Newsletter LK
Lulisandla Kumntwana – Newsletter for Oct 2011 – Mar 2012
At the beginning of this period we were wondering what was going to happen, as we only had enough funds to run the project until the end of December, & the staff we had even for those three months were very reduced. In addition to the fact that a number of funding grants came to an end during this period & we were unable to secure new funders, there was an additional challenge that the umbrella grants manager for the PEPFAR funding has withheld a large portion of the grant. (This was not because of any misdemeanor; there are some unresolved issues with the main partner with whom we worked.) In this situation, the Lord has done a great thing. The staff worked with commitment and faith. The Lord touched the hearts of many, and enough funds were given to cover basic costs for all of 2012.
There are a number of activities which we have been unable to continue. We lost one memory box worker at the end of September, & the other at the end of December. A number of families were able to complete the memory box process, but as of the beginning of 2012 others are disappointed that we are no longer able to help them. Despite the lack of funding 4 of the original 21 After Schools Clubs kept going to the end of 2011, but none restarted in 2012. The
Youth Clubs, after the grand finale of the Competition Day, reported in the last report, have ceased to function. Our pastoral coordinator also had to leave us at the end of December, & we really miss his ministry with the children, the teams of volunteers & with the staff.
Granny and her foster children
However, other activities are still going strong. During this period three psycho social support workshops were run, in Mabibi in October, Nibela in November & Manaba in March. The total attendance at these three workshops was 267 (145 boys & 122 girls). It is good to see the children & young people opening up at these workshops, sharing their experiences, & beginning to see that the future is not hopeless. It is also good to see the involvement of all of the staff. A recent visitor commented that she appreciated watching the book-keeper teaching life skills to a group of children. In February the staff set aside a day to review the PSS programme, & this resulted in some new activities being added.
Futhi, our bookkeeper, teaching a T4T lesson at a PSS workshop.
The HIV teen support group has continued to meet regularly & the young people in the group are growing more confident & participating in discussions. The process of setting up a second group is still underway.
The foster agency has continued also. Along with other NGOs & government departments doing foster cases, LK has still been struggling with the “judgment”, a big effort to deal with a massive backlog of foster cases which did not get renewed when there was a time of confusion under the new Children’s Act. Nosihle, who is our Children’s Home social worker, has also been carrying the load of leading the LK foster team & supervising the 2 LK social workers. She has worked hard & efficiently, & we thank the Lord for her commitment & her ability. Through the process we have picked up challenges in our procedures & in the area of foster supervision, so we are working on improving.
We thank the Lord that the Department of Social Development has told us that they will be giving us subsidies for a third worker post & a supervisor.
The changes under the new Children’s Act have meant that LK is no longer accredited to do adoptions. The process of getting accreditation is somewhat lengthy, & we have not yet been able to find the time to start on this.
Two foster parent training workshops were held, at Tshongwe in October & Vimbukhalo, in November, with a total attendance of 105.
During March we heard that one of our social workers, Thembelihle, would be leaving us as she had been sponsored at university by the Department of Social Development, who were now calling her to work for them. The post was advertised, & we are delighted that Mpume, who worked for us from 2007 &to 2011 applied, & we look forward to her return in May.
The Nsimame Team praying for the children.
Lulisandla Kumntwana continued to benefit from the Community Works Programme of the Department of Cooperative Governance, under which our Family Support Team members in Umhlabuyalingana received a stipend. The stipend encouraged the team members & the programme also gave us the opportunity to employ 5 of our older orphans on the admin side. It has been great having them as part of the staff team. There were hopes that the programme would be extended to Big Five Municipality as well. However, at the end of March the decision was made that the Community Works Programme would no longer work through NGOs such as Lulisandla, but would focus only on practical work such a road cleaning. This has been hard for the team members for some of whom the very small stipend made a big difference. Yet it has been heartwarming to hear their response & commitment, with comment that they did started helping orphans because they cared & because God called them, so they were going to carry on.
The Nsimame Team recording how they have helped the children.
The funding through Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund for the self help groups for women came to an end in November. In December ABSA agreed to fund this project for another year, so the groups at Mduku & Mnqobokazi have continued, & we have started more groups in a new area, Hlulabantu & Oqondweni. The plan is also to add five more groups made up of young people.
In April Susan McDonald, the SIM Hope for AIDS International Mentor & Daniela van den Berg, the Projects Coordinator for SIM South Africa, joined us for a week in order to start the process of doing an evaluation of the impact of Lulisandla Kumntwana. This process was completed in October & November with questionnaires, focus groups & interviews of staff, beneficiaries, volunteers, & other stakeholders. Susan & Daniela came back during that time, together with Siegfried Ngubane, the Director of SIM South Africa, who helped especially with interviewing other stakeholders – people from government departments, traditional leaders, & church leaders. Although the final report has not yet been finalized, there was already a real sense in November that the services rendered by LK are having a big impact in the lives of the children. Another big encouragement was the number of Family Support Team members (the teams of volunteers drawn from local churches) who commented that they had really grown in faith through their work with LK & the ministry of the pastoral coordinators.
We have continued to work closely with other stakeholders. Our senior coordinator is the Chairperson of the Drug Abuse Action Committee for the municipal district of Umkhanyakude. We are active on the Sukuma Sakhe committees. LK took part in events organised for the 30 days of activism against abuse of women & children, & in AIDS days events. This included participation by the youth from one of our youth clubs, who presented song & drama. There is close cooperation with the Department of Social Development in these & other activities, & on the foster side, & with Mseleni Hospital, especially with the HIV support group.
Current Financial Needs
We thank the Lord that He has provided funding for the activities which have been planned for this year to continue & to cover the staff salaries.
We are still needing funds to be able to purchase food parcels to help families who are desperate.
The need for funding to be able to restart the After Schools Clubs is still outstanding.
After this year we are not sure what will happen.
Submitted by Rachel Fredlund (Project Manager)
May 2012
