Retreat day for Tsibogang

After a long winter with lots of frost and cold wind, Spring is slowly taking over. The first green leaves are visible and in the garden the first roses are coming out. Winter here in South Africa is really tough because there are no heating systems inside the houses. Some people seem to hibernate during this season of winter, they are hiding in their blankets.

Surprisingly, however, it was that at the end of July we went out for a retreat day with 22 people from Tsibogang. We drove to a game park nearby(to Zeerust) leaving behind our families, work and our communities.

 After the four retreat days, there is already a ritual, how the retreat day starts. The first night we were sitting in a circle and Wolfgang Hermann introduced us to a text of Exodus 33, where it is said of Moses, He talked to God as one would talk with his friend. That was an impressive image. All were invited to write a letter to God, as if writing to your best friend telling her/him what is going on in your life.

Most participants had already been to a retreat day before. Those who had come for the first time, shared their expectations : "At home there is always something going on, it's always noisy and loud." "I need time alone with God, without anyone bothering me." "In everyday life, my prayer consists mostly of petitions and requests, now I want to listen to God."

This is most amazing that so many had this longing to have time with God alone.

The next day there was silence after an introduction about ‘Love God with all your heart, mind and soul and Love your neighbour as you love yourself.” The focus was to look into one’s life where the relationship with God needs more space and time and to find balance in serving others.

All participants looked for a quiet space in the garden and a spot in the sun because it was still very cold. Unfortunately, the silence was disturbed by a group of young people, who had come for a drama workshop.

Sharing with others was very important

 In the two groups where we shared our insights, it was striking that so many family problems came up. Also problems among the employees in Tsibogang were shared. The good thing about the sharing was that everyone could listen without giving advices. At the end we had a prayer fellowship.

The sun was up and it was getting warmer; this was the time for sports: volleyball and skipping rope. The Tswana children dance, sing and skip at the same time. This is absolutely fascinating: Two skip the rope and the others jump in while singing and dancing. There was much laughter because the older ladies also joined.

Skipping and playing volleyball

 In the feed back round we heard from two what they had experienced: a young woman told us that she had realized that she just could not accept her brother and the word:’ Love your neighbour' hit her in the heart,she goes home with a new insight to see her brother with eyes of God. Another one shared with us: “For the first time in years, someone told me: You've done well! This has built me up I will look at my family from a different perspective. My life has changed through these few hours of the retreat."

Workshop on tuberculosis for home care givers

35 of our Tlamelang Home Care Givers gathered from 06.07. to 11.07.2014 at the Guest Farm outside Mafikeng for their annual workshop in order to get an update on the management of chronic diseases. They had to brave the icy cold weather conditions in a hall without air conditioner and heaters.

Again Tuberculosis (TB) was one of the main topics. The Department of Health has published new guidelines for this disease this year. The incidence has risen from approximately 200,000 new cases in 1995 to more than 500,000 new cases in 2012. The underlying reason for this increase is the advancing AIDS epidemic because those living with HIV have a weakened immune system and are therefore much more susceptible for Tuberculosis.

Home care givers during a group assignment

 Our home care givers can play an important roll in the fight against Tuberculosis. They can contribute to the early recognition of infectious patients, e.g. by doing a thourough screening for all close contacts of a TB Patient who are living with him/her in the same house hold. The prophylactic treatment with Isoniazid of all children under five years who stay together with a smear positive TB patient prevents many new infections. 

An even greater challenge than case finding is to encourage the patients to remain on treatment for at least six months in order to get cured. Wrong perceptions of the disease, ignorance, alcohol abuse and side effects of the TB drugs are important factors that lead to defaulting the treatment. This does not only lead to the flaring up of the infection and to infecting other people but may even result in the threatening development of resistant strains against the standard treatment( Multi Drug Resistance -MDR).

Undine Rauter shows how to do exercises with patients who have a hemiparesis after a stroke

 The greatest challenge for our home care givers is whether they succeed in convincing the patient that the infection with Tuberculosis may go together with HIV Infection. Seven of ten patients who suffer from Tuberculosis are HIV positive. A HIV test is therefore mandatory. According to the new guidelines all patients suffering from TB have to start with livelong Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) within weeks after the initiation of TB Treatment. 

Beside these two long term priorities HIV and TB many other topics were discussed during the workshop. Among them was the input from Undine Rauter and her team from Gelukspan how to do exercises with patients who have a hemiparesis after a stroke.

Traditional "braaivleis" at the last evening of the workshop

"A great honour and challenge"

The month of June is celebrated in South Africa as youth month because of the 16th of June 1976, when the youth of Soweto went on the streets protesting against a policy which the Apartheid government had introduced: Afrikaans, the language of the white oppressor, would become the medium of instruction in all schools. The youth mobilized to publically protest against this and tried to hold a meeting in Orlando Stadium. On their way to the stadium, the young people met tanks, army and police who shot them, many lost their lives. This event started a movement in which many young people went into hiding, they joined the ANC and other critical voices to fight the Apartheid government.

On the occasion of youth month Christel Hermann interviews Thato Mokgothu. He ist 29 years old, peer educator in Tsibogang and lives in Mafikeng. He tells us about his life and the situation of young people in South Africa.

Last week we celebrated 16 June, the uprising of the youth in Soweto. What is the significance of this day for you? 
June 16 is important for me because it was the first time when Blacks expressed themselves against the Apartheid government. They did that in a violent way which I do not like but what I like is that they had a spirit of fighting together for their rights.

What are the most burning issues of young people today after 29 years of democracy in South Africa?
Unemployment and drug abuse are most burning issues today. It goes like a vicious cycle: young people are frustrated because they have little to hope for when it comes to future employment and they start using drug (alcohol and later on harder drugs). This leads to a lack of self control. Teenage pregnancies follow or they start stealing to get the drugs. This is also one of the topics we tackle in our Tshepanang lessons.

When did you join Tshepanang/Tsibogang and what motivated you to become a peer educator?
I joined Tshepanang in 2010 after I had done a course with Life Line and was employed as a counsellor. I was attracted to Tshepanang because I felt it to be a challenge for me to teach younger people at school. I had the vision that through teaching I could reach the community

What are the best, what are the worst moments of a peer educator?
When I was 15, I had a brain tumour which was operated. After that I had to learn speaking again and until now it is a problem. Sometimes I am stammering. So this is a problem when teaching learners at school. In the beginning they were laughing about me. But after I have told them my story, they respect me and they even come to me for counselling and advice. I have realized that there is a great need for counselling at schools. So many children have serious problems and they would not go to teachers - we as peer educators are approached. For me that is a great honour and challenge to be open to them and help them.

Montessori for a blind child

In one of our preschools, in Godisang, we have a five year old blind boy, his name is Kaone Mathiba. In 2012 it was discovered that he had cancer on both of his eyes and therefore he was operated on twice in 2013. His other senses are very well developed and he has a very good memory.

Last year I have started working with him using the Montessori material which we have. We really became friends, I visited him at home and got to learn more about his family. He has three older brothers. His father has a piece job in a masonry factory , he is not able to read and write. Kaones’s mother accompanied him last year to the hospital many times. Often they had to stay there for a week when he was given chemotherapy. Towards the end of the year a new baby was born, the younger brother to Kaone.

 In the beginning of 2014 I tried to convince Kaone to go back to his preschool in Rebaone, but he told me that he would not like to go.” Why?”, I asked him.” Because it’s too noisy there”, was his reply. Then I started to convince him how important it would be for him to go on learning and when I promised him that I would find a preschool with less noise he was willing to go back. So he landed up in Godisang where there is a smaller number of children.

He enjoys being there, his favorite toys are building with Lego. We from Tsibogang help the family to pay for the taxi which picks him up every day. We have purchased tactile books for him which help him to develop his tactile sense.They contain buttons, flowers in some you can even smell the scent of a flower or they contain small bells which ring. Kaone is very proud that he is the only one to use these books.

The biggest problem which still lies ahead to convince this father that Kaone has to go to a school for the blind. His father thinks that it is not necessary for Kaone to go to school. I guess he is also afraid that the disability grant which Kaone gets from the government might be finished when he goes to school. Kaone wants to learn to walk with a cane for the blind but it is very difficult to find somebody to train him in that. But he is so determined to learn that in the long run we will manage even that.

How to communicate nonviolently in a violent society

On 20.-22.03.2014, 42 peer eduators from our Action Group Tshepanang gathered for their traditional workshop at the Guest Farm outside Mahikeng. The main topic for this workshop was "Nonviolent Communication" according to the famous book written by Marshall Rosenberg.

The South African Society is often referred to as a violent society. On a daily basis we hear of violent service delivery protests in the townships and of strikes that turn violent as well as of various forms of domestic violence. Even in the schools incidents of violence have increased sharply.

The peer educators were aware that in most cases the physical violent is preceded by a break down in the communication. That’s why they listened with great interest to the basic elements of non-violent communication: Observation without evaluation, becoming aware and expressing our feelings and accepting responsibility for our feelings.

During the exercises in small groups we realized how used we are to speak by using generalizations that always contain an element of judgment. It also became clear to us how often we make only the others responsible for our feelings without acknowledging that our feeling are often rooted in our own unmet needs.

It was wonderful that even at this workshop there was time for a celebration. The seven new members who had survived their first three month of teaching in schools received their Golf Shirts with the Tshepanang Logo and those Peer Educators who excelled in their teaching were awarded presents. The highlight of the night was the celebration of the Diploma in Adult Education and Training that had been awarded to Thelma Monageng. She has been the fourth member of Tshepanang who has managed to receive a diploma. In her highly emotional thanksgiving speech she said: "What I am today I am through Tshepanang. I will never abandon to work for Tshepanang until I die". 

Tsibogang in numbers

The impact of the work of Tsibogang Christian Action Group can be expressed also in numbers. The statistics of the current financial year are quite remarkable: 

• The project for orphans and vulnerable children (Godisang) reached almost 1500 orphans and vulnerable children through home visits. The two Early Learning Centres cared for 93 children and the five After School Programs for 335 orphans and vulnerable children. More than 70000 warm meals were given out in these centres. In addition several children could be supplied with food parcels and school uniforms.

• In the AIDS prevention project in schools (Tshepanang) 39 peer educators were teaching in 20 schools for almost 7000 hours. More than 4000 learners were reached by the progra.
• In the Home Based Care Project (Tlamelang) 62 home care givers visited 533 patients (weekly or biweekly). They distributed 120 food parcels every second month.
  
  

• In the support groups for People Living with HIV/AIDS every fortnight 15 adults and 42 children come together in their respective groups. 

Strategic plans have been made for the new financial year. Coordinator Dr. Wolfgang Oratile Hermann writes: 

We need more food and more child care workers to cater for the growing number of orphans and vulnerable children in our After School Projects. To provide a meal per day and appropriate assistance for each child in the After School Projects we need around 160 Rand per month (corresponds roughly to 11.50 EUR).  

 

If you want to contribute to this program please use the account number that is displayed on the right column of this page (please indicate “Tsibogang” as the purpose of your donation).

At eye level with children

In the first week of January we had our counselling workshop for the home care givers . This workshop is in it’s tenth year now. The aim of it is to encourage our home care givers in the difficult work but it also serves to give reflect on the work they are doing and to get new ideas and inputs . This time we had the topic children, how to handle difficult child experiences in your own life. But we also had a wellness program with foot and neck massage and doing hair and nails which was fun and enjoyment for all.

For 1 ½ days we had visitors from Canada who taught us Godly Play,  a special way of telling biblical stories inspired by the Montessori way of education. We were sitting on the floor (that impressed our home care giver, that the two trainers form Canada, older than most of u,s did not mind sitting on the floor),  Andrew told us a parable using small figurines moving them around . It’s fascinating to be drawn into the parable and all listen very well. Thereafter he explains to us why it is done this way. It is very unusual for the participants : to respect the children, children are not empty vessels in which we pour our knowledge. Children are full of God, they have their own experiences with God and this needs a place in our teaching and sharing with them.

After the session some of the participants confessed: “ I have realized that it is wrong to look down on a child. I want to treat them differently from now on.” Some share with the group how her own child hood experiences have made their marks in their lives, when they were treated badly by adults. We finalize the workshop by forming a Godly Play committee that should prepare lessons and inputs for our Early Learning Centres and Afterschool programs.

Christel Hermann

Year end function of Tsibogang

On 07.12. 2013 - few days after World AIDS Day - the members of Tsibogang Christian Action Group assembled to commemorate all people who had died from AIDS and to express their solidarity with all who live with HIV. 102 members and 25 members of the support group for children with HIV “A Re Tshamekeng Bana” (Let us play, children) gathered at Tirisano Hall of St. Joseh’s Retreat Centre to celebrate this year end function of our organization. 
 

Some of the members had attended the funeral of our driver Pule Babupi before who had died on 02.02. following a short illness at the age of 70. Coordinator Dr. Wolfgang Hermann and Project Manager Paballo Loving had expressed their gratitude for his services to our organization. Tsibogang is yet to see the first year where none of its members dies.

The lively dance of the kids from “A Re Tshamekeng Bana” at the beginning of the function helped us to forget our grief. Then Nnusi Tsetse on behalf of Tlamelang, Kgomotso Mokgothu on behalf of Tshepanang and Jacob Mombe (not appearing on the picture) on behalf of Amogelang lit the candle of hope. They passed the light on to the candles of the members. 

 

Two slide shows helped us to see again the highlights of this year 2013. They revealed that we can be grateful for the many achievements of this year, especially for the founding of the new After School Program in Khunotswane.

There were words of encouragement from Tlamelang Chairperson Stephen Modise and a drama played by Tshepanang members and members of “A Re Tshamekeng Bana” that illustrated the plight of many vulnerable children in South Africa.

The key note address was delivered by Tebelelo Maseng who had been the treasurer of the Management Committee of Tsibogang Christian Action Group since its foundation. She used the four words of the name of the organisation to highlight again what our mission is. Tsibogang means “Be alert!”. This alertness that makes us aware about what is going on with our children and our people is needed badly even in future.

Towards the end all members were presented with a new golf shirt bearing the emblem of our organisation in order to thank them for their dedicated work this year. 

 

This year has seen marked improvements in the fight against HIV/AIDS in South Africa. They include the introduction of the Fixed Dose Combination. Patients with advanced disease need now to take only one tablet per day that contains all three components of antiretroviral treatment.

Following the recent death of Nelson Mandela we remembered that the development of our organisation where Whites and Blacks stand together is a fruit of his policy of reconciliation and that we are united with him especially in the concern for the future of the children in this country.

 

After School Festival 2013

There was no grass left on the soccer field of the small village of Shiela, 45 km south of Mafikeng. But the children who had assembled here on 23.11.2013 did not bother much about this and were quite content with the dusty playing ground where they conducted the tournament of all After School Centres of Tsibogang Christian Action Group.

The teams did not only come from the five established After School Centres (Godisang- meaning Bring up!- Rebaone –meaning we are His children- from two areas of Mafikeng , Emmanuel from Welbedacht, Reatlegile- meaning We have made it- from Khunotwane and the host Orearabetse – meaning He has answered us) but also from the informal After School Program in Extension 39 (another newly established sub-urb in Mafikeng) and the support group for children living with HIV A Re Tshamekeng Bana (meaning Let us play, children)

While the boys were busy with soccer, the girls from the same seven centres conducted a net ball tournament. The third sporting discipline of our After School Sports festival was volleyball with four teams trying to win the prestigious cup. 

The team from Rebaone won the gold medal in the soccer tournament.

In total 193 children took part in the games who were accompanied by 35 adults. As most of the kids were orphans and vulnerable children who usually do not enjoy outings, this day was very special for them and will remain in their memories for long.

When the games were over all children came together in a big tent where Boikhutso Choeu encouraged them to have children with HIV as their friends. 

After this each team was called to the front according to the position achieved and each child received a T-shirt bearing the Tsibogang Emblem and the message “Shaping the Leaders of Tomorrow” at the back.

In addition medals were given to the best three teams of each discipline and the winners received the cup that they proudly took home. A delicious meal closed this memorable day. 

By Wolfgang Hermann

Learning in Godisang according to Montessori

Many of the children in our preschools come from families where the children are not looked after well. Many of the children are raised by their grandmothers because their mothers died.

I am trying since last year to do regular visits in our two preschools and in the afternoon programms. I take Montessori material along and I present it to the children so that they can work on their own. What is most fascinating for the children: I'm not talking while I present the material. Montessori has discovered that children cannot listen and watch at the same time. So it is important to separate talking and doing. Each step has to be done slowly and gracefully. The children watch fascinated what I am doing, Sometimes the eager ones want to do it at once. But there is also a strict rule: The teacher has to finish first, then the child is allowed to start the exercise.

Last week I had an amazing experience : I took the Montessori anguage material to Godisang. To learn writing is for all children a big dream. In Montessori writing begins with feeling sandpaper letters with your fingertips printed on boards. I showed a four year boy. He ran his fingers over the sandpaper letters. The teacher pronounces the sound the letter makes when talking. I also had an object with me which showed the very same sound. After repeating the three letters several times, Botshelo (which means life) said: "Now I want to write" which was originally intended not so fast. But he was so determined that I gave him a pencil and he started writing. The two teachers in kindergarten were just flabbergasted and so was I. Botshelo had never written before.

For me it is fascinating to see how the 150 year old Montessori pedagogy "strikes" at the African situation. Teaching often means: The child has to repeat what the teacher has said, like a parrot. Montessori came to her theory by while working with among children in Rome who were completely neglected. Nobody cared about them because their parents were busy fighting for survival. Today we have a similar situation in our communities and families. With the exposure to the Montessori material I hope to give some children the joy of learning by discovering for themselves.

Written by Christel Hermann

New training workshop for Tshepanang

On 23.09. – 27.09. our Action Group Tshepanang (“Trust each other”) hosted another training workshop for peer educators at the Guest Farm near Rooiground outside Mahikeng. It was the 14^th workshop of this kind.

The 45 participants (10 new and 35 experienced Peer Educators) were introduced to a set of new lessons for the students in grade 6 and 7 that they are going to teach next year. Most of the lessons were based on a story that illustrates a particular value like hope, perseverance responsibility or forgiveness. Other new lessons address the challenge of “sugar daddies” and teenage pregnancies.

The participants received the new lessons enthusiastically and felt competent to teach these lessons next year. 

On Thursday night (26.09.) a colourful graduation ceremony was held for two long serving peer educators. David Sizane and Boikhutso Choeu had managed to obtain a certificate in “Adult Basic Education and Training” (ABET). This certificate gives them not only the qualification to serve as mentors in our Action Group Tshepanang but also opens the door for them to become teachers in an ABET School. In these schools young drop outs from the normal school system are given a second chance to acquire the matric qualification.

Written by Wolfgang Hermann