Outside Organizations

Contacting outside organizations to get involved in Monwabisi Park

During the project, we realized there were more ways to involve the community than only in photos or video as we had discussed prior to coming to Cape Town. We began researching University of Cape Town (UCT) and nearby False Bay College to see if they had any community outreach programmes, particularly within the informal settlements.  We wanted to make sure the programme would either have a financial aid structure, be cheap enough to be paid for by the Cape Town Project Centre, or be part of a special outreach programme to informal settlements.

MOT

Talking with our project sponsor, Buyiswa Tonono, and the leader of the Shaster Foundation, Di Womersley, we found out that a big concern for the future was and is the youth. Nearby False Bay College provided an excellent programme offer through a partner called MOT. MOT is the Norwegian word for “courage” and expanded to South Africa in 2006. MOT focuses on the youth and developing key personal and leadership skills. The MOT programme usually targets children around the age of 15, which is right around the time they graduate middle school. Di targeted that age as a potential age for bad habits and problems such as drinking to develop. We had a meeting with the False Bay MOT representative, Douglas Sias, to enquire about bringing the MOT programme to the Indlovu Project in Monwabisi Park. Douglas informed us that the MOT programme had just begun at False Bay College and had only completed one session at the time. He indicated that over time, the goal was to extend the programme to the informal settlement communities of Khayelitsha. We had been the first group to contact them about bringing their programme to a specific community. The MOT programme usually runs over nine sessions over three years. We did not think that this will fully benefit the community of Monwabisi Park with such infrequent meetings.  We drafted and submitted a proposal for the program expansion to the Indlovu Project. They will make a decision about their programme status after their summer break ends.

UCT

During our time in Cape Town, we investigated some of the programs that the University of Cape Town offers. We first checked into the scholarship opportunities provided by the university targeted at students from informal settlements. Although we identified the LOLUNTU program, we were unable to obtain further information other than the application process in March. None of the scholarships offered however included transportation and/or housing, something needed for informal settlement students.

Analysis and Conclusions

While we did not receive a definite answer from UCT or MOT about coming to Monwabisi Park, we gained knowledge about the programs.. Although we did not establish major contact with UCT, we learned some important things about contacting them in the future. Because they have finals around the time the project teams arrive, contact should be established immediately. Otherwise, the school will be on summer break and meetings will be difficult to arrange. While we did general research on outreach programmes UCT offers, we do not know what specific programmes they would offer to Monwabisi Park.  However, MOT seems very promising and could provide the community with a valuable youth based programme.

Recommendations

MOT has not committed to anything at this point, but they are a good programme to involve in the community. They were given the contact information of Buyiswa Tonono and Di Womersley of the Indlovu Project. Realistically, the best and most meaningful relationships will be done through nearby False Bay College, Good Hope Campus.More programmes could be offered over time, and it should definitely be further researched. MOT should be followed up with, even if they decided not to bring their programme to Monwabisi Park immediately. Further contact with UCT may be hard to establish, but should be attempted.