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JULY-SEPTEMBER 2013 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3

Newsletter

Voice Connection

Voice Connection Newsletter

A Word from the Managing Director

On 24 September, South Africans paid homage to the many

cultural and historical facets of our country’s identity,

which have been inherited over time and will continue to

enrich our lives for generations to come. It was the

celebration of a road well-traveled; promoting the notion

that variety is a national asset that needs to be treasured!

OVSA strongly promotes this ethos through its partnership

with young people in schools. Especially for adolescents,

being different can be scary. It takes courage to be

yourself, and involves an ongoing process of discovery and

mutual understanding by the individual and their peers.

Central to our Schools Programme, is the notion of

meaningful development of self, and as part of the life

skills-based curriculum, learners are encouraged to explore

their ‘identity’ and challenge ‘who’ they are. “Who am I?

What do I like or not like? When do I feel good, when do I

feel bad? How do I cope with things? What is my identity

and personal culture?” It is our belief that if you first ‘know’

yourself, you can then start learning about another.

Supporting them on this process are the OVSA Facilitators,

who through the implementation of the different projects,

stimulate self-reflection and an understanding of the power

that is to be found in our diversity.

Engaging with learners on issues of ‘identity’ is an excellent

learning opportunity that is both engaging and motivating.

In all of the Schools Programme projects, young people are

asked to be self-aware, and reflect on their values,

lifestyles, gender, human rights, as well as their strengths

and weaknesses. Within a safe environment and through

open discussion, young people learn about personal values,

as well as topics such as tolerance, cultural diversity, and

stigma.

Viva, viva, viva Heritage Day!! Marlijn van Berne Managing Director

A Spotlight on: Advocacy Projects - WASH Pilot

Dloko High School Students Promoting WASH principles.

For more on the WASH Advocacy Projects, go to page 2.

THIS ISSUE:

A Word from the Managing Director Page 1

Advocacy Projects - WASH Pilot Page 1

Schools Programme Update Page 2

Communications Chatter - Storytelling Page 3

Funder Focus – the URC Page 3

Special Features - Livelihood Skills Page 4

Staff Update Page 4

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JULY-SEPTEMBER 2013 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3

Voice Connection Newsletter

Schools Programme Update

LIFE SKILLS PROJECT, GRADE 8 AND 10

2013 was a good year for the Life Skills Project. This is our

most in-depth project and it runs throughout the school

calendar year. To date, 45 per cent of the schools have

completed the project while the rest of the schools are

currently implementing Advocacy Projects in their

communities.

EARLY DETECTION OF TB PROJECT

In July we started an Early Detection of TB Project in

uMkhanyakude District and we welcome Khanyi, our new

coordinator for this project. This project is implemented in

seven schools and we anticipate reaching about 3200 learners.

At the end of August some 600 learners were screened for TB

and 36 learners were referred for TB testing to local clinics.

ENTERPRISE PROJECT

The four modules of the Enterprise Project have been

completed in all schools. We are looking forward to the Career

and Entrepreneurship Indabas to be held in early October. One

Indaba will be held in each district (Umlazi, KwaMashu and

Ilembe), and we are expecting a total of 1500 learners to

attent these events.

WASH ADVOCACY PROJECTS

We recently undertook a Water Access, Sanitation and Hygiene

Advocacy Project for Dloko and Isifisusethu High Schools. The

purpose of the WASH projects is to facilitate a process

whereby learners and school management can work towards a

solution for the critical WASH issues they have identified in

their schools.

OVSA supported the schools

by upgrading their basic

sanitation and hygiene

infrastructure. Specifically,

OVSA with the help of their

funder Oxfam, bought and

installed new wash basins

with push taps, as well as

sanitary napkin disposal

units. The DoE and Durban

Mun ic ipa l i ty’ s Hea lth

Department have also come

on board and have made a

commitment to assisting

Dloko High School with any

further WASH challenges.

We hope that this relationship will spread to all the schools.

Maxwell Mabaso

Acting Schools Programme Manager

Young people support Intensified Case

Detection of TB.

Earlier this year, OVSA started with its URC-funded ‘Early

Detection of TB Project’. This project consists of five

workshops which educate learners about TB and TB/HIV

co-infection (how you get it, why it can be dangerous, how

to identify it and how to treat it).

The last workshop in the series helps learners to understand

the critical importance of Intensified Case Finding (ICF) for

the early detection and treatment of TB. Children under the

age of five, elderly people, HIV-infected persons, persons

with TB contact, those who have Diabetes, Silicosis, are on

steroids for more than four weeks or receiving chemotherapy

for malignancy, are all a high priority for ICF or Intensified

Case Finding. For them, it is of high importance that they

are regularly screened for TB, and this is were our young

learners can make a difference!

Through the ‘Early Detection of TB Project’ they are taught

how to use the Department of Health’s TB screening tool, so

that they can actively screen themselves, their peers or their

loved ones for the signs and symptoms of TB. In this way they

can help to detect TB early and play an important role in

managing TB infection in their communities.

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JULY-SEPTEMBER 2013 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3

Voice Connection Newsletter

Communications Chatter

Storytelling training

Funder Focus

For over 45 years, the URC or the University Research Co.,

LLC, has found a way to combine the idealism of academic

research with the practical necessity of providing solutions

to health and social challenges worldwide.

Academic research is an important aspect of future

development, but more important is that the research is

effectively used in practice and makes a difference in

people’s lives.

The URC is providing assistance in strengthening TB and

HIV/AIDS care initiatives at district and community level, as

well as strengthening local health systems, the program’s

principle focus is at the provincial, district and community

level. As the URC points out: “Our assistance and research

strengthens health systems by empowering people at the

communities they serve, to identify and scale up locally

appropriate solutions to critical health problems.” - this is a

perfect fit with OVSA’s vision and mission!

Thanks to URC, our learners will be able to continue

enjoying the benefits of being part of an in-depth Schools

Programme in KwaZulu-Natal.

Thank you for your support in helping our young and

empowered South Africans in making healthy and informed

decisions about their futures, and be the role models that

they are in their community.

For more information, please visit: www.urc-chs.com

OVSA and OXFAM partner organisations in KwaZulu-Natal and

the Eastern Cape, were recently invited to join a dynamic

storytelling training, in order to develop storytelling skills

within their own organisations and communities. Presented

by The Jetty Crowd, OVSA, Save The Children and

Tholulwazi, and the Eastern Cape partners, CATCH Projects,

Umzi Wethu and Sophakama are thoroughly enjoying this

wonderful opportunity to develop video footage with their

target audiences. The training focuses on transferring video

skills to individual community organisations, so that they

can tell their stories, in their own words.

A BIG ‘thank you’ to Oxfam for this wonderful opportunity,

and The Jetty Crowd for this wonderful and very in-depth

training!

Our new office is finally complete! Big thanks

to USAID for funding our new sign.

Communications and Fundraising

MySchool/MyVillage

Thank you again for your valuable support over the

past three months. We are very proud to announce

that we have received the fol lowing substant ial

f inancia l contributions:

June: R368.30

July: R333.10

August: R432.79

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Voice Connection Newsletter

Staff Update

Our new Be More Volunteer

We are very happy to introduce to

y o u o u r n e w B e M o r e

communications and fundraising

intern, Frauke Pauwaert. Frauke

came to South Africa from the

Netherlands and applied to Be

More for an internship with OVSA.

Frauke joined OVSA at the end of

August 2013 and will support our

team until the 13th of December

2013.

We have no doubt that Frauke will teach us lots of new

things about online communications, as this is what she

studied back home. She has a Masters Degree in Commercial

Sciences and Marketing, but decided to expand her

knowledge of Marketing by applying for an extra year of

Digital Marketing and Communication Studies. In general,

this is an extra year to specialise in everything to do with

online Marketing and Communication.

This internship with OVSA is a perfect fit for her and for us,

since she will be able to apply her knowledge of online

Marketing and Communication under unique South

African-conditions, and teach OVSA something more about

the future of online Marketing and Communication and how

OVSA can benefit from having a dynamic, online presence.

Frauke will also use her talents and connections back home

to raise money for OVSA by designing an OVSA birthday

calendar and selling this to her friends and peers.

A big THANK YOU to Frauke, and we wish her the best of

luck with her internship! We are so glad to have you as a

member of our team!!

Special Features

Young people planning their future

The critical health and lifestyle issues facing young South

Africans (77% of the total population)1 will continue to

challenge today’s societies and future generations. These

include: inequities in social, economic and political

conditions; gender discrimination; high levels of youth

unemployment; and inadequate opportunity for education

and training. Youth unemployment remains extremely high

at nearly 52.8%. Seen either as children nor uninformed

adults, young people are on a transitional journey, which is a

time of risk and of great opportunity.

This quarter we are highlighting our partnership with Absa

Bank, which led to the launch of the Enterprise Project in

January 2013. Implemented in with Grade 9 and 11 and in

support of the South Africa Department of Educations’s Life

Orientation curriculum, the project encourages to look at

the responsibility they each have for securing success in their

working lives. Workshops focus on identifying strengths and

weaknesses (SWOT); understanding that career development

is a conscious choice; practical entrepreneurship education;

talking about trade skills and the informal sector

(Small/Medium/Micro Enterprises); developing a career

profile; goal setting; recognising personal training needs; and

planning (short/medium/long term). Concurrently, the

project aims to provide vulnerable girls, young women and

boys with an alternative view to addressing their economic

insecurities, and ultimately have a positive impact on their

lifestyle behaviours. “Youth entrepreneurship development,

specifically, has been identified as one means of achieving

the goal of decent work for all men and women, and is

viewed as an important multi-sectoral approach to

adolescent health and economic empowerment”.

Marlijn Van Berne

Managing Director

[1] South Africa’s Youth Policy (2009-2014) defines youth as

persons aged 15-34, with over 50 million South Africans,

18.5% aged 10-19; and 24% are aged 15-24