by Mpilonhle Mobile Unit One “ISIQALO”
A learner at Nkosana High School in grade 12, he was referred to the Social Worker for being an orphan (lives with mother), through the interview it was discovered that he has never met with his father since birth. It was than agreed that searching for his father was the main self mission he has set for himself. He often gave a lot of thoughts as to how it feels to have and grow up in the presence of a father.
The Social Worker did the best he could for the client, the mother of the client was invited for an interviewed at school, for further information on the father, the mother did respond well and cooperated through out the process of the interview, the major problem in the course of the search, was that the father of the client had retired and his’ where abouts were unknown.
A media program for missing persons was utilized, the father’s profile was sent and the father did respond and this lead to the meeting arrangement, in Durban. The client currently lives with his father and hold temporal jobs and was well received by the step mother.
This has truly brought joy to the client’s life and the need for Social Workers to intervene and change lives of those that need help was truly realized. All this happened during the year 2009.
Posted by Sifiso Zulu on February 5, 2010 at 9:12 am.
Tags: General, Health Counsellors, Health Education, Success Stories —
Unit 3 went to visit a Womens centre at eNgwavuma for a week. For the first time we were actually living on site. It took us about 5 hours drive to get there. We went past Jozini dam on our way there. What a sight!
The community welcomed us with open arms and were very excited about the arrival of Mpilonhle. The weather has been raining most of the time but this did not stop people from turning up to get our services.
Most of the people here remember us from our time with the OneSight clinic. I still cannot believe they came from this far to have their eyes checked.
On World Aids day we went out just to mingle with some of the locals and to get a feel of the place. It was interesting week away from home. Swaziland border is very close from where we are. It was very tempting to go over for a visit. Oh well maybe next year.
This picture was taken over the dam.
Looking at Swaziland border.Health Education session with Community
Posted by Siyabonga Mavuso on December 18, 2009 at 5:10 am.
Tags: General, Health Education —
On Monday and Tuesday, Mpilonhle had the privilege of welcoming Mzukisi Tony Gubesa, Grassroot Soccer Master Coach, to the Umkhanyakude District. Though only a short visit, Tony got a chance to re-connect with all of our peer educators that he helped to train as “Skillz Coaches” at a June workshop in Durban. He also got a chance to offer his continued support and to see for himself the excellent Skillz programme that Mpilonhle and our peer educators are developing. The entire Skillz team was thrilled to see him again, the rest of the Mpilonhle staff was happy to meet him for the first time, and all of us eagerly anticipate his already scheduled return at the end of January (unless we can persuade him to come back even earlier).
I think it is safe to say that for everyone involved, the visit was both productive and enjoyable. It is clear that Tony feels the same affection for Mpilonhle that we feel for him. He not only got a chance to support and personally familiarize himself with our unique implementation of Skillz, but also got a chance to visit one of our mobile health and computer units in action to better understand Mpilonhle’s core services and the other invaluable work that we do. He was genuinely impressed by the quality of our staff and the services they provide. Because we now think of Tony as part of the Mpilonhle family, we made sure he didn’t leave without his own official Mpilonhle shirt to proudly wear around the streets of Cape Town.
During his visit, the life orientation teachers at Mkhaliphi High School made certain that Tony understands how highly they regard Mpilonhle’s Skillz programme by explaining to him their recent decision to provide the local team of Skillz Coaches with their own small office at the school. Their exact words were that they want these peer educators to have “the dignity they deserve” as such valuable new members of the school community. And because it was raining heavily that day, the Coaches had to abandon their prepared activities (which required a lot of space to conduct) but, without missing a beat, re-arranged the chairs and tables in the classroom so they could stay inside and conduct an “unofficial session” with other activities from the Skillz curriculum.
At Silethukukhanya High School, Tony was equally impressed by what he discovered during our impromptu visit to Sfiso Jobe’s house (the team leader for this group of Skillz Coaches). We decided to walk together to Sfiso’s house to retrieve some registrations and surveys that I had neglected to inform him we needed to collect that day. When we arrived, despite the fact that Sfiso had no idea we would be collecting it that day, the stack of over 400 registrations and surveys was already neatly sorted by grade and class, clearly labeled and clipped together. We then noticed that there were only two things posted on the walls of the house (Sfiso is only 21, has very little money and lives alone). The first was a copy of the Skillz class schedules at Silethukukhanya, including the contact information for the life orientation teachers at the school, his team of Skillz Coaches, and the Skillz team at Mpilonhle (myself and Thokozani Hlophe). The second was a hand-written breakdown of the size and gender composition of every class his team was responsible for at the school.
It’s a significant understatement to say that our excellent Skillz Coaches take their roles and responsibilities very seriously. And we know that these and other experiences will mean that when Tony returns to Cape Town, he will continue to be the strong advocate for our programme that he has always been. We wish him a safe journey home.
Posted by jaredfranz on September 24, 2009 at 4:17 am.
Tags: Health Education —
The first major component of Mpilonhle’s new Community Sports Programme has officially launched. And the reviews are in: it’s a huge hit!
In partnership with Grassroot Soccer, Mpilonhle has introduced the “Skillz” programme in two pilot schools: Silehtukukhyana High School and Mkhaliphi High School. Grassroot Soccer’s Skillz curriculum creates simple but powerful connections between sports and life skills, particularly in relation to the stigma, prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. It’s a physically active and innovative way of encouraging students to think about and discuss these important issues.
With the support of school administrators and teachers, Mpilonhle has adapted the Skillz programme for use in the Life Orientation periods of these two pilot schools. Our well-trained team of peer educators – 4 at each school - are now conducting Skillz sessions several times a week, covering all of Grades 8 and 9. Nearly 800 students are currently registered for and participating in the programme.
The first Skillz sessions were held at Silethukukhanya on 31 August, with Mkhaliphi following one week later on 8 September. The response of teachers and administrators has been overwhelmingly positive. Teachers have quickly recognized the value of the Skillz culture and curriculum, and they have expressed appreciation for both the enthusiasm and professionalism of Mpilonhle’s peer educators who are leading the sessions. Limited by time and resources, we are already asking interested Life Orientation educators in the higher grades to be patient as we develop a strategy for expanding the programme into their classes.
But for sure, the most positive response has come from the students. The important health and life skills topics covered by the Skillz curriculum are serious in nature and are handled appropriately. However, due to the soccer-inspired, physically active method of curriculum delivery, Skillz is also a whole lot of fun. Students are fully engaged in the sessions and truly enjoy the activities.
There is perhaps no better evidence of the positive student response than that provided by the students in Grade 8B at Silethukukhanya. Their life orientation period is immediately after lunch break and several of the students were late arriving at the soccer field for the start of class. In addition, the class is very large, so registration took longer than expected. As a result, time was short and the peer educators were forced to wrap-up class just as the enthusiasm was building for the boisterous, primary activities of Session 1. The life orientation teacher explained to the class that they had unfortunately run out of time, and they needed to move on to their next period.
So how did the students respond? They organized a spontaneous sit-in and refused to leave the soccer field!
Now, Mpilonhle certainly doesn’t want to encourage students disobeying their teachers. But, to be totally honest, the spirit of the moment and clear message communicated by their sit-in was inspiring; a true testament of how much they were enjoying the programme. Soon enough, the peer educators made clear that they would pick up right where they left off when they come back at the same time next week – and every week after that for the next several months. Assured that they wouldn’t be missing out on anything, the students slowly stood up and moved on to their next period.
We are very excited about the future of the Skillz programme and our partnership with Grassroot Soccer.
Posted by jaredfranz on September 10, 2009 at 4:27 am.
Tags: Health Education —
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A support group was started at Nkodibe High School in May 2009. It wasn’t an easy initiative to implement but we surely got away with it. The support group is for learners from grades 8 to 12 who are affected by and infected with HIV. The learners responded positively to the initiative and now the group is growing stronger everyday. The group was officially named in the presence of all the members. We are called “THANDIMPILO SUPPORT GROUP”. We meet every Tuesdays and Fridays.
The support group is there to help the learners find coping mechanisms in dealing with the everyday challenges that come with being an HIV positive learner. The learners will give and receive support from their peers in the group as they share their similar experiences. I believe that the support group will provide a chance for the learners to face their fears about HIV/AIDS in a safe and understanding environment, they will also be able to share their experiences with people who will not judge them, but give them support.
The support group is also meant to empower and motivate the learners. We have started making bead ribbons and we will soon be starting a garden project. Both the ribbons and the vegetables will be up for sale and we hope that our Mpilonhle Family will be our greatest supporters.
The group sessions are very relaxed, I must say, of course we do have those very emotional sessions.
To Unit 3 and the Social Work Department thank you very much for the tremendous support you are giving us.
Posted by Snetie on August 3, 2009 at 7:31 am.
Tags: Health Counsellors, Health Education, Uncategorized —
On Friday 24th July Mpilonhle Academy played against Masibonisane Educators. The result was we lost by 4 goals to 1. The team has now played 3 games, won 1 and lost 2. Not a bad run of scores. We looked good before the game due to our new jerseys. During the game we were awful.
Match Report:
The first half perfomance was solid, we were able to close them down for long periods of time. I had a couple of chances to score which I did not take. Some of the spectators started saying I had been bribed before the game which was not true. The score at half-time was 1-0. They scored just before the half ended.
Second - half the flood gates opened. Within the first ten minutes back from the game the score was 3-0. Our heads dropped and our hearts were no longer in the game. They scored a fourth goal. Thanks to Sbu he managed to score 1 for us. This made the score 4-1. This was a thrashing of note.
Why we lost?
1. We played the game on pay day. This should never happen again. Our next game should be on the 15th.
2. The unplayable pitch condition. Some parts of the ground the grass had overgrown others there was no grass. You cant practise at Wembley stadium than play at HM Pitjie Stadium.
3. We played against educators from the school we work at. We lost against Slethukukhanya and Masibonisane. This team can only beat non-educator teams.
4. The new jersey. A new jersey always gives out bad luck!
The Future
Our next game will be sometime in June!!!
Posted by Siyabonga Mavuso on July 29, 2009 at 8:57 am.
Tags: Health Education, Uncategorized —
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There are a couple of world events taking place at the moment. In England it is the ICC World Twenty20 and here in South Africa the British Lions are on tour. Yesterday was probably the greatest day in SA sport as it was the opening of the FIFA Confederations Cup.
The unfortunate part was that our team could not open with a win. We hope the team can do much better in their next game. The Proteas in England are doing well though. They are still unbeaten and have qualified for the semi-finals.
I also got a chance to watch a DVD called Alicia in Africa. Its a documentary of the work Alicia Keys is doing in Africa. We are so lucky to have people like her committed to doing great things for the people in this continent. The touching story for was about this young 16 year old boy in Kenya who was born HIV Positive. He only started taking ARV when he was about 13 years old, basically he never stood a chance
Alicia Keys
. There is still a shortage of these drugs in Africa.
We hope more people like Alicia Keys can get involved in the fight against HIV.
Posted by Siyabonga Mavuso on June 15, 2009 at 12:57 am.
Tags: General, Health Education —
