The
Activity Centre
What is today known as the EISS ACTIVITY CENTRE, is a building
that was offered to EISS by the municipality free of charge, subject only to the
provision that maintenance be the sole responsibility of EISS. It is a multi-purpose
centre situated at the Nelson Mandela Township (NeMaTo) in Port Alfred and serves
as a venue for numerous community development activities as well as a meeting
venue for community development organisations. EISS organises and runs educational
and life-skills programmes for the NeMaTo children at the Activity Centre. The
purpose of such programmes is to keep the children away from the streets, alcohol
and drugs. Just like the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, the EISS Foundation in
general and the Activity Centre programme in particular serve as a humanitarian
response to the plight of NeMaTo's children. In this regard after-school activities
are organised for kids between the ages of 4 and 15. On an ongoing basis, students
focus on life-skills training (three afternoons a week) with the children of NeMaTo.
Some
of the activities organised by the EISS students include: painting, colouring,
soccer, basketball, singing and playing with educational toys. The idea is not
only to keep them active but to help them acquire fresh skills, clarity of thought,
growing imagination and creativity. The EISS Activity Centre currently receives
between 30 - 50 children every afternoon. There is therefore a need for more volunteers
to match the increasing number of children coming to the Activity Centre.
The
responsibilities of the volunteers will include designing new activities with
an educational focus for the kids, teaching the children the basic rules of soccer
and basketball and teaching them English language. (It is worth mentioning that
99% of the children are Xhosa speaking). The EISS AC programme is a life-time
experience as it offers an opportunity to experience and learn about the Xhosa
culture. Improving the lives of children is our gift to humanity; join us in this
moral
obligation.
Feeding Scheme
According to a report by
the Human Science Research Council, approximately 1.5 million South African children
experience malnutrition, 14 million people are vulnerable to food insecurity and
43% of households suffer from food poverty. More than 10% of children aged between
1-9 years are underweight and more than 20% of the children are affected by stunted
growth as a result of malnutrition. The fact that this research focused on children
should not be
concluded that malnutrition only affects children, this is the
same for adults.
In Port Alfred, malnutrition greatly contributes to the
poor performance of learners. As one teacher mentioned "it is unfair to expect
learners to do well when they come to school with an empty stomach."
In
an effort to address the problem of malnutrition, EISS has over the years supported
the efforts of the Harris House-Soup Kitchen.
Every Monday and Wednesday,
soup and bread is provided to the underprivileged people in the township. The
problem this programme faces is the lack of sufficient manpower to deal with the
increasing number of people to be served (400 - 600 a day). Volunteers are needed
to help in the sharing of the bread and dishing out the soup.
Ntingani
Co-Operative Services
Ntinga in the Xhosa language is a command to 'rise
up.' It is a business set up by four primary school teachers and includes tourism,
catering, transportation and hospitality. The students from EISS serve as consultants
to this business. EISS students have been very instrumental in the drafting of
the Articles of Association and the Memorandum of Association. There is a need
for students with knowledge in financial management to assist this group of entrepreneurs
realise their dream. EISS decided to assist 'Ntingani' because unlike other businesses,
the mission of this business is to create employment for people from the underprivileged
communities. (The Nelson Mandela Township).
Computer Literacy Skills
Development
Computer literacy which is a way of life in the developed parts
of the world is still at its infancy stage in South Africa. Although some of the
schools in Port Alfred do possess computer facilities, there is an absence of
teachers with any computer knowledge or skills. Volunteers will be involved in
teaching computer skills to the primary school learners, who have never been exposed
to computers in their lives. The EISS computer literacy programme is based on
the premises and the end result of the computer literacy is not in just knowing
how to operate computers but to use technology as a tool for communication, organisation,
research and problem-solving. This will help the learners meet the demands of
the job market. In the first quarter of 2008, there were 40,000 job vacancies
in South Africa in the field of ICT.
Enkuthazweni School for the Disabled
Enkuthazweni,
an NGO formed by parents and guardians of the disabled members of our society,
started its programme in 1997. Nothing illustrates more profoundly the difference
between the high ideals and sentiments expressed by governments, as found in policy
documents, and the grim reality of non-delivery of programmes to carry out the
promises of transformation, as evidenced by the struggle of Enkuthazweni School
for the Disabled. In the idyllic town of Port nAlfred, a holiday resort which
boasts one of the most attractive marinas in South Africa, is to be found a special
education classroom hidden away in the recesses of the poverty-stricken township
named after the modern founding father of our nation, Nelson Mandela. In an abandoned
beer hall, thirty five mentally challenged and physically disabled learners, share
one classroom in which children of seven years and adult men and women, whose
ages range from eighteen to twenty nine years, sit cheek by jowl in dreary and
un-stimulating surroundings.
They are learners of differing mental abilities
and physical disabilities; among them is a hearing impaired child who does not
know any sign language and communicates with her classmates in grunts and squeals.
The instructors in this classroom are volunteers who have no training in special
education.
They soldier on, trying to impart "daily life skills."
In doing so, they do not follow any set curriculum and depend on their own devices
and ingenuity. These learners are completely segregated from other learners who
attend primary and secondary schools in Port Alfred.
Teaching Programme
In
its firm determination to establish enduring relations with the communities of
Port Alfred and in line with its policy of making a social investment contribution
in the communities in which its campuses function, Stenden Port Alfred decided
to commission a study of the educational needs of the schools in Port Alfred.
The devastation caused by centuries of unequal distribution of social and economic
benefits and the psychological effects of some of the colour bar and apartheid
can be seen to have affected the educational performance of certain groups. Last
year none of the learners from the Nelson Mandela Township in Port Alfred succeeded
in passing the entrance exams into the University (matric). The current poor performance
has been blamed on over-crowded classrooms, insufficient and ill-trained teachers
and the lack of basic study materials. There is therefore an urgent need for volunteers
to help in teaching the learners subjects like Mathematics, English, Art &
Culture and Natural Science. Education is the first step towards the eradication
of poverty. Join the EISS students in giving these kids a future.
Soccer
Initiative and the Back to School Programme
There are about 50 youths who
live at the garbage dump of Port Alfred, all of them school drop outs. The kids
have something in common and that is that they all sniff glue and love soccer.
The EISS soccer initiative has as objectives keeping the youth away from the dump,
where they are exposed to the use of drugs, by offering them the chance to get
involved in an activity they like (soccer). Through soccer we are able to talk
to and establish a relationship with these young people, identify their problems
and link them up with the appropriate social institutions that provide help. We
also encourage them to get back to school and in this regard we work with the
principals of the schools. We presently organise soccer trainings and games on
Mondays and Tuesdays. Our goal is to work with these children on a daily basis.
We therefore need volunteers to help us attain this goal. The tasks of the volunteers
include inter alia, organising soccer training sessions, teaching them the basic
rules of soccer (remember South Africa is a rugby nation) and organising friendly
encounters with other teams around Port Alfred.
The Port Alfred Tuberculosis
Hospital
The number of people in South Africa suffering from TB is rising.
Our priority is children suffering from TB. We deal with two groups of children.
The first group is that of children suffering from TB. These children are admitted
into the TB hospital with their parents only visiting them a couple of days a
week. The second group are children that come to the hospital because their parents
are sick and there is no one to take care of them. They are therefore forced to
live with their parents at the hospital. Over the years students from Stenden
University Port Alfred have raised money to provide toys for these kids as well
as organise recreational activities for them in the afternoons. There has been
no reported case of TB at our institution nor have any of our students contracted
TB as a result of working with these children. This is because we make sure our
students get the TB vaccine before going to work with the kids. This applies to
anyone wishing to volunteer at the TB hospital. Open your hands and hearts to
these sweet little souls and join our TB hospital programme.
Bathurst
Community Centre
Bathurst is an historic Settler village some 15 kilometres
inland from Port Alfred. On the northern border is a typical poor Apartheid devastated
township .Very few social development initiatives exist in the township. The Community
Centre, with a crèche, a computer laboratory, a vegetable garden and a
service centre for the elderly is the major NGO in the area. Interns can assist
with business and computer training.
Nelson Mandela Township Rowing
Club
Every rowing season the management holds trials to select the top
20 or so best rowers or potential rowers in NeMaTo Township of Port Alfred. These
young school going boys and girls are then exposed to the appropriate training
to develop into high performance athletes. Various titles have been won by this
team. Interns can assist with supplemental education, life skills and with the
actual rowing training.
Arthiritus Foundation
This project operates
out of the EISS/Stenden Activity Centre in Nemato. .A large group of sufferers
gather most weekday mornings to learn entrepreneurial skills, produce goods for
sale and to socialise. Interns can assist with social support, development of
new products and markets and with general practical assistance.
Kenton
Social Mapping
This sea side village, 30km to the west of Port Alfred,
is surrounded by poor communities .This project focuses on recording the health
and social circumstances of every pre-school child .The aim is to ensure appropriate
health and social services are rendered to every child. Interns can assist with
the
field research.
Aids Orphanage
HIV/Aids is a great problem
in this area. Children are consequently orphaned and some become heads of their
households. The death of parents is usually a traumatic experience for these children.
Two organisations render practical and counselling assistance to these children.
Musical, creative and sporting activities are organised as a means of helping
the children express their emotions as well as stimulate their personal development.
Interns can assist in any of the functions mentioned above.
Teenage pregnancy
prevention programme Structured programs are presented in the local schools to
promote the prevention of teenage pregnancies and related issues. Interns can
present these programs.
"Holiday Activities" Programme
The
rationale behind such a programme is that holidays are the time children are most
vulnerable to abuse and exposed to alcohol and drug use. This has been blamed
on the non existence of recreational facilities and activities for children. Interns
can plan, organise and execute structured holiday programs for the youths.
NeMaTo
Crèche
People who like working with children will fine this program
interesting. The crèche is situated in the Nelson Mandela Township and
has 102 kids, with just two untrained ladies taking care of them. The crèche
is illequipped with kids sleeping on the floor. Students from our university recently
raised money and provided the crèche with a refrigerator, mattresses and
blankets. We need volunteers to help the two ladies at the crèche. |
Port
Alfred Community Outreach and Care Projects
