Grace Kuse;
Ursula Mshuqwana;
Daphne Gqibitole;
Mandisi Fani;
Mabel Yaso;
Nozuko Pele;
Fezeka Pele;
Gladys Ntshula.

Daphne Gqibitole;
Mandis Fani;
Nombulelo Ursula Mshuqwana;
David Malgas;
Grace Kuse

During a ten-week internship with SAEP, I intend to complete two interrelated projects in the Philippi Township.

• Conduct interviews with group members to compile their profiles. This will guide me in preparing them for their roles within the group.
• Facilitate workshops that will build confidence and trust among group members. Such workshops will range in topic from public speaking to strategic problem solving. I will consult with literature on team building and outside organizations that specialize in organizing.
• Work with the group to run an election of officers. This will give our meetings an organized, sustainable structure.
• Work with the group to draft a policy for amendment to Khulani’s constitution. This will formally integrate the group into the organizational structure.
• Establish relationship between group and grassroots organization experienced at team building and conflict resolution. This will provide group leaders with a continuous community support network that can provide them with educational resources when needed.
• Develop plan for youth program and initiate contact with Sinethemba High School.
• Compile a portfolio for interns who wish to continue with the project.

Developing a community outreach program within an existing grassroots organization appears somewhat paradoxical. After all, the term "grassroots" implies that the group was formed from the community, for the community. However, in the long term this is not so simple. Limited resources often overburden staff with fundraising and administrative responsibilities. It is therefore easy to grow consumed with keeping the organization afloat, rather than steering it towards its mission. Furthermore, many local communities harbor mistrust for development organizations. Populations who face a history of political and economic violence sometimes fear that activism in their community will place them in dangerous conflict with government authorities. This paranoia coupled with the dearth of resources available in the community place overwhelming strains on an organization’s public relations. The problem calls for an alternative approach to community outreach that involves the organization’s beneficiaries in the effort.

1. What is the purpose of your business?

The purpose of my business is to teach—mostly women, could be men, also—everyone who wants to learn how to machinate and make jerseys for the family or for school, or for selling to the community or outside the community so that they can have some way of making money….so that they can look after their families, …support their families, and help educate their children.

2. So the group that you serve is comprised mainly of women?

Since we are living in democracy, I don’t mainly train women. I train everyone with the need. It could be women. It could be men. It could be disabled people. All those who think or want to be helped in that respect.

3. What is the general age range of the people with whom you work?

Actually, at the moment, it is like the group who is unable to be employed, or I should say, employable group…. from fifteen upwards.

4. What do you think is the largest benefit that you give to these people through working with them?

The largest benefit as far as I think is to train them actually to be independent.

5. How does your business benefit the greater community?

Well, for the community, like now we’ve got schools, we’ve got people who are buying from flea markets…. If they can make the jerseys that they’re buying from the flea markets, for sure they can produce those jerseys and they can benefit from making them by selling them, and at the end of the day, they’ve got food on their tables.

6. What kind of training program do you run?

At the moment, I’m doing basic knitting, like they learn how to operate a knitting machine, how to take tensions, what wool to use, and how to produce a garment, sewing it, and maybe selling it.

7. How many people do you train at a time?

I take fifteen at a time, but sometimes, from that fifteen, we do lose about seven, and we end up with eight, nine…but at least, I’d like to end up with ten at a time.

8. Do you do the training yourself?

Yes, I do the training myself.

9. Do you teach the people that you train management skills? If so, how do you do it?

Well, if I had to teach that—and I don’t—but if I had to teach it, I suppose I’d have to be trained, also.

10. Do you attend the leadership workshops that Grace holds?

Yes, I do. Well, so far, I must say, I’ve learned a lot, for as far as marketing is concerned, that is our biggest problem. So, as we are learning how to sell ourselves as Khulani, I think this program is really going to be very, very helpful.

11. What are some exercises that work at the leadership workshops? From what do you learn most?

Well, I can’t specify, because there’s lots of things that she’s teaching us. She’s teaching us how to communicate, how to work with people, how to respect the people that we train, and how to present ourselves.

12. What is the most rewarding part of your work?

The most rewarding part of my work is to see that whomever I am training is happy and learning and thankful for what each and everybody has learned.

13. What is the most challenging and difficult part of your work?

Well, I could say it’s to find a simple way of implementing what you know to a person who is disabled and takes time to understand.

14. Tell me about the disabled people with whom you work. How do you prepare yourself to train someone who has a disability?

Well, it depends how disabled they are, because some are slow in understanding. Some have difficulty in walking, and then you’ve got to help them, and some can’t see straight…. so you’ve got to be very patient and try to make them understand, and try to make them feel cared for.

15. And how do you do that?

Suppose it’s just a…I am…. how can I say it? It’s a gift from the Lord Jesus.

16. Do you have any short stories about a particular challenge that you faced in training somebody, and how you overcame it?

Well, I can say I had a problem some time ago when I was training a group in Khayelitsha when we didn’t have enough knitting machines and they had to share. And those that came first, they wouldn’t want to budge from the machines to give a chance to the others. So, in the long term, I had to just stop them because they started to fight. I just told them that the training is finished, because if they don’t want to listen to what I tell them, or we can’t sit down and solve the problem, they keep arguing and they keep fighting. So I just decided, well, we’ve got to just close it…. I took my machines home.

17. And what about a success story?

Well a success story, I can say, the last group that I just trained, has successfully finished training, and they are doing what they came to learn by themselves.

18. What types of resources does your business need most right now?

Well, I can say what we need is some help in respect of funds, whether it’s donation of knitting machines, wool, some tea and coffee for these people, because they come from unemployed places.

19. About how much money per month does your knitting business require to keep running?

Well, at least, the course instructor has to be paid, and telephones, and rent, and stuff. I think a month can run at least R5,000.

20. Do you have enough funds to reach your goals for the immediate future?

At the moment, we’ve got absolutely nothing.

21. With whom are you competing right now?

Well, there are a lot of jerseys being sold at the flea market, but they are not like the ones that we are producing.

Personal Profile

22. What type of education have you received?

My education is as far as Standard 9. In our time, it was called JC. That’s as far as I went as far as school is concerned. But then afterwards, I worked with women in King Williams’ Town. That was my hometown. And then from there, I came to Cape Town. That’s when I…. worked with Women for Peace. I worked with unmarried mothers who were not working. We helped them feed their kids. That’s where I learned how to machinate, because for sewing there was a need for that, and I also learned from Women for Peace…. I took sewing again in two places. It was Women for Peace and Operation Hunger. And then I met a lady who introduced me into arts and crafts, so I joined this organisation…. that’s where I was doing silk screen printing, tie dye, and hand painting. And then from there, I went to Johannesburg to train as management, so I went back again for another training in Johannesburg for three weeks. Then I came back, and I was elected as Treasurer, Co-ordinator…. until the organisation was closed up. So I came to Khulani. This is where I am doing the knitting which I was trained for.

23. What do you consider to be your greatest strengths in what you do?

Well, at the moment, I love my hand working. It could be art, it could be bead working, it could be sewing, it could be knitting…. I love that. But if I cannot do that, I also like to work with people. I’m a person who likes to help around, you know, if I can solve problems, then I like to be of some help in that respect.

24. So you’re good at working with people to solve problems?

In my community, where I stay, lots of people do come with problems, and I try to help as much as I can. But I can’t say I am a problem solver.

25. What do you consider some of your weaknesses, or things that you want to improve in your work?

My weakness is that when working with people, I suppose you have to understand all kinds of characters, but when I come to people who don’t care about other people, or are radical in a way, I feel very weak because I don’t like fighting.

26. It’s difficult for you to handle conflict situations?

Not so difficult. If I can solve them in a good manner, it’s okay, but when people are harassing, and radical, then it’s a bit difficult for me, because I’m not that sort of a person.

27. What types of strengths do you want to gain from our work as a group at Khulani?

Well, I would like to see Khulani be marketed in the best way she can be sold, because I see Khulani as a project that can help lots of people, even in the Eastern Cape, not only here in the Western Cape, only if we can just be there together and work together in the process of uplifting Khulani.

1. What is the main purpose of your business?

I try to open the chances of employment to people who are unemployed.

2. With which group do you primarily work?

I am working with people in Philippi. I have older, younger, men and women.

3. What is the age range of the people with whom you work?

Ages from 22 to 40 years.

4. How do you believe that you benefit these people most?

I believe that they benefit because, according to the income of the people, they can benefit, can make their wages and at the same time, the citizens of Philippi, they benefit because it is only us who have a bakery in Philippi, because most of the time people who have occasions, they always order something like scones, buns from town, but now we are nearer so it is very easy for them to come nearby and make their order from us.

5. How does your work help the greater development of the community?

It makes it develop because in our future, where do we see our business going, so that we see the youth and develop the youth to sport and to sponsor them in their sport….

6. So you’ve sponsored some sports teams?

No, not at the moment. No.

7. Is that one of your goals?

Yes.

8. Can you describe your training program for me?

In my own, I can’t really, because we have people who can train us….

9. What is your role within the training?

To encourage the people that they must be clear, about the trainer who trained them…. always to be there and to simplify everything the trainer says.

10. So you act as a kind of interpreter to try and make the material more understandable?

Yes.

11. How many people do you train at a time?

Ten people.

12. What are the specific skills that you teach people?

Basic cooking, and how to use the bakery machinery, such as the ovens.

13. Do you teach the people that you train any management skills?

No.

14. Do the people that you train attend leadership workshops at Khulani?

Yes.

15. What do you and the other trainees get out of the leadership workshops?

We gain how to be independent…to be educated.

16. What are some activities at the workshop that help you to do that?

I learn much more about how to manage the people…. I learn how to manage the people because the people, they come with different problems, and how to solve their problems on the work.

17. What activities in the workshop helped you to do that?

I the workshop, I am the person who always asks. I always want to understand because I didn’t like the person who is leader of the workshop to run without my understanding.

18. What is the most rewarding part of your job?

Management, because I feel good when I gain…. skills, because I learn how to manage people…

19. What is the most challenging or difficult part of your job?

I have a lot of challenges, because since everything is [depending on] me…. I am busy…I am doing general work and an office job, so that is most of the difficulty that I meet…to do this job and general business.

20. Do you have any stories that you’d like to tell me about a particular challenge that you’ve overcome?

This is the incident that I have…. to try to explain people that they are on training, they are not on working, so only that incident. They tried to riot, but I tried to explain that they are not on work. They are on training.

21. What types of resources does your business need most right now?

…They need computers…

22. Do you have enough funds right now to reach your goals?

No.

23. About how many Rand per month does your business require to keep running?

Plus or minus 5,000 Rand.

24. With whom does your business compete?

Eyona Bakery in Gugulethu.

Personal Profile

25. What type of education have you received?

After secondary school, I went to a technical college, where I learned electrical engineer.

26. Have you ever done anything with that?

No, because of the financial problems. I didn’t finish my course….

27. What do you consider your greatest strength?

I can say that I am not a short-tempered person so stand in front of a person who has a problem…. so it’s only that.

28. What do you consider to be some of your weaknesses?

[When people lie to him and tell him they are sick]

29. What do you want to learn most out of our work as a group?

I know myself I am a person who always likes to get information from other people, because to stick together with the other people, I gain more and more.

1. What is the main purpose of your work?

My goal of my work is to see that whoever who is here is learning to be self sufficient in order [to be able to] do things for themselves.

2. What groups do you serve?

[Khulani] serves from [zero] to old age people. So, as a co-ordinator, I have to see if there is each and every need that they have in the centres, and if there’s a problem with the sewing, I have to have communications with the donors and funds whatsoever…

3. How does your work at Khulani contribute to the development of the community?

It will really do something to the people who are involved. Although we’ve noticed that as far as we continue using people, they get bored and tired but if you are part of Khulani, and Khulani is giving in your inside, you get broadened mind. You develop. Even the people, who come there for a day, come with a pain to get something from you. There is a way which to counsel you and to console you, and we do a little bit of therapy whatsoever.

4. Can you tell me a story in which Khulani managed to help a person out of a problem?

I can’t remember the year…. it was when a woman who is near Khulani Educare…she gets jealous of her husband having an affair outside, so this woman has to put herself on fire, and she burned with the shack. So, Khulani, since we have the youth, we have to go there and assist and to make a memory…and prayers in the evening. Then Khulani had to take some parcels of food to assist that family.

5. So Khulani does a lot of pastoral work?

Yes, it does. Because I remember one time when the youth—about seven boys—committed a crime of stealing from somebody, so the whole community is to go and smack those children to death, so the whole seven boys were dead. Then that is what our way of initiating a youth. Then we gathered the youth together in order to be far from the crime, and the early pregnancy, and to go to the shebeen at an early stage, and to go to the jukebox that, if your mother has money cannot be able to buy you a radio…. We managed to get the youth that would take the children to the youth for their leadership skills, and we managed to take them to a woodlands community centre to have some advice of what to do and what is the job description for them. At that time, we didn’t know of the management of the community—if for the children what is their work and all that—even myself at that time, I didn’t know what I was doing, because I was working to death. Then the children said, "No, you are not only the administrator; you are also co-ordinating. That’s why you feel like that is too much to do."

6. So, at the same time you were co-ordinating all of Khulani, you were working with this group?

Yes.

7. Is this group now a functioning part of Khulani?

It is still functioning as part of Khulani, although as the children grow, they started now to split. Although they call themselves different names, they are still affiliating with Khulani.

8. Where do they work during the day?

During the daytime, some of the children are still schooling. Some children, through Khulani, they are now working. They’ve got their own business going on.

12. What is the most challenging part of your work?

The most challenging part of my work is when I have to go out to meet the people that I don’t know, whereby I have to be there and talk to them, because I can’t have their name right in front of me. I have to meet them face-to-face, eye-to-eye, and speak up. That is the time that I feel a little bit nervous, but my director is really that person that if you want to learn, go and see how you are going to talk to those people. The only thing you have to know is where you’re from, what are you going there for.

13. What types of resources do you believe that Khulani needs most right now?

I think resources like, if we can have a place to mature industry…. Some people are in need of space of learning to sew…. and to the whole project, some of the people are volunteers, and it’s not nice to volunteer almost three years or four years if Khulani can have funds to give the people a little bit of [money] in order to keep them. Although Khulani is trying all that, all by the means that since there is a nutrition program going on, these people who are not working and who cannot have money, they are having food parcels at the end of the day to take home to cook. So, if maybe we can have funds, because there are so many people who are starving, who are really in need of these food parcels, that feeding the people who are in the project, because they can’t have money from the project.

14. About how much money per month does it take to keep Khulani running properly?

I can estimate about R20, 000 per month.

Personal Profile

15. What is your educational background?

I had primary school at Saint Mary’s primary school here in Langa…. secondary at Leehana…. While I lived in Cape Town for many years, I worked as a domestic. Later, I worked as an assistant schoolteacher. I spent full time on my early childhood training courses. I was the principal of Try Again Educare centre in Philippi for five years. I worked for Khulani on the administration of Food Aid, also for Philippi Educare Forum for twenty-eight years. In 1994, I co-founded Child to Child pre-school and organised cultural activities. This group performed many productions around the Western Cape. In 1995, I attended a director’s course. The idea was to learn more about theatre skills and share ideas, especially where it relates to culture, to know about stage, lights, and sound. In 1997 I managed the area Community Leadership Skills. My responsibility included organising workshops and cultural activities, administration, and teaching the drafting of proposals. [Also] social integration skills for youth of different backgrounds and races, and responsibility towards community. In 1997…the Greater Philippi Organization…to be director of this organisation. The idea was to educate and produce youth and parents [on social responsibility, especially where it relates to Christianity]. I also run intensive workshops…problems relating to children in order to reveal rape, child abuse, crime, and teenage pregnancy. We were organising Christian activities and introducing peace to [reduce] the hatred. In June to December 1998 I worked for Heart Foundation doing childcare programs giving children, parents and teachers awareness about heart problems and nutrition. And I was invited to assist a workshop about storytelling at Montessori in Rondebosch….I am a storyteller. It is my culture, my history, and my life.

16. What do you consider to be your personal strengths?

I’m the person who understands, the person who, when you are in pain or when you are distraught…. I’m not allowed to say when I’m working with a person: "No, get out, I don’t have time." I have to give them a chair to sit down and come….

17. What do you consider to be your weaknesses?

My weakness is when the person is [angry] at me, and talking things that are not really…. That makes me….I don’t march out from the meeting, but I feel that the better thing is to cry or else I want to be alone.

18. What do you want to gain from our work as a group?

1. What would you say is the purpose of your business?

The overall purpose for the community is to empower the community with skills and service for the community, because we’re…. development and housing projects that is arising in the area has opted me nine years ago to maintain and obtain the desire to go into small business….

2. Which group in the community do you serve?

The group in the community that I serve mostly is…. the married people. The age group, they range from 30 to 55 years. They are the main target group which I work for…. They have to care for the house and home, to have proper furniture or seating, to have chairs where the family comes together….

3. Do you sell mostly to people in the township area?

Most of the work I’ve done was among the Townships and the locals because of the demand. I look forward to work for the big corporate companies, which I am planning at this moment. But because of the area where we work from, it’s sometimes difficult to work for these corporates. There is a stigma of your black entrepreneur can’t produce those high quality products. And that is why your corporate is reluctant to have anything regarding them.

4. Do you ever attend the leadership workshops that Khulani holds?

Yes, I am really fully aware of Khulani, and we do have leadership meetings and conferences, but there is a little problem that I foresee within the group, or within the community as a whole—that very few people have the ability for, very few have the encouragement to come forward to take up leadership.

5. What do you get out of the leadership training here?

My benefits that I get out of leadership training is that I’ve got experience to tackle my own problems. If you’ve got experience, than you can erase your own problems individually instead of collectively.

6. Which activities in the leadership workshop have really helped you?

I have been in a finance group that has assisted to have a handle financially. I have been a chairman working on these premises…. that has maintained and encouraged and empowered me to negotiate at high levels as far as my own activity is concerned. I was initiative of purchasing the property of the small business centre, and that has enabled me to negotiate at higher levels in any field.

7. Also, have you attended the leadership workshops that Grace Kuse holds here?

Yes

8. Can you tell me what you like about those?

Yes, what I do like about the workshops that she has held here is beneficial like I said to all my training that I have been through and my personal and life experience in that it is only…part of that experience. If there were even more people regarding that training, and…. one or two people or three people in a workshop does not bear much fruit, but if you are experienced people working then…it can bear fruit. There is a problem I may say again…. The urgency of…. to come forward from the community side is sometimes a problem, because we either don’t communicate or have lectures or sermons or small little get togethers then you will not have any experience regarding your own development.

9. Can you tell me about a difficult challenge that you have faced in your work?

I had to make the decision, after being evicted. I was at a crossroad at that point in time regarding the development of the community, regarding developing myself. Give up the whole project and go into the darkness of nowhere. I approached one of my colleagues and he willingly said look, David, you can sublet with me until further notice. You have assisted me over the years, and I think it’s time I assist you at this point in time. But during that period of time, the two of us and another two groups of people have established also an NGO, and this NGO is called MPMG, which also stands for development. And then, the best thing now at this point in time is to continue what we have at this point in time until we get our acts together. We established this group. It is existing now, and what we are still waiting now at the moment…. to have a bank number, an account number, and it is now eighteen months since the eviction. I’m looking forward now to, in fact during that eviction, I employed two people. I hired a place where I could store my product or my woods or the things that I work with. I’m looking forward now to training. I made applications for a…. to register myself for training. I will get to the answer within a week or two. From there on, at this point in time I am…. going to employ another two people to develop the training program. I am also preparing a booklet for the training program. I am doing everything now ever since to uplift myself, move into a bigger height, which will be very soon. That is where I am at that point in time, up to this day. Thank you.

10. Do you have any competitors in the region?

Yes, I have one two three four competitors in the region. We coexist very fluently. One is doing a level higher than the other. The other is selling second-hand future. The other one is doing only public service, transporting service, like koombis, minibuses…. the other one is doing also upholstery. I myself am also doing upholstery. So, yes, we coexist very fluently.

11. About how many Rand per month does it take to run your business?

At this point it takes about R5, 000. Five to six thousand rand to run the business.

12. Which resources are you lacking most right now?

1. What is the purpose of your project?

My purpose is to provide knowledge about what they must do in order to get skills to enter into business and entrepreneurship.

2. Is the group that you serve comprised mainly of women?

Yes. I can even count how many male are involve in our programmes which at the conclusion are the most conflict creators, and influential.

3. What is the general age range of people with whom you work?

Starting from babies, youth age and adult mostly unemployed and early school drops out.

4. What do you think is the largest benefit that you give to those people through working with them?

Skills they attained to make product that they can enter into micro economic is the largest benefit to them.

5. How does your business benefit the greater community?

The very most and fortunate are the follows:

1. Self help housing process 310 families provided.
2. Training and Development programmes:
1. Previously Panel Beating
2. Previously Leather Making
3. Knitting and Sewing
4. Baking and Catering
5. Upholstery and Carpentry
   
6. What kind of training do you run?

The following programmes are the most programmes I run:

1. Implementation of new project
2. Facilitating the following programmes and workshops:
1. Masses meeting to address the purpose
2. Hosting the election of committee
3. Constitution workshops
4. Financial management
5. Meeting management and full support where it is needed.

7. How many do you train at a time?

For my point of view it depend to the masses which they approach Khulani to implement their project.

8. Do you do the training yourself?

Yes! I do.

9. Do you teach the people that you train management skills?

Yes! Each and every programme attained there after the training by providing the following basic skills:

1. Business management
1. Public relationship
2. Financial management
1. Income
2. Expenditure
3. Banking details
4. Marketing and sales

10. About how much money per month do your businesses require to keep running?

At least the cost of instruction is main and painful issue because if you don’t sell skills for training you would most achieve what your project is all about. The following instructors are needed:

1. 3 general workers 64,800.00
2. Sewing 42,000.00
3. Knitting 42,000.00
4. Catering 42,000.00
5. Upholstery 42,000.00
6. Bakery 60,000.00
7. Secretarial 60,000.00
8. Project Coordinator 60,000
9. Pre-school Coordinator 36,000
10. Assistance director 60,000
11. Director 84,000

Subtotal: 592,800.00

12. Bakery industry? Excluded in grand total
13. Capital expenditure for office furniture, equipment, stationary, projects equipments

Subtotal: 3,000,000.00

Grand total: R893,000.00

11. Do you have enough funds to reach your immediate future goals?

At this juncture we have not yet receive any even from the government funds called Poverty Alleviation.

12. With whom are you competing now?

We do have projects similar with us but they functions not in the same area at surroundings.

Personal Profile

13. What type of education have you received?

My education is as far as Standard 8. There after I have experiential learning from…. home cooking, baking, knitting and sewing. There after I went as far as I reach the advance course, workshops, seminars, conferences, and regular meeting all there provided me to reach the degree honour doctorate because of my experiential learning and achieved from that.

1984-1986
-2 years I worked as a coordinator for the adult and children at Masifundise Educational Project, Langa

1987-1990
-4 years I worked as a Field Worker for Children Resource Centre to organize the children and women for each activity

1991-2000
-10 years I initiated the Khulani Basebenzi

14. What do you consider to be your greatest strengths in what you do?

If only the funds can be available and all projects have their equipment all resources which are the needs of Khulani and staff be paid by Khulani. Also to provide them more skills to improve their skills at work.

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Songs by the Khulani Planning Group

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I have faced one overriding challenge during my work with the members of Khulani: to recognize differences between my perception of the project and theirs. Given our brief time together, the Khulani members and I wanted to realize many goals very quickly. This sense of urgency kept me from understanding certain cultural gaps from the outset of the project. I therefore learned of our differences through experience. Mistakes in the project forced me to pause, discuss with the group our different expectations, and alter our approach to maintain the integrity of each viewpoint expressed. The following is a summary of major differences that I encountered and the lessons that I learned.

1. Do not expect feedback for an idea that you propose to the group. It will come only after the idea’s implementation, which could be too late. Instead, facilitate discussions that allow group members to generate their own ideas. Meanwhile, contribute by encouraging them to respond critically to one another in the process.

A liberal education in the United States has trained me to think critically about each idea I hear presented in a learning situation. I came to Khulani with the same expectations of the group. When conversation was slow, I lost patience and offered my own suggestions for our project. For example, when I worried that KPG was not mobilizing quickly enough, I proposed to the group that we write a constitution. I saw that as a way to formalize our group’s role within the organization. Grace and the rest of the group nodded at my suggestion and we scheduled date at which to begin. I learned two weeks later that Grace disapproved of this idea. Grace announced one morning that she feared KPG’s separation from Khulani if it existed under a separate constitution. During a later meeting with KPG and the administration, Boyce explained to me what had gone wrong: I had expected Grace to immediately express her concern, whereas she and the other group members were waiting to see what the implementation would mean. In this case, we needed to backtrack and discuss KPG’s role within Khulani before writing a formal constitution. I proceeded with the project by mixing the strengths in each of our viewpoints. I needed to take the role of facilitator during discussions and allow the group to develop its own ideas. With my encouragement, the group members needed to begin responding to one another’s ideas so that they could reach collective decisions amongst themselves. Within the same cultural context, fewer misunderstandings about the meaning of an idea would occur. Feedback could be constructive and useful.

2. Invite Khulani’s administration to participate in each step of the project. Never assume that they do not have the time or the interest.

One of the original aims of this project was to relieve the administration of several of its management duties. Grace had shown me the extent of her fundraising and marketing responsibilities, and I reasoned that a group of workers under Khulani could help fulfill them. With a lighter workload, Grace could travel more frequently to conferences and meetings. I envisioned the work of the administration and KPG as two simultaneous efforts rather than a single concerted one. I did not realize that Grace wanted to participate fully in the project. Granted, she could attend less meetings due to her many responsibilities. Nevertheless, she considered herself a member of the group and a contributor to its initiatives. My tendency to view her as a separate director, "above" whatever we were doing, was a major cause of our conflict regarding KPG’s naming and its constitution. Grace would have felt less threatened by a group that included her from the beginning. Whereas Grace’s disappearance during the festival contradicted her desire to be involved, it is important for diplomatic reasons to keep the invitation open.

3. Take time to observe which activities most energize the group. Do not assume that an activity you find productive is equally important to them.

My notion of productivity was firmly set when I arrived at Khulani. To me,

meaningful work meant producing something tangible, such as a funding proposal or an advertisement. I dismissed too quickly the songs that the group liked to use as morning icebreakers. I believed that they meant relatively little to the group’s development. I would therefore urge the group on to what I considered "the meat" of the day’s activities without recognizing that the songs and other activities decided by the group (i.e. informal conversation, visits to one another’s homes) were an integral catalyst to KPG’s growth. This only grew apparent when lack of energy during meetings forced me to take the back seat and let the members structure their own days. I am unsure as to whether these activities were a cause or a result of the group’s development. Possibly, they were both. I can ascertain only that conversation was more constructive and dynamic, confidence was higher, and respect among group members greater whenever exercises that I previously considered "informal" became part of our agenda.

4. Develop clear, specific expectations as a group before beginning any project.

Our work planning the festival helped to solidify individual roles within the group.

However, the event could have been much more successful with the rest of the community (especially in collaborating with the Sinethemba students) had the rest of the group and I detailed our expectations before we began. I envisioned parents and community leaders as our main audience. Nombulelo and the rest of the group were focusing on children. Although we briefly identified parents and children as part of our audience, we did not spend enough time developing a plan that would ensure both parties’ attendance. I delegated most of the responsibility of publicizing the event to Nombulelo, who most aggressively recruited students for our audience (Although she also invited community leaders, we should have made a greater effort to follow up on those invitations.). The arrival of children to our festival highlighted a major difference in our perceptions of KPG that went beyond the planning of the festival. I continually viewed the group as an assemblage of small businesses, despite the fact that most members were unemployed and were only in the beginning stages of planning such projects. I held to their original description by Grace as a series of smaller adult projects because I was more familiar with those types of groups. I continued to see what I wanted to, despite members’ constant mention of their crèches and the importance of their work at the pre-schools. Nombulelo and the rest of KPG find potential in the community’s youth. Whereas the festival’s uneven audience may not have been intentional, the fact remains that the group’s community connections were strongest with children’s organizations. The key to planning a better festival would have been more detail in articulating our mission and action plan.

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Recommendations for Future Work with KPG

A continuous relationship between KPG and SAEP would provide a valuable development network for the community of Philippi. The following is a series of initiatives that I consider integral to SAEP’s future work with the project.

A major obstacle to Khulani’s community outreach programs appears to be widespread mistrust for the organization within Philippi. Members of KPG have described Khulani’s relationship with community leaders and residents. According to them, the problem includes several dimensions. First, community leaders have a history of taking credit for Khulani’s projects. Nombulelo has reported that leaders lose respect for Khulani in light of the fact that women are its main driving force. She attributes leaders’ tendency to take credit for Khulani’s work to this lack of respect. Second, residents of Philippi who receive assistance from Khulani do not fulfill their end of the bargain, which is to pass the skills they received onto others in Khulani’s name. They instead break with the organization and reappear only when they need more personal assistance. Third, residents of Philippi are either uninformed or misinformed about Khulani’s work. This could occur because of a general mistrust among community members towards the work of development organizations. Unless the work of an organization is made clear to the community, there is often a lack of support for the organization’s efforts. People with a relationship to Khulani either fail to promote the organization or denounce it. These are the perceived problems in the relationship between Khulani and Philippi. They are not based on an actual investigation, and they in no way do justice to the complexity of the situation.

Any future work with KPG must involve an in-depth assessment of the community’s perceptions towards Khulani. I recommend that interns facilitate an interviewing process in the community. Community members external to Khulani must conduct the interviews. One possibility is for interns to work with KPG to facilitate a project with Sinethemba Secondary School students. Or, KPG and SAEP interns could consult with partner organizations that would be valuable partners in such a project. Interviews conducted must take place with both community leaders and residents of Philippi. They must examine changes in perceptions’ of Khulani over time. Questions can include the following:

• Are you familiar with Khulani?
• Who told you about the organization, and when?
• What do you know about it?
• Has your perception of the organization changed over time? If so, how?

Such questions are samples and should be modified by members of KPG and SAEP according to the project’s current situation. The main role of an SAEP intern in the process would be to make sure interviews were conducted by a neutral source trusted by the community, to work with the group to organize the information, and to work with them to process the information into viable conclusions and corresponding recommendations for KPG to proceed with its work in the community.

2. Hold KPG meetings in a neutral location.

Regardless of whether or not community mistrust for Khulani is well founded, a public relations problem exists. It could just exist on the part of KPG’s perceptions; perhaps the community does trust Khulani but is confused as to its purpose. The tension could arise from the community, Khulani, or both. Therefore, members of KPG must conduct their community projects at a location external to any of the parties in question. KPG’s meetings with the community (whether with youth, adults, or both) should not take place at Khulani’s office, nor should they take place at the office of the community leaders accused of stealing Khulani’s credit with the community. Either location could place a particular party on the defensive or simply add tension to the meeting environment. If KPG’s is correct in its assertions that the community mistrusts Khulani, it must create a non-threatening climate for dialogue. Such a climate is most likely to form at a neutral location.

Possibilities for such a location include churches, schools, and outdoor commons. One role of an SAEP intern working with KPG could be to research and arrange such a location for the group. The outcome of KPG’s environmental festival illustrated the importance of correct logistical planning; had the festival taken place in a more central location and at a more convenient time, it would have attracted far more adults than it did. An intern’s work on securing a proper meeting place and time for KPG’s community projects would be invaluable to the group. The intern could also diffuse any tension that arises among the group members because of the change in location for the group. It is possible that some members of the project, out of defensiveness to Khulani, would object to using an outside venue for meetings. The intern would need to negotiate with Khulani members (whether inside or outside of KPG) in order to protect the integrity of KPG’s projects. Considering Khulani’s complex and delicate relationship with the community, it is crucial that communication opens on grounds comfortable to all parties involved.

3. Provide group leaders with access to SAEP resources.

A number of strong leaders are developing within KPG. One person in particular is Nombulelo Mshuqwana. Nombulelo cares deeply about building a healthy relationship between Khulani and the community, particularly with Philippi youth. She is always the first in the group to accept responsibility for planning an event, and her vision for KPG encapsulates the goals of the other group members. A sense of devotion to Philippi youth is common to all members of KPG. They place much of their hope for Philippi’s development in the potential for children to become socially aware community leaders. Nombulelo stands out among them because she places such ideas into concrete action. Therefore, she must have access to resources that will allow her to develop as a leader.

Such resources include access to the Internet and the SAEP library, transportation to meetings and conferences outside of Philippi, and contact with various professionals who work with SAEP. In addition, I recommend that Nombulelo participate in SAEP meetings that involve SAEP’s other contacts. For instance, she could form part of the audience during project presentations, attend university lectures with SAEP staff, and represent Khulani during strategic planning meetings with SAEP interns. Any SAEP intern working with Khulani in the future must nurture a relationship between Nombulelo and SAEP by assuring her involvement in important events. The intern could also meet with Nombulelo at the SAEP office on a regular basis. Nombulelo could thus enjoy access to SAEP’s office resources while providing the intern with insights into his or her project.

I recommend that SAEP sustain contact with Nombulelo and other emerging leaders in KPG beyond the duration of interns’ projects. It is crucial for KPG leaders to form a consistent relationship with the group through its leaders, even if meetings were infrequent. Beyond providing the group with resources, this relationship would ensure regularity in the meetings of KPG, itself. The group would have to meet on a regular basis if it were accountable to an outside organization. Because it is still in the early stages of development, this accountability is important. Therefore, someone from SAEP must maintain contact with Nombulelo on a regular basis.

4. Facilitate relationships between KPG and similar organizations.

Many challenges to the development of a group like KPG cannot be overcome in a cross-cultural context. In these cases, contact with other community groups would provide effective learning environment. Although I have not pursued this during my work with KPG, many incidents arose in which I lacked the cultural knowledge needed to be an effective facilitator. For instance, KPG would have benefited immensely if another group such as the Victoria Mxenge housing project had conducted a constitution-writing workshop with them. As it was, the language barrier and unfamiliarity with cultural subtleties made writing our constitution a slow and inefficient process. The opportunity to complete such projects with similar groups would provide a more appropriate learning context and open an opportunity for future relationships.

KPG has already begun to work with Monde Myataza, Fieldworker for the Cape Town Theatre Laboratory. Monde helped the group to write their drama, and he has agreed to meet with the group each Wednesday on other initiatives. He has experience working with grassroots organizations on teambuilding exercises such as constitution writing and public speaking. He is also a resident of Philippi, and therefore a more appropriate contact for KPG than an outside organization would be. I recommend that an SAEP intern or staff member working with KPG follow up on Monde’s work with the group. This would include making sure that the relationship is consistent and appropriate to the group’s current needs. The intern could also plan the logistics of visits between KPG and other groups. In both of these cases, I recommend that the intern work with Mandisi Fani, KPG’s Public Relations Officer. Mandisi initiated the group’s contact with Monde and has agreed to make sure it continues. Therefore, any intern working on such a project must do so in conjunction with him.

5. Place two interns with KPG at any given time.

I found it difficult to assess alone the strengths and weaknesses of our work as KPG. Time that I could have spent arranging important resources was spent rectifying misunderstandings with Khulani staff or covering missed bases. While many setbacks became valuable learning experiences, we could have done without some. Another intern would have allowed for more in-depth reflection and efficient progress. As it was, I relied upon people with little or no firsthand experience with KPG for dialogue. Exactly two SAEP interns are necessary both because of the enormity of the tasks facing KPG at the moment and the complexity of Khulani’s relationship with the community. Further work requires two peoples’ minds and energy.

I recommend that these interns have experience with serving adults in an NGO environment. I also recommend that one or both interns be trained in conflict mediation. The Quaker Peace Centre in Mowbray offers conflict mediation training at low, negotiable costs. The training lasts several weeks and therefore must begin at the beginning of an internship. However, tensions between KPG and the rest of Khulani make it necessary for future interns to have this experience. Although any conflict mediation by an intern would only be a short-term intervention, the intern could pass such skills on to KPG leaders.

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1. Meeting, 6/22/2000

3. Meeting 6/28/00

3. Meeting 7/10/00

5. Meeting 7/11/00

6. Meeting 7/14/00

Policy: Khulani Planning Group

7. Meeting 7/19/00

8. Meeting 7/21/00

Proposal

How is the life of our environment in the black community?

Introduction

To understand these problems, we must look first at some of their causes. Consider the workings of the local government. Councilors misuse subsidy funds and build houses that are too small for the families that occupy them. This is often because the housing board hires a contractor who uses these funds inefficiently. Also, the housing board takes two and a half years to approve subsidy applications. There is therefore a lack of efficiency both in the planning for these houses and in their building, as well. The problem of refugees results in even more crowding. The South African government gives allowance for all people from other countries to enter the country, take up residence, and open small businesses. When the refugees have no place to stay, they ask permission to lodge with families who are already living in houses that are too small. The refugees promise to pay, and people must accept when they are already unemployed. Unemployment is a large contributor to the problem of poor housing and waste management. People with no jobs must rely on the small, inadequately equipped houses provided by the local government.

Project Statement

This performance will allow our group to continue its work in the community. We will work with the community to implement the strategy that we form during the workshop. We will do this by preparing a schedule and a set of objectives to guide us with our work. We will also continue to perform in other communities, so that we can work with them to form and implement similar strategies. As a result, Khulani Planning Group will be able to continue itself. It will grow stronger with the community.

Resources

We will have the role of producers, writers, actors, and community developers in this process. We will coordinate the resources needed to bring the community together for a successful performance. We will also write the drama and act in it. We will then be responsible for working with the community to implement a new development strategy.

Conclusion

9. Meeting 7/24/00

11. SAEP Staff Meeting 7/26/00

12. Meeting 7/31/00

12. Meeting 8/02/00

Boyce Papu, Jeff Pierce, Grant Garrison, Andrea Mazzarino