Stories that encourage us to continue giving...

At the beginning of the year I was asked by one of our Family Facilitators (FFs) to go and visit a home where there was a 3 year old girl who is disabled. I went to visit and discovered that this little girl was hemiplegic and was not walking and not using her left hand at all. She had been to physioytherapy once but had never returned.

I spent a long time counselling the mother, grandmother and FF, encouraging them not to do everything for this little girl and to encourage her to walk and use her hand. We also spent some time discussing the different activities and exercises they could do to help her to regain function. They then attended physiotherapy and occupational therapy at the local clinic.

I had not seen this little girl again until earlier this week when we went to spent some time in her home. She is walking and running well and participating in all activities with the other children. It was so encouraging to see how with a little extra information this family has been able to change the life of their little girl so she can participate fully in the family and community activities around her.

Getting the Gogo's involved

Iris Mzila, one of our Senior Trainers, had a great experience recently when conducting a support visit with a Family Facilitator from Matimatolo and we asked her if she would share her experience with us:

“ On the 10th of August I visited Gugu Cele while she was visiting a family in Matimatolo. I was so pleased to see that the Gogo was participating in the activities that were being done by the children and the Family Facilitator. The Family Facilitator was encouraging cleanliness and safety in the home by telling a story about picking up papers and rubbish in their yard. Both children and adults listened intently to the story. Afterwards the Gogo spoke to me about the benefit of the programme to her family. She is very happy that her grandchildren are able to be a part of this programme. She likes to listen to the children as they engage with the Family Facilitator and while I was there she also told a story to the children.” Iris Mzila.

It is stories like this that encourage us and remind us of the difference we can make in the lives of the families that we work with. Well done Gugu for including caregivers in your morning programme, making them feel that they are important, have invaluable experiences to share and play an integral role in helping their children learn and grow.

What makes me smile :)

Once again, in the midst of the busyness and all the problems that we face when working with communities and families, in the midst of sometimes feeling despondant because we have done all that we can but that doesn't feel like enough or doesn't solve anything, in the midst of all this I was faced with a story that made me smile....

Our Eshane Family Facilitators have just finished their ECD training for Home and Family Based ECD practitioners and last week we asked them for feedback on the course and what it had meant to them. The women said they enjoyed the training and now they know what to do with the children they work with whereas before they felt less confident and empowered. One of the things that really stood out for me is that they said that now they know what to do if a child is injured while they are playing with them and how to follow all the safety procedures correctly. I was encouraged that they have so easily incoporated what they learnt into their programmes and that we have been able to make a difference in not only their lives but in the lives of the children they work with.

Women's Day 2011

As Women's Day approaches we at LETCEE have been considering just how things have changed for the women of South Africa over the past few decades. Women's Day is a day where we remember how women of South Africa stood up for their rights by staging a peaceful and silent protest at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Through the courageous acts of these and many other women, the women in South Africa have had many more opportunities afforded to them.

This then makes us think of the many women we have worked with and are working with at LETCEE. They are quietly going about getting a qualification and empowering themselves as women and inputting into the lives of the young children of our country. What a privilege to be working with these amzing women who are changing the lives of not only themselves but the future of SA's young children :)

Whose life am I influencing??

The other day I had an interesting experience just outside the LETCEE offices. A young teenager greeted me saying, "Hallo Aunty Cezanne, how are you?" Her face looked vaguely familiar so I stopped and chatted to her asking about school and life in general. It was a really great experience, however afterwards I was trying to figure out who she was and where she knew me from.

A few days later I realized that she was one of the Buddies who had left the programme but it got me to thinking...
How many people's lives do we influence on a daily basis positively and sometime negatively?
Are we always aware of the influene that we have?

This experience has made me take greater note of how I act and how I treat people as you never know what an impact you can have.

36 new Buddies...wow!!

In April this year we had to say good bye to 36 of our Buddies as they had reached the cut off age of 15 years. It was a bittersweet farewell as we had grown close to many of them over two and half years but we were also excited at how far they had come and excited of the prospect of the new Buddies we were going to meet.

So....with more than 50 percent of our Buddies being new to the programme we decided to have two full day workshops with the Buddies in the June/July holidays. We used the training manual that we developed for Unicef last year.

It was a great two days where LETCEE staff got to meet new children and the Buddies, from two different communities made a lot of new friends...

I am so excited to see the journey that these Buddies walk in over the next couple of years. What a privilege to be involved in the lives of these young men and women!!

Official Opening of Sikhulakahle Toy Library

Wow! I can't believe that almost 3 weeks have passed since the Toy Library was officially opened. I remember thinking on the day that I had better write about it and then, as is the nature of all NGO's I became busy with so many other things.

What a journey the development of the Sikhulakahle Toy Library has been. What an adventure!! When the container finally arrived in April last year I think we all thought that we would have the Toy Library up and running in no time. A year and a bit later we can now say it is officially open and being enjoyed by many childern in the Mbuba community.

As is the case when working with communities, processes happen slowly, from building the roof over the top to electing a Toy Librarian to painting the Toy Library.

I must say that I am encouraged by the many people who donated their time, effort and expertise to make this dream a reality! It has been a frustrating but rewarding journey and now that it is being used by the community I am ready to take on the process again in another community...

LETCEE Lilani Fun Walk 2011

Wow, what a day!

After so much running around, organizing and trying to sort out logistics, the day of the 1st LETCEE Lilani Fun Walk finally arrived. Sunday 22nd May turned out to be an amazing day and a lot warmer than expected but brilliant weather for the 10km or 5km walk down to Lilani Hot Springs.

50 people of all ages took on the challenge with the youngest being about 2 years of age. He took in the sights and sounds of this beautiful community from the comfort of his dad's shoulders. I realized what a privilege it is to be working with this community and as well as with each member of our staff (and some of their family members and friends too) who put their all into making it a fun and successful day, never once complaining that they had to work on a Sunday.

It was humbling to once again view the community with both its strengths and weaknesses through the eyes of the participants, many of whom were experiencing being in a rural community such as this for the very first time...

Update on Sikhulakahle Toy Library

The LETCEE Staff and the Sikhulakahle Toy Librarian have been working extremely hard over the past couple of months to get the Sikhulakahle Toy Library up and running. It has been a daunting yet fun task, painting an undercoat, assembling shelving, painting murals, buying toys, marking the toys, etc. We are nearly done with the painting and are very grateful to Wembley College for their support and help with the painting as well as our two volunteers from the UK, Sarah and Nerissa who spent some time out in the community helping us paint.

The Toy Library has begun to function as the FF’s can now borrow toys from the Toy Library and we are looking forward to helping Sikhulakahle develop this Toy Library into a resource that will benefit people of all ages in the community. We will have the official opening in June which we are all looking forward to.

What we take for granted...

I recently had the opportunity to visit a home in Matimatolo with our ECD Coordinator. This was an impromptu decision as I happened to be out in the community meeting with her and was asked if I had time to go and see a little 3 year old girl who had had a stroke in November 2010 and was now having difficulty walking and using her left hand.

I went to the home wondering why the Family Facilitator concerned had not referred the child to the clinic to see the therapists. After sitting down and speaking to the mother and the Gogo I was told that she had infact been to see the Physiotherapist at Greytown Hospital a couple of times and was told that there was no need to come back. This story distressed me as as an Occupational Therapist I could see that this child still needed therapy AND I know the Physiotherapists at the hospital well and I could not believe that they would have stopped therapy with this child.

It was awesome to be able to do an impromptu Occupational Therapy session with this family in their home, provide a home programme and refer the child on to the Therapists at Matimatolo clinic. I did however leave the home wondering what the whole story was so went to the hospital to investigate. When the child's file was located there was no record of any treatment recorded and thus it still remains a mystery as to who the child had seen. The whole experience has left me pondering how people are so different in their approaches to life. When I see a health professional I will take note of his/her name and ask many questions where as in cases such as these it is difficult to follow up as the family has no idea who saw them and what the diagnosis was. It reminded me that we need to encourage people to record the information and if it is not offered by the health worker/social worker/councillor that they have every right to ask.

The child has now been seen by the therapists at the local clinic and is to return next month for further treatment. I still wonder how many other children are out there that we have not come in contact with who have had the same experiences....

Excitement, Enthusiasm and Energy

Last week, a new group of students started the first week of their training at LETCEE.

It is so encouraging to see their excitement and eagerness to learn. The ladies had a fun week, and feedback at the end of their first week was very positive. They felt they had learnt so much, and are excited to return to continue their path of learning about ECD.

We can only hope this enthusiasm for gaining knowledge continues, and that they instill this in the children they teach.

Some of the students with some resources which they learnt to make.

Wow!

On Tuesday this week I was totally blown away by one of our Family Facilitators. After completing our planning meeting for the year with the Siyabathanda Abantwana Facilitators, she produced a bag of good quality used clothes that she had been given and had brought them for the FF's to share amongst themselves to give to the children that they work with! Witnessing this small act made me smile, gave me hope and made me realise that little by little members of this community are realizing the vast resources and capabilities that they have and they are using them (unprompted) to affect the lives of those around them!!