Shareholders visit MWVS Community Programme

Our Community Leader Mr Edmund Buni
and his project coordinator

Let the Community Speak

This was a wonderful opportunity for the Shareholders to have a direct dialogue with the beneficiaries and to see first-hand the impact that their investment is having in our communities. See more...

Knitting Program

See the concentration

Training communities to knit

Jeanette and her team from Blue Horizon Bay have been diligently training community members from the from our our communities of Shamrock, Fitches Corner and Witteklip. 

After several weeks the attendees have now knitted complete garments. The level of achievement and confidence is visible. See more...

Rural Solar Electrification

The young enquiring minds

AFSD trains communities about solar energy

Ryan and Thabiso from AFSD trained individuals in our communities of Shamrock, Fitches Corner and Witteklip. Such a wonderful site: the joy of being able to charge their cell phones. See more...

Knitting Classes

Progress Update
Read the following update from Ms Jeanette Nolte, responsible for this amazing confidence boosting initiative.

From humble beginnings

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Evening Gentlemen, 

Trust you have all had a good rest over the last few days.  
For now this is a one way street so I will say, yes I did have a good weekend  (I take it you would ask the question if you were here),  we  held our Cancer Cup of Tea on Saturday, had plenty of guests, lots to eat and lots of goodies to raffle, made a lot of money for the Cancer Association of SA, but could have done better.

Knitting Classes:
Tuesday will be our last knitting class for this group of ladies as the next Tuesday we are hoping to have a small get together where we can further discuss  a few more ideas.  ( next Tuesday we are hoping to have a small party to thank the ladies who attended the class, for their discipline and loyalty to the programme and to the ladies who so kindly helped train the ladeis).

Last Tuesday just before close of day we all sat together and discussed the way forward. We all agreed that most of the ladies had now ‘mastered the art of knitting’ and were ready to continue on their own, but we were not going to just leave them and walk away.
Incidentally some of the ladies had already bought  wool and needles and were knitting at home, these knitted garments will be displayed at next week’s get together.

I have identified two ladies:
Fitchet’s Corner – Mrs Thembeka Jacobs.
Shamrock – Lindeka Jacobs.

These two ladies get along with all the other ladies and are considered to be ‘leaders’ .
So now the programme would be.

That Ms Jacobs and Lindeka Jacobs continue helping  the ladies  (who had attended the classes) with their knitting at a house in each community.
That once a week or perhaps every second week I would travel to Fitchet’s Corner and Shamrock and meet with the two leaders and as many of the other ladies to see what progress has been made.
However to enable the ladies to continue with their knitting there would be a proposal made to the Africa Foundation to assist with balls of wool until such time as the ladies had   established a good stock of  knitted goods, these goods would then be sold (now that still has to be sorted out).

That the two leaders would also make themselves available to any ‘new learners’ in their respective communities, and teach them how to knit.
By doing this you actually are giving over to the two leaders a great deal of responsibility, which is what I strive for, one cannot always hold a person’s hand when crossing the street, that people  must learn to cross the street on their own, thereby instilling  confidence and a much better chance of success.
I don’t think that this is premature, I think the time is right, we as trainers have unveiled a talent that they did not know existed.

It is time for them to continue on their own, they must not just be  told to get on with the knitting, but that I also remain part of their team and  where my visits to the two communities would be  essential, to encourage and see where there is progress.

That is how I see the way forward for these ladies and believe together all of these ladies make a terrific team.

So like everything else in life I have to have approval of this proposal so that next Tuesday I can assure them that our relationship does not end now but will continue.

Take care and have a great week.
Jeanette L Nolte

Capacity Development - 8 Week Youth Development Programme

Youth Capacity Development

An 8 week capacity development programme that was hosted by Ms Jeanette Nolte. The results have been amazing and have provided an insight into the capabilities of the youth within our communities. Read more...

Weekly On-site Project Report

Progress Report

This report is prepared by Thabiso Masigo and is meant to provide a record of his activities and project progress while on-site. Read more...

Weekly Community Project Team Reports

Weekly Project Team Reports from Witteklip, Fitches Corner and Shamrock

This report is prepared by the 3x project coordinators from the community project teams. Read more...

Monitoring & Evaluation

How do you know which direction to guide your vessel? 

Simple, you go in the direction that the wind takes you. So by the same token, who are the individuals that exhibit the characteristics of potential high performers. One needs to constantly measure, monitor and report on performance. In addition, the report provides an indicator of development areas. Read more and let us have your input...

Community Project Teams

Getting things done

How do you ensure that you drive consistant and sustainable "change" in the communities? 

AFSD has developed an approach that establish project teams in the communities with a clear code of conduct, roles& responsibilities, deliverables and remuneration. The benefit is that the communities are now held accountable for deliver and at the same time, immediate skills development and job creation is instituted. Read more...

Knitting Classes

See the enthusiasm and commitment

Creating a Sense of Purpose

Who would have considered that knitting could be the driver of change. The vision and commitment by Jeanette has provide a sense of purpose for our communities. Of even greater surprise is the attendance of a few male candidates from our communities. See more...

Youth Leadership Program

Ntombizanda Platjie

Monitoring and Evaluation

The greatest challenge with any initiative is to understand what is possible, how to best accomplish the possible and most importantly what to measure, monitor and report. 

AFSD has developed an M&E instrument that is evolving as we gain a better appreciation of our communities. Ntombizanda is one of the youth that has participated in the Youth Leadership Programme. Read more...

Knitting Classes

Safe and comfortable transport

Creating a Sense of Purpose

The attendees are collected from the Witteklip, Shamrock and Fitches Corner communities and conveyed to the Blue Horizon Bay Community Centre. See more...