We learned how to fetch water, wash clothes, and take bucket showers on the first few days here, all of which were a totally different experience than anything we are used to. Perhaps the most entertaining and strange experience we have had so far is killing a chicken. With the help of Depa’s sister Elsie and a few local children, we caught the chicken, Kevin and Michael killed it, and then we plucked and cooked it. Yesterday we learned how to pound corn to make mealie-pap, the porridge-like staple of the local diet, using a giant mortar and pestle. This task proved to be extremely difficult and strenuous, deepening our respect for the local women and their strength. All of us have discovered this week how truly out of shape we are with all of the walking, carrying heavy things, and most of all, playing soccer. The local boys play soccer daily and all of us are attempting to learn how, Micheal being the most talented and the rest of us getting laughed at. Our group has spent most of the rest of our time talking to members of the community and determining the resources available for possible projects. On Monday we toured all of SMRC’s past projects to get ideas for improvements and new initiatives in the villages. We have attended a few training sessions and talked about our ideas and are very excited to start working in the community. Next week and the following week we will be running a day camp for the local children, who are out of school for winter break. Everyone is very excited to work with the children and all of the locals have showed nothing but gratitude for our presence here in Makrepeni. We will keep you updated as often as possible and when the internet will allow.

Posted in South Africa GDI

Doris Mashego – friend and inspiration featured

Saul Garlick — Sun, 10 May 2009 18:07:28 +0000

Posted by Saul Garlick, Executive Director

OneWorld.net selected the inspiring work of community leader and great friend of SMRC as the subject of a story on early childhood education. Doris is a special woman because she has the ideas and persistence to turn difficult situations into powerful success stories. Read the story published by OneWorld here: http://www.euronews24.org/world/mother-to-a-community-oneworld-net/

Posted in Saul Says..., South Africa GDI