Tumelong:
Mission & Development Programme
Diocese of Pretoria

1. Learner Profile

The centre runs a day care and after care programme. The after-care programme had 37 children while the day care programme had 32.

These numbers reflect a decline of 3 and 8 leaners when compared to 2019. The general leaner profile of the centre is shown in the table below.

Table 6: Learner Profile of Bp Jo Seoka Centre

Age	Girls	Boys	Total
0 – 3 years	7	6	13
3 – 4 years	4	5	9
4 – 5 years	6	4	10
Total	17	15	32

1. Food garden

The centre received vegetable seedlings from Tumelong Mission which were duly planted in the yard. The garden project is going well and is being looked after by one of the volunteer staff.

1. Mandela Day Event

The centre played host to the Diocesan Mandela Day commemoration which was held successfully on 18 July 2019.

The events started with a Morning Prayer, hosted at the adjacent St Peter’s Parish.

The Morning Prayer was led by the Archdeacon of Tshwane-Bokone, the Venerable Zamile Adonis who was representing the Bishop. He was assisted by the parish rector, the Revd Titus Motau.

A number of people, including ten priests, participated in the day’s activities which included cleaning of the buildings and planting of the food garden.

Father Titus Motau (R) poses with some of the priests and other participants after planting  a tree

A total amount of R727.00 from the collection plate was received as a donation to Tumelong Mission.

Green-Anglicans, an environmental ministry of the church led by youg people, donated six trees which were planted on the premises.

In addition to the trees, the following donations were received from a variety of partner institutions and individuals.

Table 7: Donors for Mandela Day

Donor	Nature of donation
St Peter’s AWF	1 packet sweets; HB pencils; 12 packets wax crayons
Maboloka Haven	Bowel of cooked morogo (spinach)
AWF Guild of St Laurence Soshanguve	1 x mop; 2 x refuse bags; 2 x Ariel washing powder; 2x5L dish washer; 1x5L multiple cleaner; 1x5L Jik; 1x5L tile cleaner; 3kg Macaroni; 2×2,5kg samp; 18 Toilet rolls; 2x1L Liquid dishwasher
LTG	72 pack oranges; 1 x bag of clothes
Mr Maphanga (Manager of Elegant Fuel)	24 x Coke cans; 24 x Sprite cans; 24x 500ml bottled water; 6 boxes rolls; 2 x packets of wors
Diana Higgs and friends	Cleaning material; 12 x mixed tin stuff; 2kg sugar; 3kg onions; 2kg potatoes; 3kg sweet potatoes; 1 packet gloves
Public Service Commission	10kg rice; 10kg mealie rice; 10kg samp; 5 x tin fish; 7 x tin beef; 36 toilet rolls; 2 x note books; 5-pencil pack
St Michael’s and All Angels	2 x 18 toilet rolls
St Mary’s Pretoria North	6 x 1kg Kellogg’s Corn Flakes; 24 x Lucky Star tin fish; 24 x baked beans; 6 x Bull Brand Beef.

1. Other activities

The Parish of St Francis of Assisi in Waterkloof sponsored the centre’s Christmas party which was held on 22 November 2019. Ms. Alma Grobler from Wimpy Moreleta Park provided the children with food.

A second Christmas party was held on 4 December 2019 – courtesy of Logistics Transport Globally (LTG), a freight and supply chain company located in in Rosslyn.

Located in Maboloka near Brits in the Bojanala District Municipality (North West), this ECD centre enrolled a total of 69 children in 2019 – an increase of 23% from the number of children who were enrolled the previous year.

This increase enabled us to add a third class, something that was made possible by the expanded building project that was completed the previous year.

The table below indicates the general learner profile at the facility.

 Table 5: Learner Profile of Maboloka Haven

Age	Boys	Girls	Total
6 mo – 3 years	15	9	24
4-5-year-olds (a)	9	13	22
4-5 year-olds (b)	10	13	23
Total	34	35	69

Thirty-eight of these learners graduated.

Learners during a graduation at Maboloka Haven

1. Food Garden

The food garden established at the centre continued to provide vegetables and healthy meals for learners at the centre.

This is a successful project of the Archdeaconry of Madibeng, which continued to support it with tools and other essentials.

Other activities

In the course of the year, signage at the centre was completed and fire extinguishers installed, making the centre fully compliant with the applicable health and safety requirements.

The statutory registration of the centre coordinator with the South African Council of Educators (SACE) as an ECD practitioner was extended for another three-year period.

Our relationship with the Department of Health is not limited to HIV-AIDS support but extends to childcare and the provision of health services.

In July Maboloka Clinic administered immunisation catch up and nutritional screening, Mabendazole deworming tablets, and Vitamin A drops.  This is always done with parental consent.

An educational trip to Pretoria Zoological Gardens was undertaken on 13 September 2019.

In February 2019, we were privileged to be able to host a first year UNISA teaching student, Ms Alleta Mohlakoane, who is doing practicals with us to fulfil the requirements of her ECD qualification.

The Corpus Christi Anglican Church in Garsfontein sponsored the centre’s year-end party which was held on 28 November 2019.

We are left in limbo with our class of 2020 as Covid-19 is creating havoc, our children are miserable and faced with uncertainty of whether they will come back to the centre due to financial challenges.

The year 2019 was a challenging year for Tumelong Mission. Faced with a growing financial pressures and a decline in funding, the organisation was forced to discontinue some of its projects and scaled down on operations.

We have had to shut down our Computer Centre in Soshanguve despite the need and scale down on our flagship environmental project – the Bottle Tops and Tags for Wheelchairs. Our HIV and AIDS programme, which had to contend with much reduced staff, was also a casualty of these storms.

In an effort to manage we restructured our operations, which enabled us to get going, but put additional burdens on some of our staff. The results of these pressures are reflected in this report.

Despite these severe challenges, we continued to do our best to serve God’s people.

During the year, Tumelong Mission provided voluntary HIV counselling and testing to 9 111 individuals and reached 64 000 people – mostly youth – through its outreach programme.

A total of 1 511 food parcels were distributed to needy families, an increase of 36 from last year; and seven persons with disabilities were provided with wheelchairs.

 Our two ECD centres cared for a combined total of 139 children, in both day care and after care. Not only did these learners, most of whom come from poor households who cannot afford fees, receive educational benefit; they also received nutritious meals in a safe and caring environment. For many of these learners, these meals are their only meal for the day.

A pleasing development regarding ECD is that the Madibeng Municipality has recommended that the Maboloka Haven be upgraded to the status of an Educare facility, in view of the improved buildings. Consequently, the authorities are in the process of reviewing our application to achieve this.

Our Youth Inspiration Project which we initiated last year took off to a great start, but unfortunately its further development and implementation has been hampered by resource and capacity constraints.

Amid all these challenges, we do not lose hope and we are fighting – and praying – hard for the work we are doing to continue. In the latter part of the year, we procured the services of professional fundraiser who has now begun to do some work.

Bishop Allan’s special appeal to the church in December for ongoing support for the work of Tumelong Mission has elicited some positive response, but more donations are needed from the people of God.

My prognosis is that 2020 will continue to be challenging, but I have faith that things will get better. I ask for your support and especially your prayers.

In conclusion, I thank you all – our parishes, diocesan institutions and organisations, partners, donors, and stakeholders – for your support. Special thanks are also due to Bishop Allan and the Governing Body for their commitment and guidance, as well as our staff and volunteers for their hard work, dedication and sacrifice.

PAULINA TLAKA DIRECTOR: TUMELONG MISSION

“1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an annus horribilis”.

These words were uttered by Queen Elizabeth II in a speech she made in 1992 to mark the occasion of the 40^th anniversary of her accession to the throne. The phrase annus horribilis was first used in 1891 to describe the year in which the Roman Catholic Church defined the dogma of papal infallibility (Wikipedia).

Annus horribilis means ‘horrible year’. It is a phrase that captures the challenging nature of the year under review. The effects of a declining South African economy had severe implications for Tumelong and other Non-Governmental Organisations. Not only did government funding take a sizeable dip, but donations have all but dried up. We were faced with a situation in November 2019 where we were unable to pay salaries or bonusses at the end of the year. An appeal to the Diocese saved the day. Many folks were moved to donate.

Tumelong was then able to start the year on a positive note as a result of the generosity of the holy faithful people of God. Then the COVID-19 pandemic visited our shores. As I write we are in our fifth week of a level 5 lockdown. In less than a week we’ll enter a slight ease of the lockdown restrictions. Indications are that the church may only return to function normally from about October this year. Needless to say, the traditional support base of Tumelong is badly affected, and as a result, Tumelong’s future looks even bleaker.

We dare not lose hope. Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu used to remind us in the darkest days of the Apartheid years that we are called to be prisoners of hope. St Paul mentions hope as one of the three great virtues that abide. Hope is the firm expectation of all that God has promised through his Son our Lord Jesus Christ. Our hope should be the bedrock that anchors us in these times of uncertainty, illness, and death.

The prayer of lamentation should come naturally to us in these days of isolation. To be isolated is one thing, but when our forced isolation during the lockdown period is nuanced by the stark inequalities of our society and we see how thousands of people scramble for food, then it stems our mood to be even darker. The prayer of lamentations are shouts from the heart, shouts of suffering, groans of anguish, and screams for help. They are prayers that are uttered in pain and need, but they also express the hope that things will change, that God will listen. Such is expressed in Psalm 6.

So we shall pray for a faith to endure these troubled times. We shall try our level best to continue to bring relief where we can. And we shall fix our gaze on God in the firm expectation (hope) that God will come to the aid of his people.

Our gratitude is extended to the many generous benefactors. To the staff of Tumelong. To all the holy faithful people of God. We shall overcome.

+Allan

CHAIRMAN: TUMELONG GOVERNING BODY