Volunteer Peer Education - Youth Centre

As our first full week in the community was unfortunately timed, with the schools being on holiday (half term), we took the opportunity to turn it into a positive by beginning a re-launch of the Youth Centre. Prior to our visit, the local youths had stopped attending the Youth Centre. In part due to the fact that there was no electricity and therefore no computers, also because the youths who previously attended had moved on. So our first main issue was to entice the youth back to the Youth Centre. This we achieved through the help of the community leaders and Nolukhanyo.

In one of our very eventful meetings with the community leaders we mentioned the challenges we faced, of no electricity and no youth attending the Youth Centre. ‘No problem’ they said as they explained that they knew ‘a man’ who worked for the local electricity company. But in the meantime they offered us the use of the Community Hall for the computer sessions and they would also spread the word, encouraging the local out-of-school youth (OOSY) to attend. True to their word, they let us use the Community Hall and also promoted the start of our programme and its computer lessons. (The electricity was a more complex matter as it took about 2 months to get it, despite the best efforts of the leaders. Apparently a little Youth Centre was not exactly high on the electricity company’s agenda.) Nolukhanyo also made some phone calls to tell more OOSY about the start of the programme.

So in our first session, after carrying the computers to the Community Hall and setting them up, we were met by 14 of the OOSY ready and eager to learn about IT skills. We only have 3 computers (which have now dwindled to 1 that is still working – if anyone out there is willing to ship out any old computers please let me know!) but it is great to see the youth taking it in turns to use the machines and sit with rapt attention as we facilitate our IT lessons.

There is little opportunity, in such a rural setting, for young people to access computers and it is inspiring to see them take such a keen interest in IT. It makes me realise just how much I take for granted. Back home I have access to my own laptop, with all the mod cons, a superfast wireless internet connection and the IT knowledge to use it, taught to me as part of my government funded schooling. These young people were happy just learning how to switch on the computer, work its programme settings and learn the basics of Microsoft Word an Excel. They are also willing to travel a long way to access this (often walking for as much as 1½ hours). Word had soon spread and we were getting around 20 young people each session. This attendance still continues today, however as it is now the rainy season the occasional ominous dark clouds tend to deter those that travel the furthest.

The Youth Centre work is now in full flow and it is a great atmosphere to teach in. The majority of the youth are in their late teens or early twenties, having either left school early or graduated but struggling to find work. A problem that I know young people in the UK can probably empathise with. They are an entertaining bunch who enjoy debating, often in Xhosa as it is the language they are most comfortable with (presenting back to the group is done in English to encourage their English skills) and allows for more flowing discussions. Occasionally prone to mischief (aren’t all youth?) they enjoy the non-formal and engaging methods that the lessons are taught in, especially the ‘warmers’ (read more about these in a future blog).

After our first week of success teaching IT basics (turning on, use of the mouse/keyboard, system management, Microsoft Word, Excel etc.) we had the unfortunate breaking of 2 computers and so, improvising (we are learning it is a key skill in this work), we moved on to career guidance. Career guidance incorporates issues such as ‘finding a career path’, for which we encouraged participants to identify hard and soft skills (specialised and transferable) within themselves and then match these with jobs that suit the skills.

We also discussed what types of careers are available to the youth. Many were only aware of the generic employment opportunities (such as teaching, police, doctor, nurse, lawyer, social worker etc.) but we encouraged them to think more broadly and understand that their skills (being transferable) can be put to all sorts of beneficial use in a variety of jobs. Teaching how to find the jobs and how to apply for them was a learning experience for us as we realised just how hard it is for these youth to access career employment sectors in this rural setting; the local transport system is chaotic, there is no internet, few people have land-line telephones, the electricity is unreliable, the mobile phone networks seem to have a mind of their own and the local schooling system is often inconsistent.

The next issue we discovered is that even after finding and applying for a job, many said they would not be able to afford the transport for an interview or even the smart clothes/shoes to wear. This issue was brought up in some very thought-provoking sessions on interview techniques, focusing on the ‘do’s and don’ts’ of interviews and bad practices to avoid (they seemed to enjoy the role plays on the do’s and don’ts, especially when I explained it was a very bad practice to call your boss a ‘muppet’).

Perhaps the hardest part of the career guidance module was the explanation of the STAR approach for interview questions. Giving the interviewer an in-depth answer by first setting the Scene/Situation, then describing the Task you were asked to complete, followed by explaining your Actions during the task, finally summarising with the Response to your actions (i.e. if it was a success, how it shows your skills and what you learnt from it). A great technique, but also very challenging to teach, we were pleased to see that the majority of the participants had a strong grasp of the technique after a little support from the VPEs.

We also assisted the youth with writing CVs and cover letters, showing them the best practices for both. It was quite amusing explaining that ‘personal profile’ doesn’t mean they should explain that they have 2 brothers, a sister, what their parents’ names are and where they grew up. The teaching of the CVs in the local schools is clearly inconsistent at best and it has been hard to persuade the youth that they have been taught a method that is not always the most effective. For example, many have been taught to include their tribe, political preference, gender, marital status, religion, state of health and ID number. Regardless of the complications we are making some very real and positive progress, with some impressive draft CVs being produced.

The third module we have now started teaching is Finance Management, a subject that was recommended after research carried out prior to our arrival. This module encourages the participants to look more closely at their finances and budget more effectively (a skill that I think we all wish we had a better grasp of). We demonstrate this by showing how to categorise expenditure into ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ and prioritise spending. One activity encourages participants to think about their expenditure over the last two weeks and decide if it was suitable, based on ‘needs and wants’ (a task that, when completed during our training, was an alarming experience as the international VPEs realised just how much had been spent in preparation for 3 months in Africa – camping gear, cosmetics and medicine topping the list of expenses).

Another interesting activity was when individuals where given a hypothetical sum of money and asked how they would spend it. The African family culture was perfectly highlighted by their replies as the majority chose to support their families first and foremost.

The final part of the Youth Centre work is to support Nolukhanyo (Youth Centre Officer) with Sexual Reproductive Health and Livelihoods lessons, a programme that Restless Development have been implementing for some time now in Youth Centres across the Eastern Cape. These sessions can be intense and personal, talking about some very sensitive issues. But despite the initial nervous laughter and shyness the OOSY have shown a great deal of maturity in their discussions. Debates often crop up and it can get very animated when the dialect switches to Xhosa and the youth feel more comfortable conversing with each other.

I recall one discussion that got extremely heated and after listening intently to the English words randomly dropped into the conversation I realised they were discussing whose responsibility it is to carry/suggest using a condom. The main method that the programme uses for promoting the practice of safe sex is the ABC method. Abstinence, Be faithful, or wear a Condom and it seems to be an effective and memorable method.

We have also assisted to facilitate lessons on the male and female reproductive organs, negotiating safe sex and STI awareness and prevention. The latter being an eye-opening experience as I was once asked the question ‘Are pubic lice caused by a spell from a witch-doctor?’ Surprisingly this view is very common, even amongst young people. Traditional lore has led many to believe that witch-doctors can curse people in a variety of ways, even with STIs. Therefore they are told that to rid themselves of an STI they should visit a traditional healer, or Sangoma, to receive treatment. One youth said he had done this in the past (for pubic lice) but the healer had refused to treat him as his partner had not attended with him, he was unsure on how to persuade his partner to attend and asked my advice.

Admittedly I was slightly shocked by such strong traditional beliefs. I know that traditional beliefs such as these do still exist in abundance in many parts of the world but here were a group of modernised and reasonably well educated young people who had studied these issues before and yet still believed so strongly in the stories they were brought up with. How do you tell someone that some of their traditional beliefs may be a little misguided, without causing too much shock or offence? It’s not an easy question to answer but it was one we have been faced with regularly. I chose to give a cautious reply by explaining that I do not know if individuals have the power (magic) to curse someone with such diseases, but what I do know is that scientists have found proven causes of STIs and therefore created methods of prevention and treatment. A traditional healer might administer herbs/lotions which may (or may not) have the desired effect but it costs the individual in financial terms and may not be entirely successful. On the other hand, the clinic down the road will administer stronger pharmaceutical drugs for no charge.

I think this reply seemed to satisfy most of the participants, until another question came to me; ‘So if witch-doctors don’t cause pubic lice then that must mean that God created Adam with pubic lice?’ I don’t think I’ve ever been posed such an odd question and I had to smile. But it showed me another very strong cultural belief; Christianity. Again I opted for a subtle answer and explained that they are just a form of lice (like those on the head) that have adapted to live in the pubic region (I think…?). Overall, a very strange discussion, but it is an example of how each day we are tested by the questions from the participants. Questions that can be very profound and challenging, keeping us on our toes and making the whole experience very engaging and beneficial to all involved...

Kwelerha’s Schools and Youth Centre

Schools:

During our first week in the community the volunteers travelled as a group to visit some of the 6 schools that we would be working in during the programme. The schools are all based in the Kwelerha area and are within 30 minutes taxi ride from Jongilanga (our host community) There is Bhongolethu High (Tuba Community), Jongilanga High, Mtunzi Tsolekile (Zozo Community), Zozo Combined (Zozo Community), Gwaba High (Gwaba Community)and Mtyana High (Gwaba Community).

Visiting each school we were initially impressed by our first assessments of the schools, modern brick buildings of a reasonable size, not the run-down and dilapidated buildings that many wrongly assume to be found in rural Africa. However, we soon found that in many cases appearances can be deceiving. Inside the schools we found that they were often lacking in various departments such as facilities, basic amenities, funding, teachers and training for teachers, structured timetables and discipline. The reasons behind these inadequacies are complicated and we have heard many different explanations. In many cases it seems to be the Education Board (in the Eastern Cape that is. Schools may be run differently in other parts of South Africa as they will be under different Educational Boards) which is not providing adequate funding, training for teachers and also failing to manage the schools effectively. For instance, one school has been newly built with several classrooms and space for learners, it looks the part. However, the contractors upped sticks and left before completion of the school because they did not receive payment for their work, leaving the school unconnected to the main power supplies and with no electrical fittings even if they do get connected to the mains.

Another example of the problems that face the schools in the Eastern Cape was highlighted by an article pinned to a notice board in a school. The headline stated ‘140 Teachers get sick pay for 5 years’. The details that followed were just as shocking as the facts were laid bare; it seems these teachers from the Eastern Cape had all been falsely claiming sick pay for 5 years without anyone in the Education Board investigating their claims. But corruption such as this is not just apparent in the Education Board and with certain teachers, as we noted when a teacher informed us that their school had no IT or sports equipment after it had been stolen. They believed it was an inside job by a caretaker as no forced entry was ever discovered. Other issues facing the schools are a lack of teachers to facilitate extra-curricular classes and space/facilities to provide these classes. One school does have a suite of 14 working computers but the frustration is that they have no knowledge within the school to teach IT.

Despite all the hardships that teachers, students and the schools face, they are ploughing on, determined to succeed despite all the apparent odds. We witnessed this undeniable resolve during our initial visits as all the schools welcomed us so warmly, one teacher saying ‘we open our hands to you and you are welcome’. At each school the principle made a fuss over us and official welcoming meetings were arranged with all available staff (and student representatives in some cases). They were pleased with Restless Development’s choice of focusing on Career Guidance, Finance Management and IT Skills as they felt there was a real need for those subjects. Often they would also add further recommendations of areas in which we could assist e.g. extra-curricular activities such as choirs, drama, sports and debating societies (This is how I found myself agreeing to run a rugby training session at Bhongolethu in my spare time, but more on that eventful session in a later post).

The children were also very welcoming and after some initial shyness and awkward staring they would come and talk with us, practicing their English. The younger children would often make a game of chasing our minibus out of the gates and down the road, laughing and waving us off. All in all it was a great insight into the schools in the area and our work places for the coming months. In spite of the issues we knew were facing us we were buoyed by the exuberant welcomes from the schools. The only problem was that after that first week the schools were on holiday for a week (half term). So we had to postpone our excitement of starting work at the schools and instead focused it on working at the Youth Centre.

Jongilanga Youth Centre:

The youth centre, based in Jongilanga, was built by Restless Development a few years ago in order to encourage the capacity building of out of school youth (OOSY) through sexual reproductive health (SRH) and livelihood lessons. The centre is run by a Youth Centre Officer called Nolukanyho, who explained to us the work she had been facilitating and the assistance she needed in providing a service to the community.

 The main challenge we noted was that the youth centre does not have a connection to the main power supply and therefore has no electricity to run computers. For some time they were able to run an extension cable from the nearby clinic to power the centre but for unknown reasons this agreement ceased. As a result, the attendance numbers for local OOSY had slowly decreased to none as they were keen to use the computers and felt there was no point turning up when they knew they could not access computers. It seems that even in rural Africa life can still be dependent on IT and the youth recognise this. Computers are a vital part of their empowerment and development as many careers/higher education centres accept only those with IT skills. It is also a key aspect of the work that ICS and Restless Development are doing in order to train and skill up the youth. So we knew we had our work cut out and had to think creatively to get the OOSY attending the youth centre again, whilst also working out what to do with regards to the power issue…         

Jongilanga

We headed back to East London after saying our goodbyes to Forest Way over a delicious breakfast of minced beef and onions on toast, with a tomato relish (now that’s what I call a breakfast!) and one last training session on health and safety. It was an emotional day, not just because we were leaving Forest Way and feeling the anticipation of starting our programme, but also due to Asekho’s announcement that she would be leaving Restless Development. She will be studying a BA and working at the Donald Woods Foundation, assisting with their orphanage projects. Asekho will be missed by us all as she did a great job in helping to train and prepare the volunteers for the placement.

After a long drive we finally made it to Jongilanga (our host community for the next three months) and stepped off the minibus taxi with ears still ringing from the deafening deep house music that local taxi driver’s favour. Jongilanga, meaning ‘to see the sun’ in Xhosa, is a small community, that along with other neighbouring communities (Zozo, Gwaba, Nohkana and Thuba) makes up the Kwelerha region of the Amatola district. Jongilanga is a rural community that can only be reached by ungraded roads that the government seems to have forgotten about and where all manner of livestock roam freely.

Lush green hills are dotted haphazardly with rondevaals, (circular thatch/tin roofed houses made from mud and brick) houses and shacks in a multitude of colours. The colours are predominantly pastel shades to keep the buildings cool under the blaze of the African sun during summertime. Driving through it felt like we were worlds away from the urban chaos of East London, when in fact it was only a short 30km away.

We were running a little late (already adjusting to African time) and turned up for our introductory meeting with the community 2 hours late. As a result there were only a few of the elders of the community that were there to greet us. We nervously filed into the Community Hall and were seated on stage facing the small crowd, feeling like goods on auction. The community secretary welcomed us to Jongilanaga as the hall continued to fill up with newcomers.

The community leader introduced himself with an unpronounceable name before reassuring us with ‘just call me coach, that’s what everyone here calls me’. The reason behind this nickname being that he coaches a local East London rugby team (The Border Bulldogs) and is also a former Springbok, having played rugby for his national side in 1997. A gentle giant of a man, with a big smile and a very warm welcome, he made us all feel at home in his community.

We were then asked to introduce ourselves and some of the group had learnt a few words in Xhosa which brought a few shocked smiles and laughs from the crowd. The meeting was a very humbling yet heart-warming experience; this community were opening up their homes to us and willing us on to make a positive impact by assisting to improve the lives of their youth. One elderly lady even likened our arrival to ‘the second coming of Christ’, so a lot to live up to then, no pressure! A greeting from the elderly ‘grandfather’ of the community followed shortly, proudly wearing a Springbok rugby jersey as his daughter is the current captain of the women’s national rugby team. A rugby mad community in a rugby mad country, I think I will enjoy it here!

The meeting left us feeling good about what we are doing and eager to live up to the expectations the community has from us. Next we were taken to our various home-stays and introduced to our host families. I am sharing a rondevaal with a national volunteer called Vuyisani and I think we hit jackpot with our rondevaal. It has 2 double beds, (complete with extra pillows and fleece blankets!) a table and chairs, bedside tables, cooking utensils, and a wardrobe.

But perhaps the best thing is the views over the hills of Kwelerha. Our host mother is called Mama Jongilanga or Ma J for short. She is an elderly widow with a heart of gold and she has gone above and beyond to make us feel at home.

Will and Liam are staying in a small room in the grounds of Coach’s house, complete with a flushing toilet. (Although at present it doesn’t flush and has got nothing on the carpeted long drop at our rondevaal) They are joined by Phathiwe, Sevil and Saz who are in a rondevaal at Coach’s place. Again Coach and his family have made them feel at home by offering them full use of the family house. Coach’s place is a mansion in comparison to most of the others in the community, with its newly sparkling tiled kitchen, leather sofas and numerous TV’s. Coach is obviously a man who enjoys his luxuries.

Belinda, George, Kayakhazi and Kris are in a small apartment with a third host family. They have 2 rooms, a lounge area with sofas, a fridge/freezer and TV. But the place was also clearly used as a storage shed by the family and still contained old ladders, wood and window frames amongst other junk. After a bit of serious spring cleaning they had the place looking nice again, so nice in fact that they were soon joined by some friendly neighbourhood rats that enjoyed their food a bit to much.

The nicest place however, is probably Craig and Yoyo’s, with a widescreen TV in the lounge area and comfy sofas. We weren’t sure what to expect accommodation wise but were fully prepared to rough it and here we were getting all the added bonuses. It certainly was more than we expected. I later found out that Craig and Yoyo’s place was supposed to be where Vuyisani and I were going to be placed but it had been changed last minute. However, I was happy with my basic rondevaal without a TV, fridge and running water. That is until the rugby world cup games were on and I invited myself round to Craig and Yoyo’s. (There are certain things that are just to hard to go without!)

Later in the evening we had a great conversation with Coach about his community and the work we are doing. Coach felt that the youth are ‘getting lazier’ and increasing numbers are dropping out of school. He wants us to motivate and teach those out of school youth, encouraging them back into school or work so that they can play a part in the development and improvement of the community in the future.

That first day was a great introduction to the community and provided our first fascinating insight into rural life in Jongilanga. Keep reading and the next post will let you know more about the work we are doing and what daily life is like on a hillside in a remote corner of Africa…