Graham and Nicola's update - Dec 2008
It is hot and sunny here! Are you keeping warm? We are going back to the UK for a short break over Christmas and are gearing up for the cold so we will be able to join with you and moan about the weather again!!
We have been back in Johannesburg for less than three months and the time has flown by. In some respects it has been a very unsettled period for us as. The Australian volunteers, Clint and Fleur, have been doing a magnificent job running the day to day programme, so we have had to find our way back into things here and have been concentrating on reviewing the Skills for Life course and planning for the next year. It has also taken us 8 weeks to find a place to rent and we are only just beginning to feel settled in a place we can call home.
Due to popular demand Graham has started a Saturday morning computer class for adults in the community. We have managed to find volunteers to do the teaching and our team of youngsters from the UK are administering it so it is not all up to him to run.
With Clint and Fleur returning to Australia shortly we will be more hands on next year. However we need to hand over the programme before we finally depart and so we need replacements. Two of our colleagues, Karl and Sthembile, will be involved in various aspects of the programme but we have not yet identified the key person or people to run the school leavers course. Funding is the big issue, which Oasis SA is struggling to find.
A big advantage of standing back from the detail is that we have been able to take stock and assess what has been happening. Of the first group this year we know that nearly half are in learnerships or in full time employment. Unfortunately the others have not been back to see us and it has been difficult staying in touch.
David (not his real name) has been working at Spar for 3 months and has already had 3 promotions. He started packing bags, and was then promoted to merchandising. He then worked in the Bakery and was then promoted to working in Admin. “It is all because of Oasis, they brought my CV here.”
“I have lived in Diepsloot for 9 years, hopefully I will move out next year because I hope to start college. I live with my parents and my younger brother and sister.”
“When I moved to Diepsloot I was just a kid, it was ok. As I started growing up I realised it is not a good place for little kids to grow up in because in Diepsloot most kids do drugs and don’t go to school, peer pressure means you can end up being like them. It is not a safe place at night. I went to drop my application for College and I got robbed – my money and phone were taken and that was in Pretoria. In Diepsloot, they don’t just rob you, they hurt you and leave you.”
“I didn’t hang around with bad friends, because I thought about my future and wanted my little brother and sister to look up to me and to make a better future for me.”
The course… “was a very interesting experience. When we first heard about it we didn’t think it was going to work out. They were offering to learn computers for free and pay for your transport there. We didn’t know if it would really happen but the next thing I know we were doing computers, life skills, getting help in communicating. I miss those days, I made some good friends, the whole group – they were great.”
“I changed a lot as a person, started focusing more on my future. The breakthrough course about life, how to manage money and communicate was a great experience. Now I am involved in business I have to deal with customers and my communication has to be good. Communication is what I had most problems with, expressing my feelings and being shy. They taught us how to open up.”
“I had English classes, and learnt how to pronounce difficult words. I did computers for 6 months and got a certificate – I got an A. For jobs they look at the certificate and see you can work with computers.”
Jane (not her real name) is 18 and has lived in Diepsloot with 2 of her sisters for 5 years. She grew up in Pilanesburg which is a rural area, so Diepsloot was a big change. She and 2 of her sisters moved to Diepsloot, but her mother and other 2 sisters still live in Pilanesburg.
“On the breakthrough course I learnt how to be positive. I know that as long as anyone can do this, I can do it.” While Jane attended the Oasis course she got onto a learnership programme for management training at Checkers supermarket. “I wrote a test – it was difficult but I passed… I was very excited about that. The Oasis course helped prepare me a lot, we did practice interviews. When I told people about the learnership, they asked me how old I was. When I told them I was 18, they said I was too young and wasn’t going to make it. Oasis told us that some people won’t like what you are doing, but just be positive and be yourself.”
She is one of the youngest employees training to be a manager, and her boss told her that she is a hard worker. She has been working at Checkers for 4 months and is going for an assessment. If she passes she will be appointed as a manager. “People have asked me how long I have been working here, and when I tell them 4 months, they are surprised and say I look like I have been working here for 2 year.” She has to leave 2 hours to get to work leaving at 6am in the morning and getting homes at 6pm at night, “I work Monday to Saturday but sometimes I come in on Sundays as well, I just love what I am doing.”
“I make sure I save money every month, Oasis taught us time management and money management courses and that has been useful.” I also volunteered with children in the local community, “I learnt to be patient and to learn their names.”
The second course this year had just ended, with two days of ICT exams for each student. This is what some of them have had to say:-
“I was able to use the internet, email my CV, and get tips on how to approach interviews. This course has really upgraded me a lot.”
“Before the course I wasn’t talkative like I am now, I thought my English was bad and I couldn’t talk to people, I could write English but not speak. Two events happened here and I was able to MC at both of them. That showed me that I was going places. I went from quivering when speaking to people to being confident and have high self esteem.”
“I head about Oasis through my mum who is a community health worker. I was helping in my Aunts tavern, mum called me back to do the course so it will be easier to find a job. Employers are looking for people who are computer literate, and now I can hand them a certificate to show I can work on computers.”
“The (skills for life) course has changed my communication skills, listening skills and anger management – every skill I have acquired, I utilise. Oasis made me see with different eyes, realise my dreams and what I need to do to get there and unleash my potential. I am a man with thoughts to change my life for the best.”
“When I arrived in Johannesburg I thought things would be easy but they became very tough, it’s not easy. There are no industries and if there is not something you can do it can be difficult. “I have learnt a lot, skills for life has helped us a lot, we are going to achieve because we attended it. Even though we meet challenges on the street, things we have learnt to help us know you must have a goal in life. We have learnt that we have a lot of potential within us and that we must use it each and every day. Before we are not aware, but now I know that there is a lot of potential in me, I must use it.”
That’s what some of our youngsters have had to say, and we have many more stories. It’s what makes it all worthwhile to us, and we both get emotional when we read them. These are all individuals, loved by God and special to Him, and your support has made it possible for us, in some small way, to make a difference in their lives. Who knows what the future holds for these youngsters, or what impact they will have on their families and their communities.
So what about the next 6 months? We are continuing to run our Skills for Life programme for school leavers, (which has been renamed Bridge the Gap) but will offer some of the courses to other Oasis beneficiaries, like the community health workers and pre-school teachers who see what our youngsters are doing and want to learn too!! To this end we hope to expand the computer classes to 15, which will mean having to move into the garage. This is a less suitable option; hot, dusty, no windows and poorer security, but we can see no other way. This will allow us to train more people each day. One of our most successful life skills components has been the Breakthrough course given by an organisation called Grassroots. This is expensive so Sthembile and Karl are going to train as trainers so that we can offer it to more people. The training for these two alone will cost 1,100 GBP. And of course we need to find and train our replacements to take over from us.
Please pray that the programme expansion will work out, that we will find new funding, and will find our replacements quickly. The new course in January will start with an induction programme, but not a camp this time as there are no funds. A church and school are providing the facilities for the induction and we are paying for lunch so that is thanks to you.
We will see some of you over Christmas, but our greetings and thanks to all of you. You are making a difference in young peoples’ lives. Thank you.
| 