Tumelong:
Mission & Development Programme
Diocese of Pretoria

NOTICE OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF  TUMELONG MISSION

TO BE HELD AT THE BISHOP KRAFT CENTRE FOR MISSION AND DEVELOPMENT,

PRETORIA WEST, ON THE 14 MAY 2011,  AT 09H00

Notice and Agenda for AGM 2011

This project was brought to existence after over 80 identified children who are either orphaned or vulnerable, received food and school hampers from the Bishop’s Charities golf day in December 2011. From that moment, tumelong continued to look at more sustainable ways to provide food security,and now we are ready to roll out the project.

The Project  includes running a indigenous farming competition in the yards of participants. This competition will run for 2 crop yields and the winners will be assessed as per quality of their produce. The 1^st prize will be a cash prize, and the 2^nd to 5^th prize ( together wit 1^st prize winner) will be grouped together to form a cooperative that will farm at the tribal farmlands, that has already been awarded for this purpose. This land will be prepared during the competition.

 The winners will be provided with technical support ( implements, tools and borehole) to produce on a large scale and assisted with the marketing and sales of the produce.

 Project Milestones 

Meet the chief to present the concept for by in (done- 01/03/2011)

Call a tribal meeting to ascertain the buy in from community (15/ 04/2011)

Establish a procedure for entering the competition( done)

Coordinate the establishment of yard gardens and the monitoring thereof.

Coordinate the preparation of the Tribal Farms for the winners.

Develop M&E Tools for the project.(done)

Provide a Report on the projects.

Assess the impact made through the projects

Should you be interested in supporting the project, please contact us at 082 494 0961

Helping Letlhakeng to Help Themselves

The Tumelong Committee in the church of St. Francis Parish in Mamelodi West have food parcels to donate every Friday donated by Pick ‘n Pay. To the congregation of ST. Francis, the month of March has been a month of receiving.

 On the month of March on various dates, the committee distributed packs of tomatoes, cabbages, and beetroot to a large number of congregation members of the church. To help this feeding scheme, a vegetable garden was planted with the assistance of Reverend Father Ngcobo and Father Mdau on March 2^nd 2011. The vegetables for the garden were fresh from the farm donated by Mr. Anton Louw from Farie Glen.

 The drop in centre in Mamelodi West caters for 40 needy children with the help of Tateni Home Care Nursing Services. The home has had the experience of getting a helping hand from Trinity Church based in Lynwood and food parcels were donated to he families of: Khoza from Mamelodi East, Masuku from Mamelodi West, Khaba, Msibi from Mamelodi East, Nkosi, Ringane, Makgathulela from Mamelodi West and Magashu’s family from Mamelodi East. Currently, the Tumelong Mission Services have 18 registered families.

 Compiled by: Helen Ngoasheng

Parish Coordinator: Tumelong

At the FOT meeting held on 09 April 2011, the following guidelines were agreed to as a tool for Parish Social Development Committees Terms of Reference Parish

Friends of Tumelong Tumelong with its reach of close to 109 communities, have to be close to the people in she needs to be relevant and be in touch. This is done though a committees of the Friends of Tumelong who are also representatives for Parish Communities. These wonderful individuals provide advise, support and information about their communities and share information about Tumelong to their respective communities. Furthermore they also assist with campaigns and fundraising. The friends of Tumelong have a representative at the Governing Body of Tumelong and Rev Jessica McCarter is holding this position.

 Next Meetings:

 March 19,July 09, October 01, they all start at 9a at Bishop Kraft Centre for Mission and Development

People receiving aid from Tumelong

After 4 days  we-Tumelong , went for the second time with the aim to listen to more stories from those who were affected, and to provide aid . On the day, Tumelong  gave away food parcels(19) and clothes and shoes, to 19 families that were at the gathering. Following up on the promises made by the local ward councilor, they still have not come to register and profile  people who were affected.    

Even after 12 days  they are still struggling because their beds and some of their clothes are still wet, and the rain does not stop as it rains daily, and in the evening. “ When we see clouds gathering, we start praying that this time must not be as bad as the last time- the challenging aspect of this rain,  that it becomes severe at night . 

 After giving them food and clothes, they were so happy and they thanked Tumelong Mission and Development for helping them , in particular  Mrs Jemina Mbatha, who admitted that she was skeptical after Tumelong’s first visit-“ so often we get people come and get stories, and promise to come with assistance and they never show up again. We hope Tumelong can continue to advocate for our needs”.

 In this follow- up visit. We took stock of 19 families that were available, and they further indicated that there are 15 more families, who were at their places of work.

In Mamelodi East, Mandela Extention 11 which is a fairly new settlement born out of informal settlements. The local government decided to allocate stands to those who were placed on them and gave them stand numbers, with the intention of building the people RDP houses in those stands, which normally take veeeerry long.

 The impact of these decisions was felt by Jemina Mbatha and Mr Hlatshwayo of Mamelodi. In the recent floods she lost most of her possessions and was trying to salvage some items and clothes by washing them all over again after being in the mud for a couple of days. 8 days later, the effects of the water is as clear as the day it happened. There is a mud puddle inside the shack where the kitchen used to be, only made visible by muddy crockery in a ‘used to be’ kitchen unit slanted by the water.

 The kitchen door still has the mark that indicated the level of the water when it did as it pleased with all that was on its way. “ the force of the water forced us out in the make shift veranda on top of the pot plants which was the only thing standing strong against the water. We had to come out of bed, as it rains much harder in the evening and seek refuge, even our toilet outside was flat on the ground” said the aged TB patient. I struggle with TB, and raising my children and my nephew’s whose mother passed on, and now I have to struggle with this water, it will be better if I were to be moved instead of being here, as I fear for my life with every drop of rain”.

When asked about the intervention from the local government, she indicated that: “the Counselor Z was in the place and they came and wanted to register people affected but never got to some of us, it has been 8 days now and they still have not come again, no one has come to our assistance, you are the first person” , whispered Mrs Mbatha with a deep drawn emotional sigh.

In the Diocese of Pretoria, under Tumelong and Anglican Aids and Health care Trust, we are running as youth peer educators programme called Siyafundisa ( Teaching our children), it is a HIV prevention programme focusing on teaching the youth about Abstinence and being faithful by offering them Peer Education and Life Skills programme. The main aim is to encourage the youth to abstain from sexual activities until they are married.

One of the exercises we give to young people during our workshops is for them to discuss and give percentages to risky behaviours that young people engage in. The shocking statistics are that unprotected sex, pregnancy and abortion always top the list by between 80%, 90% and 95% this is worrying it means we still have a long way to go in changing young people attitudes and behaviours.

 Many young people find it hard to talk about sensitive topics with their Parents so they get information and advices from friends, school mates, TV and etc. So what Peer Education does is to take a group of suitable young people from the age of 10-13, 14-18, 19-24 and train them so that they can pass the correct information to other young people on the following topics: Sexuality, Gender, The advantages of abstinence, Consequences of sexual activity, HIV and AIDS.

So far, Soyafindisa have reached 3489 with messages of abstinence.

Siyafundisa Supervisors with the Fieldworker and Programme officer

While the girls from St Mary’s DSG  believe that education is important in the lives of the young people to prepare them for the life ahead, they equally believe that the environment is also key to enabling one to achieve one’s objectives. The St Mary’s DSG entourage wanted to see this area addressed.

 Together with Ms Carna Kriel, the girls – who are now in Grade 7 – swam 8 miles across the Midmar Dam to raise funds. This enabled them to erect a shade for the Maboloka Haven. The children can now play and eat under the shade without worrying about the rain or the scorching sun.

 This is not all they did when they reconnected with their little friends this year. They also hosted a picnic and shared meals with them. Trees were planted for more shade. This time the girls were accompanied by the Head of Junior School Mrs Barbie Craig and the School Chaplain the Reverend Leonard Nyakale. It was a moving experience to see the two getting their hands dirty as they planted trees. The Director of Tumelong Keba Matlhako could not resist the temptation to participate.  They left the centre having changed the environment.

 Our girls are now moving on with the knowledge that they have fulfilled their promise of making a difference. In her comments Mrs Craig expressed her excitement to see the difference at the Haven. It had received a new coat of paint. Tyres dug in for kids to play, after the local youth group got involved as part of their community development practical training. Mrs Craig thanked the girls for sharing their time with the children and for contributing positively towards the improvement of their lives and their environment. She thanked the staff at the Haven for what they do for the children.

Ms Carna Kriel and the Girls who swam the midmar under the shed erected by the money they raised