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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.
Posted by Claire Bristow and Sarah Whitney, Global Development Fellows
Today a loved committee member passed away. Lizzie had a smile that could brighten anyone’s day. Her laugh was infectious. Lizzie died of TB while staying in a hospital 45 minutes away in Acornhoek. She had been in the hospital for over a month when it happened. She was so strong and so alive just a few months ago. She has young children that will now grow up without her.
We got to know Lizzie when she shared some brilliant thoughts with us about what she wanted to see in her community. She was looking forward to the business opportunities that the community hall would bring. As one of our most dedicated and involved committee members, Lizzie brought such valuable ideas to our meetings and played such an important part in making the community hall possible.
Posted by Sarah Whitney and Claire Bristow, Global Development Fellows
As construction on the Uta Community Center comes to an end, the Project Steering Committee has been working diligently to ensure that not only will the physical structure be functional and the programs empowering for the community, but also that the building and the land will be a beautiful addition to the landscape of the village. The committee has been debating paint colors at recent meetings and looks forward to working with members of the community, especially youth, to create murals on many of the walls of the center. Over the past few weeks, we have been working with members of the committee to begin clearing the land on which the hall is built. Hoeing and raking weeds in the afternoon sun is not an easy task, but the group is committed to creating a beautiful, clean space in which to plant flowers, design pathways, and highlight the new building in their community. Today, the leaders of the Uta community are holding a meeting to invite all members of the community to help in beautifying the new center. They are asking people to volunteer their time to clean the land, plant flowers, and prepare the center for its opening. This work will all culminate in a celebration in June to welcome all residents of Uta to the new community center, honor the work of the Project Steering Committee, introducing new community programs that will fill the building, and enjoy a day of food, music, and fun. We can’t wait to update you with more pictures of construction and look forward to writing about the opening celebration at the community center in June!
Shangaan word of the day – sasekile – beautiful
Here is our latest photo of the Community Center!
Take a look at the latest photos of the Community and Business Development Center in Uta, South Africa. They broke ground in late December and now the center is well on the way!
Posted by Sarah Whitney and Claire Bristow, Fellows
There are walls!
Construction is moving along. The community hall has walls, and we are thrilled. We even spent the afternoon sitting inside the new building just getting used to it!
Azaph Sithole is the senior member of our committee. He is an Elder and therefore is well respected by the community. The group of Elders in Uta work to help the local traditional leadership to guide the community. He has worked his life to support his 14 children, all of whom have successes that their father can brag about. He has a reputation across Uta of being able to provide excellent life advice, some of which we’ve had the opportunity to witness. As an Elder, Azaph has helped us bridge the gap between traditional leadership and Uta’s future leaders. When the planning committee needed to secure permission-to-occupy from the local chief for the land, his role allowed him to help the group navigate this system and made that process possible.
Azaph announced at our last committee meeting that he would take it upon himself to survey the building site at 5am Friday morning in order to begin construction on the community hall fence. Azaph has been getting price quotes for fence materials from local hardware stores.
The original and most basic purposes of the community hall are to hold meetings and facilitate pension distribution. Azaph is an example of a member of the community who collects pension from the government but is currently is unable to do so in a comfortable environment where he and others can be protected from sun or rain. The government will be able to use the community hall as a pension site so that mothers and the elderly will be able to collect every month in a secure location. Azaph’s leadership in the community and in the planning committee is a blessing and his commitment to the project has been an inspiration to the rest of the committee as well as to us.
Posted by Claire Bristow and Sarah Whitney, Fellows
We began our Fellowship by conducting community interviews throughout June and July 2009 with our youth partner, Forget Sithole. By reacquainting ourselves with the community and collecting information regarding the need for a safe and open space in Uta, we were able to base the development of the community centre entirely around local interests.
Conducting personal interviews with about 200 community members, we collected information for the
development of the project and identified interested community members to begin the formation of a project committee. It was vital to develop a committee that represented the whole community: men and women, youth and elders, empowered and marginalized. Approved at a community meeting on 23 July by the Community Development Forum (local political body) and the Induna (traditional headman), the Uta Community Centre Project Steering Committee (PSC) was finalized as a group of thirteen members dedicated to the development of the project.
The PSC voted on positions within the group and began to develop their vision of the community hall based on the data gathered in the interviews. Committee members visited community centres around the Manyeleti region to gain insight into the successes and challenges of similar initiatives. The PSC prepared a report for the Induna and the CDF detailing their plans for approval. The CDF and the Induna have agreed upon the location, size, and purpose of the building. The rights to the land are being secured through the Amashangana Tribal Authority.
For construction, the Project Steering Committee has chosen to work with a contractor from the area based on his experience in the community. The PSC is organising the purchase of materials available locally and the contractor has hired labour in coordination with local leaders. Seven of eight builders hired for construction are members of the Uta community, generating local income and a better sense of pride and ownership.
The planning and development of the community centre has been defined by the Project Steering Committee’s dedication to the needs and desires of the community. We have completed capacity-inventory and asset-mapping activities with the committee members based on the Asset-Based Community Development model. We want to ensure that the work we do is facilitating sustainable change in the community, rather than simply placing a band-aid on poverty.
The Uta Community Centre is not solely a physical resource, but a starting point for the growth and development of community programs in health, education, entrepreneurship, and empowerment. The Project Steering Committee has taken this vision and expanded upon it. As a group, they have based the plans for the community centre on the desire for space for community meetings, business and computer training, health and fitness education, gardening and feeding-schemes for poverty reduction, and drama and cultural performances. Committee members have begun to shape these ideas into plans for community groups and initiative to be incorporated into the centre once construction is completed. Some of their stories are described below.
Construction of the community centre began on 2 December. Currently, the foundation has been dug and cement is being poured. After the holidays, the brickwork will begin and the centre should be completed within four months. The centre will feature a large hall for community meetings, with a stage for group performances. Incorporated into the centre will be four smaller rooms: a business development facility, a space for health and fitness initiatives, a storeroom, and a kitchen. The stand on which the centre is being built encompasses space for a large community garden and the land will be enclosed with fencing. There are toilet facilities in place and the Project Steering Committee is researching options for a water source. All of these features will ensure that the centre is a safe and open space for the entire community. Each aspect of the centre will be utilised by different groups within the community, led by members of the Project Steering Committee and other local leaders.
Posted by Sarah Whitney and Claire Bristow, Fellows
A rainy week in South Africa provided a much needed break from the heat of summer and a comfortable atmosphere for Think Impact’s Global Development Ambassadors to visit the Uta community and learn more about ongoing Fellowship projects. Members of the Project Steering Committee, who are working tirelessly on the planning and development of the Uta Community Center, were excited to meet with the visiting Americans and tell them all about what has been going on for the past five months. Angie Mabuza, the PSC Chairperson, showed the group the building blueprints, gave them a tour of the location, and answered questions about the future of the community center in Uta. The GDAs were fortunate to hear Angie’s story and her vision for the project.
Angie is a vital part of her community—a natural born leader and a strong believer in the potential for growth in Uta. With two daughters herself, she is an advocate for youth in the community, and in an area where women aren’t always given a voice, she is heard.
Angie sees opportunity for students to form performance groups and use their time and talent to entertain their peers and share their ideas. She
envisions women with small businesses selling their goods at these events, generating profit that will both uplift their families and to feed back into the center. Angie is committed to this project because she knows it will help her community. For the first time, Uta is going to have a physical resource for community meetings, government services, a place to host social and cultural events and a facility for health education and business programs. She sees that this will change everything, that a new building can help spark ideas for new groups and community entrepreneurship.
Currently the community center project is in the final stages of planning. Contracts have been drawn up, the community is ready to get the building moving. While these things have been going on, we have been working to identify assets in the community so that once the building is up, there are already programs running to use the center. With all of the great ideas that Angie and the other committee members have for the potential of the center, there is a lot to look forward to!
