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Mpilonhle - A Good Life

Mpilonhle News

30 Teachers Attend Mpilonhle’s Third Teacher Training Seminar

02 Oct 2008

As part of its efforts to address the health and social problems of adolescents in rural KwaZulu-Natal, Mpilonhle is working to provide educators with the skills to address the problems they confront in schools.

Thirty teachers from three rural high schools – Masibonisane, Nhliziyo, and Silethukukhanya – attended a three-day seminar held at the Mpilonhle training site, La Colline, from 29 September to 1 October 2008. The program focused on providing teachers with skills in a number of areas, including how to identify and respond to health problems of learners, how to deal with the stigma surrounding HIV, and dealing with the social and psychological problems that learners face. Teachers also had 9 hours of computer training and learned how computers can be used to enhance their educational efforts.  

Teachers also had a chance to address their own health problems, with opportunities for health screening by the Mpilonhle nurses, and HIV testing by Mpilonhle counselors. One of the participating teachers wrote to Mpilonhle with thanks: “Hopefully I’ll be a real mother to my learners now. Spiritually, emotionally, I will try all my best.”, whilst another, after the graduation ceremony, in which participants received certificates recognizing their participation, had this to say: “I really enjoyed the training as a whole. It enlightened me about Mpilonhle, knowing who they are.”

Leading the program was Mpilonhle Health Education Coordinator, Gugulethu Zulu, assisted by Field Counseling Coordinator Khanya Mdletshe, Mpilonhle Social Worker Delly Mashele, Mpilonhle Nurse Coordinator Thuli Biyela, and IT specialists Sakho Mngomezulu and Siyabonga Mavuso. A visiting intern from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Britt Erhardt, assisted them and all teachers participating in the program were awarded certificates of participation and training. 

Mpilonhle looks forward to extending this program in the next school year to additional teachers from the 12 secondary schools collaborating with Mpilonhle.