2012MYCreview

Dear Friends of Manzini Youth Care,Its been a while since our last newsletter, and there’s a lot to report! So grab a ‘cuppa,’ get comfortable, and read what we’ve been up to in 2012 so far.....

Letter from the Director 1YES and Bosco Study Centre 2MYC Boys Homes 3New Girls Home and NMCF 4MYC Clinic and USAID 5Imvelo Eswatini 6Eswatini Kitchen and ESK Honey 7Marimba Band and Music School 8Enjabulweni Garden and McCorkindales 9Social Work Interns 10MYC Hike 11Volunteers 12Thank You 13

MYC is delighted to welcome back Father Larry McDonnell to his former position as Director. The Project has missed his guiding presence, and his return has restored some much needed confi dence.

We were happy to celebrate his birthday with him last month, 77 years young and as inspiring as ever!

MYC Staff

MYC Review 2012

Contents

Welcome back Father Larry

Happy Birthday Inyoni

The Last Hurrah!

It’s amazing how quickly one can submerge in the all important trivia of offi ce life. Picking up the threads, from my return in mid-July, after eighteen months absence, has been both challenging and inspiring. The loyalty of the MYC staff and the obvious enthusiasm of the youth in our projects, can take years off old shoulders. The old shoulders still have to decide whether this trust is a feather in my cap or a nail in my coffi n.

With colossal changes in our funding security, the ever growing downturn on the youth employment front and the traditional dip in the upward curve of most NGOs’ progress, all would suggest that we fi nd new directions for our youth projects. We need to remind ourselves of our core business – the residential care facilities for our needy youth. Resurrecting our girls’ home in Ngwane Park is very much in keeping with this primary objective.

Director’s MessageThe Bosco Study Centre will revert to its original founding objective – helping struggling young learners to re-enter the educational system. The Bosco Computer Centre will enable them to also take their fi rst step into the world of technology. We hope to combine our three technical training areas - the Skills Centre, Likusasa Lalabasha and the Youth Enterprise Services, into one single drive to produce young entrepreneurs – probably the only slot left in our economy. This will include a general life skills course and an opportunity to do the Government technical trade test. The intake into these areas will also cater for the many young entrepreneurs on our streets, presently making an effort at earning a living for themselves.

This means daily rising above the deadlines which seem to block the light at the end of our many tunnels – personal problems, staff problems, money problems, life problems. It’s just a matter of fi nding the passion to meet the challenges.

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Bosco Upgrading Centre has three branches: Upgrading, Business and Computer Skills.The general activities of the department are to conduct remedial classes to form 3 and form 5 students, in order to improve their grades so that they may proceed to the next level of this education

Activities undertaken in 2012A lot has happened between February, when we opened the school, and October 2012. As soon as the school opened there was a lot of activity with the registering of new students for forms 3 and 5, as well as the business students.

Teachers were busy with form 5 students that had opted to write their exams in May/June. Students doing Business courses wrote their Level 2 exams in August and they have completed the course.Bosco will be a hive of activity until mid November during exam time.

Bosco Upgrading Centre

Education & Entrepreneurs

AchievementsOver the years Bosco has seen its students progressing in their academic work and acquiring good grades in their exams. They have been admitted to institutions of higher learning to pursue their certifi cates diplomas and even degrees in their fi eld of study. Some have landed themselves stable jobs.

ChallengesMuch as we are trying to meet the objectives of the department, we are still faced with many challenges; Staff leaving to pursue further studies in their fi eld, students missing classes, and thefailure of students to pay fees on time.

In spite of the challenges we hope to shoulder on and continue in our quest to help the young people at Bosco Study Centre realise their dreams.

In 2012 there were 18 aspiring entrepreneurs occupying the sheltered workshops, 15 graduated the YES project in August 2012. 9 have shown strong interest in starting a new business outside of Likusasa workshops. Most are in the process of registering their businesses and acquiring trading licenses. One of these is a carpenter focusing on pallet manufacturing. His business has made leaps and bounds and is promising to be one of the leaders in the pallet manufacturing industry. It enables him to put food on the table for his family, and offer job opportunities for other young people.

YES Project

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Father Larry congratulating the 15 graduates at their ceremony

Residential HomesAll of the boys homes are currently getting a new lick of paint and sprucing up. We have a new volunteer on board and in conjunction with the Social Welfare Department, Valerie is helping to teach the boys about cleanliness, good hygiene, and, a hard task indeed; getting the boys to keep their rooms tidy.....

Exiting MYCMost of the boys are progressing very well and some are preparing for their exit next April. There are 11 boys who will leave MYC next year, they have started their Life skills in preparation fortheir departure, and it is hoped that by April they will be ready. They are also going to graduate with a National Grade Three Certifi cate in their fi eld of study. Some of the boys are already on attachment in their different fi elds.

StaffIn August we were joined by Swazi Volunteer Nqamiso who has just completed a course in counselling and has started working with our children. It is hoped his experience will go a long way in helping some of our children overcome their ugly past. In August we were joined by Christina Hostetter, an American Volunteer who received her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work in 2010. She will be with us for a year. Christina is currently working alongside Alban with the boy’s homes, and will be working with the girl’s home when it re-opens.

Summary for the Residential Homes from March to September The numbers did not change that much for this period. Four new cases were identifi ed, two were placed at Enjabulweni, and the other two were reunited with their families. Currently there are 20 boys at Enjabulweni, 18 at Sikhunyana, 17 at Fairview, 5 at Zakhele, and 30 girls and boys at McCorkindales Orphanage.

Children attending SchoolMost of the children did averagely in the mid term exams and there are still serious problems in subjects like Maths, English and Science. Volunteers have already started helping the children who are writing national exams this year with extra tutoring in the evenings. The school term was disrupted by the national teachers strike this July, which affected the performance of many of the children.

MYC Core Work

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Majahonke and Sakhile standing at the entrance to Enjabulweni

New Girls HomeManzini Youth Care is partnering with Hosea’s Heart, a nonprofi t organization in the United States, to re-open a home for girls. The home will target girls at risk of entering prostitution, girls who have been abused, or those who need a safe place to stay. The home can accommodate up to 16 girls between the ages of 8 to 14 years old. The home is currently being renovated, and is located in Ngwane Park. We are hopeful that renovations will be completed by the end of the year.

Nelson Mandela Children’s FundIn 2010, The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund sponsored a 2 year ‘Sports for Good Programme.’ This August saw the completion of the project, with a visit from the NMCF team to assess our overall performance.

The Marimba Band put on a good show for our guests from South Africa, and there was a lively football tournament to display the types of activities that had been carried out as part of the project.

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One of the fi rst renovations to the home was the addition of a ramp

A picture of the front of the new girls home. Renovations began in August, with repairs being carried out on the whole house. So far the ramp has been completed, the ceiling boards have been repaired, and the bathroom and kitchen fl oors have been re tiled. Builders are currently working on the roof. Its a big job, but we hope to be fi nished this year.

Father Larry and .... handing out medals to the winning football team.

MYC Clinic and USAIDThe clinic has continued with its outreach program visiting HIV infected and affected homesteads. The boys at MYC homes did not have any serious illnesses, and all the minor ones were easily treated. The number of patients visiting the clinic slightly decreased due to lack of medication. Like last year, the biggest challenge that we have right now is a lack of resources. The clinic needs more pills for common problems that patients have.

Since March 2012, we have been visiting a sample of 16 out of 46 schools, participating in the US AID/MYC food distribution programme. The programme ensures over 21,000 children get a nutritionally balanced meal every day. We have been conducting nutritional assessments to determine whether theprogramme has been benefi cial for the children. It

Kevin’s experienceKevin Shin is an American volunteer who is studying to be a Doctor, he has been assisting Lovemore and Bravo with their assessments for 4 weeks. “The main project I have been involved in is the Pilot project by USAID/MYC. Food parcels, called Manna food, have been distributed for USAID by MYC since the beginning of this year, and our job is to visit 4 schools in each region, so in total, we will visit 16 schools. We’ve been visiting an average of two or three schools on a daily basis to carry out nutritional assessments. I measure the height and weight of children to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI).” Kevin’s favourite part was interacting with the children. He says, “Swaziland is a beautiful country with beautiful, and kind people, I have really enjoyed my experience with MYC and I feel like I am leaving a piece of my heart here.”

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is evident that overall, the food distribution programme has been successful. We have noted an increase of height and weight for most students, and an increase in attendance; more students are coming to school as it ensures they will receive at least one meal a day. Many teachers have told us that students were more eager to participate in classes. We will be conducting nutritional assessments until the end of this year. Food supplies at many of these schools are already running out. Without the additional food, the students at these schools are dropping their weights rather signifi cantly.

We were happy to receive a visit in September from Patience Komboni, the USAID Regional Specialist for Southern Africa. She went on school visits with the MYC team and was here to monitor our progress so far.

Left, a dinner lady cooking the nutritional meal for lunch. Right a picture of Lovemore, Kevin and Bravo on one of their school visits. Lovemore and Bravo are the usual MYC team in charge of collecting data.

Kevin about to measurethe height of a pupil

Imvelo EswatiniFollowing our tradition of recruiting designers from the UK, we were happy to be joined by a new Designer and Product Developer from London this May. Michelle, who arrived just in time for Bushfi re, worked alongside the artisans to design and develop two brand new collections ‘Wild Lime’ and ‘Damask Rose.’ They received a great response at SARCDA, the design trade fair, held this August in Jo’burg.

Imvelo have just participated in a fantastic fashion showcase in support of a Health and Wellness Day for women in Swaziland, organised by Mustard Seed Africa and held at House on Fire last week. Imvelo are also pleased to have a new Facebook page where you can keep up to date with the latest news and products, so log on and show your support!

This October, we updated the display at our Ngwenya Store to include the new 2012 collections.

Michelle drilling holes for the new display, right, the ‘Wild Lime’ collection which has proven very popular

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Ngwenya Display

Above right, girls modelling the ‘Enchanted Africa,’ collection on the photoshoot, a week before the Showcase. Below left the ‘Woven African Twist Necklace,’ and right, the ‘Long Lustre Necklace,’ and ‘Lustre Drop Earrings.’

In July of 2012 new partnerships were forged in the Kitchen with regard to the overall management of the Kitchen operations. The new partners are Sonia and Carlos Paiva, who are well known and well established business people here in Manzini. In order for the Kitchen to be truly viable it needs to increase production far beyond its present output. The new customers will be sourced in South Africa and Mozambique.

By the end of 2012 we will have a clearer picture of the future potential of Eswatini Kitchen. The Kitchen will continue to supply our international buyers with a full range of Eswatini products. The most popular product at the moment is Swazi Fire, a real fi ery hot- chilli sauce. Our new partners are committed to the social responsibility aspects of the Kitchen, and in particular, to continue to give fi nancial support to Manzini Youth Care on an annual basis.

Eswatini Kitchen

When Eswatini Kitchen Honey was established in 2007 we only had a handful of farmers supplying us with honey, today, we have over 800 farmers, and over 3,000 people benefi ting from this project. 50% of the farmers producing honey are grand-parents who were trained in 2010/2011. Some of our beekeep-ers did not get the opportunity to go to school, so we have extended the practical training, and designed a new curriculum including visuals. We also need to train the beekeepers trained before 2010 on HIV awareness and business management, as many of them lack the skills needed to manage their business.

We have started exporting honey to South Africa and Mozambique so far, and we are conducting a survey plan which will be implemented soon to allow our honey not to be radiated in South Africa.

 

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We have partnered with Micro Finance Project who have started to support beekeeping in the rural areas and we help provide material for their beekeepers. We have also partnered with the Prince Makhosini Award Scheme who are currently conducting training in high schools around the country, we will support them and purchase the honey from the beekeepers. This August we attended the Swaziland International Trade fair through the government of Swaziland and we were hosted at the ministry of Agriculture pavilion, and had a display on the SWIFT stand, the ‘Swaziland International Fair Trade Association.’ SWIFT also help us with training and in marketing our products locally and internationally

Eswatini Kitchen Honey

The Marimba band has had a lot happening over the last year. In December 2011, the Marimba band had its fi rst end of year party in Mhlawula, a National Park in Swaziland, accompanied by the Marimba Teacher and Volunteers. The kids enjoyed the celebration with a barbeque and hike.

2012 has got off to a great start for the Marimba band. After 5 years of the MYC Marimba band’s existence, the boys have chosen an offi cial name: MYC Rocking Africa Marimba Band!

MYC Rocking Africa

Music School ProjectThe Music School is part of the MYC Music Programme at Enjabulweni Primary School which is taught by Thembela Ngwenya and assisted by one of the International Volunteers.

From Monday to Thursday students from Grade 3 up to Grade 6 get taught at the Music School. Each class gets one lesson per week. There are three terms which cover Music theory and practical, with room for the new volunteer to come in and teach to their strengths especially in the practical experience.

2012 saw the renovation of the Music room thanks to funding received from the Bonn Mission. There is a new curriculum and a brand new room which is helping build up the music programme.

The Music Room gives the children a chance to be creative, and open their minds to new subjects not part of their usual curriculum. The students learn different songs with traditional, roman catholic and modern backgrounds, get the knowledge to build their own instruments and learn the basics of music theory.

The new music school refl ects the spirit of Giovanni Don Bosco at Enjabulweni Primary School. The students have an environment in which to explore their creativity. Music can help the children to open their minds and help forget for a short time per week the challenging, and diffi cult situations they have had to deal with in their lives.

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A huge success for 2012 has been winning the Swazi National Music Tihlabani Award in the category of best traditional group

They performed at this year’s Bushfi re in May, and are in talks to perform with Bholoja, one of Swaziland’s big musical talents.

We are very proud of the boys, and thank Marius and Thembela for all their hard work. We look forward to seeing what Jan our new German Volunteer can do with the band this year.

Left; Marius offering advice during a performance, right; the Marimba Band, ‘rocking’ the tent at the 2012 Bushfi re

Last year, American Volunteer Ryan Marchese was responsible for the vegetable garden at Enjabulweni, he passed it on to Cedric, the Fairview House Father, when he left MYC in June. Ryan went to learn more about Permaculture at Guba, an NGO in Malkerns that teaches Permaculture, and intends to bring his knowledge to McCorkindales where he will be teaching the children all about growing their own vegetables, nutrition, climate change and the benefi ts of composting. So far he has started a new vegetable patch and compost area and has plans to harvest the rainwater.

We have a new addition to the McCorkindales team, Melanie Heston, a Peace Corp Volunteer, moved on site in August, and will be staying at the orphanage for 2 years. She will be assisting with the personal development of the children, as well as helping Ryan with the kitchen garden. She has already started a dance team with some of the girls and cultivated a caring environment where the girls feel comfortable sharing some of their problems with her. She will be working closely with the Social Welfare Department and will be the liaison between MYC and McCorkindales.

The Enjabulweni Schools Garden is a project of Enjabulweni Primary School. Every day a class works for an hour and a half in the vegetable garden, maintaining the plot. They plant new seedlings grown in the nursery, water the plants, weed and harvest vegetables, and make compost. The School’s Garden, named ‘Green Land’ shows the pupils that food isn’t only found in the supermarket, but comes out of the ground. It is also important in supplementing the children’s diet, as they get to grow, then eat a part of the harvest which includes, tomatoes, cabbage, spinach, carrots, onions, green pepper and beetroot.

Julius Fittkau, the new German Volunteer will be supervising the garden this year, taking over from Cedric. There are a lot of things to do, including securing the chicken coop, preparing new beds for planting more fresh food and painting the wall that borders the garden with the name ‘Green Land.’

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McCorkindales

Enjabulweni School Garden ‘Green Land’

Ryan moving on site with his compost buckets

Melanie and the boys creating compost areas

“Me and Tania did a hygiene workshop at

Enjabulweni. We taught the kids how to brush

their teeth, and how important it was to do this

every day. We showed them how to wash their

cloths and bed sheets. The kids (8-12 year olds)

were very enthusiastic about the workshop and

the tooth brushes didn’t go to waste! Apart

from workshops and daily social welfare routine,

we also went to visit the homes and just played

with the kids. We went tutoring twice a week to

help the kids in the evenings with their homework.

When the weather is nice, the volunteers take the

kids swimming.

Being a social worker with MYC changed the way

I look at social work now and has defi nitely made

me more passionate, critical and positive.

Living with all the other volunteers has also been

a wonderful experience! Learning about other

cultures, learning different languages,

spending time with other passionate young people…

It is hard to describe my experience with MYC as

it was simply perfect, and I wouldn’t hesitate a

second if I had the chance to do it all over again!”

Truus and Tania our two Belgian Volunteers

Tania and Truus joined MYC for four months earlier in the year as part of their Social Work degree. They learnt a lot from their time with us, and got hands-on Social Work experience through their daily contact with the boys. Below, Truus shares some of her thoughts from her time at MYC.

Social Work interns help the Social Welfare team immeasurably, and we are grateful for their involvement. They assist the team wherever possible, from offi ce support to fi eld support; performing interviews, reviewing the children’s cases, assisting with home visits and bringing the boys to counselling when required.

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Social Work Interns

Our new volunteers Jan and Julius arrived from Germany this August, they are very keen to make their mark, and carry on the good work of former volunteers. Jan will be putting his musical talents to good use with the Marimba Band and Music School, while Julius will put his prowess as an athlete to good use as coach of the football team as well as helping with the sports holiday programme. After a week’s training at Guba, he is keen to use is green fi ngers to help and oversee the boys at Enjabulweni Garden. Both will help with tutoring the boys, and delivering the donated Pick n Pay food to the homes.

Wamukelekile / Willkommen!

We must be doing something right, our past Volunteers can’t seem to stay away.....

Volunteers from the UK and Austria came out this Winter to see the boys and help out for a few weeks. Thanks Lydia, Hanna and Alex, the children loved having you around!

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MYC Hike

Every year the Volunteers like to take the boys from the MYC homes on a day’s hike, so armed with peanut butter sandwiches, oranges, lollipops and plenty of water, they rounded up the boys and headed for a nearby summit. It was a fun day out for all, and the boys seemed to have an endless supply of energy, running and jumping around all day!

Above left; our new Development Manager with the boys, the boys on top of the mountain, with Marius, a supportive shoulder. Bottom, Micha handing out oranges after reaching the top of the summit.

Volunteers with the boys on their enjoyable day hike

We had two groups of friends visiting Manzini Youth Care this July that managed to do amazing work within a very short time frame.

Firstly we were visited by two teachers from St. Martin’s Primary School in Sunderland. Teresa and Sarah were here for 10 days and taught at Enjabulweni Primary School.

Then we were visited by our well-known young friends from the Sunderland school in the UK. Led by Ann Laydon, these 15 young ladies and 5 female teachers have made a great impression by painting the interior of Enjabulweni home, painting and tiling the bathroom at McCorkindales, and most importantly befriending the children of MYC.

Thank you Sunderland!

MYC has had to say goodbye to many fantastic short and long term volunteers throughout the year: Micha, Marius, Henry, Truus, Tania, Martin and Oisin.Our longer term volunteers Micha and Marius did great work with the Marimba Band and Sports Programme, and Henry helped the children with Computer Studies, we thank them all.

July saw the departure of ‘Queen Katrin,’ our long standing volunteer. Kat worked with MYC for 2 years as a Social Worker, and has returned to Germany where she carries on her Social Work, special thanks goes to her for all her hard work with the boys.

All of them have been best friends and examples to the boys as well as of invaluable support to the whole organization. All staff and boys will miss you dearly; Siyabonga!

Thank you Sunderland!

Sala Kahle / Goodbye

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We have been lucky to have had some fantastic volunteers over the last year, all of whom left their own mark. Volunteers are vital to the work that we do and so many projects owe their success to their hard work and dedication.

Volunteers

Thank You...to all our dedicated MYC donors and everyone who supported our projects. To all of you who made our work possible – please accept our gratitude.

We would like to offer special thanks to the following businesses and organisations, and noteworthy individuals for their generous support, whether fi nancial or practical: Bakers Corner, Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Imvelo Eswatini, Eswatini Kitchen Honey, St. Anthony’s School for Girls, Solon Foundation, Swazi Legacy, Bonn Mission, Rector Major, RNZWCS, Hosea’s Heart, Sister Judith, Elizabeth Burke, Joyce Gallie, Sandra Lenagaan, James Mulhall, The Hendrikson’s, Ann and Teresa Laydon, Roy Thomas,

We would also like to acknowledge the support of the European Union, the New Zealand Government, the US Government, and the Salesian Community.

Thank you for your continual support, interest and prayer. We always look forward to hearing your news, advice and well wishes. God Bless. Fr Larry McDonnell

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MANZINI YOUTH CARE (MYC)Southern Distributor RoadP.O. Box 3700Manzini, SwazilandTel: +268 2505 6963Web: www.manziniyouthcare.com