Quick-Jumps:

Human Rights Peer Education

The issues of discrimination and xenophobia are real problems in communities and ignorance of other cultures is linked to these problems. Peer educators, who are already involved in other community-based youth groups, are sent on intensive human rights training. The aim of this is that they would take their knowledge back and disseminate it amongst their peers.

For the past seven years, Africa Unite has been recruiting youth (citizens and asylum seekers/refugees) from different communities to participate in a Human Rights Peer Education training programme. The training covers the following topics:

• General Introduction to Human Rights and Human Rights Education
• International and National statutes protecting and promoting human rights.
• Migrants and refugee rights  in SA
• Understanding Xenophobia
• Facilitation skills

Throughout the workshop participants are encouraged and provided with some of the skills to go back to their communities to conduct similar workshops. Over the years, peer educators have conducted workshops in schools, churches, mosques and in the communities in which they live.
These local workshops are conducted in the vernacular languages such as Xhosa, Afrikaans, Swahili and French for refugees and have substantially contributed to an increased understanding of human rights generally, and the rights of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants specifically in the places where workshops have been held. We also know that some of our peer educators have been at the forefront of defending and preventing attacks on refugees and migrants during this troubled period.

In 2007, 25 Human Rights Peer Educators were trained by Africa Unite and they have cumulatively reached 1 600 people through the workshops that they have conducted. Many of them also use local media like community radios and newspapers to raise awareness about the plight of migrants and refugees. Currently, some of our peer educators are heavily involved in negotiating with community leaders and other youth organizations so that the refugees who have been displaced can go back to their homes.

Our realization is that once the youth grasp human rights concepts, they begin to look for the realisation of these concepts in their lives, communities, families, and places of work.  If more youngsters understand their rights and the rights of others we will have less youth in prisons and crime rates will go down.

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Life Skills for Unemployed Youth
Unemployed youths are recruited in previously disadvantaged communities and are given basic training in areas such as being responsible adults.  Thereafter the organization assists them with job placement and learnership opportunities at various companies.

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Homework Help
Volunteers help particularly in the areas of Mathematics and Science and aim to increase Matric pass rates, especially disadvantaged schools in townships.

Learners from disadvantaged communities in the Western Cape often attend severely under-resourced schools, and provincial results show that many struggle with math and science subjects in particular. The Cape Times newspaper has reported that South African learners are close to being the world’s poorest performers in math and science.

One of Africa Unite’s aims is to facilitate opportunities for refugees and migrants to use their knowledge, skills and expertise to benefit citizens in South Africa. With this in mind, Africa Unite launched the Homework Help programme at Mandela High School in Crossroads.

FOCUS ON MATH & SCIENCE
The Homework Help programme was launched at Mandela High School, and matched skilled refugee tutors with Grade 12 learners to assist them in math and science, and to prepare for matriculation exams.

Dedicated Africa Unite tutors also offered extra lessons to learners every Saturday morning.

SITUATION IN SCHOOLS
After launching the Homework Help programme, Africa Unite tutors began to understand the challenges faced by learners in disadvantaged schools, and the reasons for poor academic performance in math and science.

• Schools lack educational materials and resources, such as textbooks and mathematical instruments;

• Many learners have difficulty speaking in English, and experience communication barriers with their teachers;

• Laboratories were not available to carry out practical science lessons, and learners struggled to understand some of the theoretical concepts taught;

• Learners preparing for Matric exams did not have a good foundation in math or science from earlier grades.

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LOBBYING FOR LEARNERS
In the face of the many obstacles faced by learners, the Homework Help programme has been a huge success.

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PARTNERSHIP WITH PLANNED PARENTHOOD SA
In August of 2005, Africa Unite held a one-day training workshop in Cape Town with 60 adolescents and young adults. Most were refugee children living in shelters and temporary housing facilities.

With facilitation from the PPASA, participating youth had the chance to learn about sexual and reproductive health in an honest and open environment. Games and team-building exercises were used to promote awareness  - and all the hard work put in by the Facilitator and youth required a hearty and boisterous lunch with friends!

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Youth and Social Debates
Issues of particular pertinence to communities, like discrimination, identity and human rights are discussed and debated among the youth from different backgrounds.

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Cultural Exchange Programme
Aims to promote multiculturalism and integration through language, African traditional music and arts.  The Programme is based on traditional African values and belief systems and uses training for upliftment and development of different people

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Community Sport
Friendly games of basketball and football are arranged between teams from different communities of all races. This encourages integration and mutual understanding in a non-threatening, fun atmosphere while also developing a sense of teamwork and camaraderie within teams.

Since the founding of the organisation, Africa Unite has used sport as a means of promoting positive interactions between young adults from different communities and backgrounds. Sport also allows young adults faced with poverty, unemployment and crime the opportunity to develop a positive sense of community and self.

TEAM VUYISEKA
During 2005, Africa Unite began recruiting and coaching learners from Vuyiseka High School in Phillipi to form a basketball team. The team’s Coach is an Africa Unite member, and also a refugee.Practice sessions took place twice a week after school at Vuyiseka High, and were attended enthusiastically by the school Principal!

BASKETBALL FANS
Learners at Vuyiseka High were extremely excited to join the basketball team, as they have had few opportunities for recreation or participation in sports while living in township areas, and attending disadvantaged schools.

Parents of Vuyiseka learners were also glad to see their children involved in sporting activities, rather than engaging in risky behaviours such as crime and substance abuse.

FRIENDLY MATCHES
After practicing for one school term, Africa Unite and Vuyiseka High organised friendly matches to compete with other schools in surrounding areas.

A tournament was held between youth from Manenberg and the Vuyiseka High team, reinforced with other young players from Gugulethu. Ultimately, the Manenberg team was victorious, but all youth players benefited from the excitement of the tournament, and the chance to meet and interact with each other. Team Vuyiseka continues to practice in hope of a victory in 2006!

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Intergenerational Program
This program seeks to provide a mechanism to reaffirm the value of elderly persons and to provide an opportunity for effective skills transfer. The wisdom of elderly persons should be shared with the younger generation. 

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Arts & Culture
During 2005, Africa Unite members suggested that the organisation should launch and Arts & Culture programme in response to needs voiced by young adults and communities. Africa Unite members felt Arts & Culture activities would provide positive channels for boosting self-esteem, preventing crime, generating income and promoting social integration for young adults.

PLANNING THE PROGRAMME
Africa Unite members convened a Strategic Planning meeting from 28-29 September to define the Vision and Mission Statement of the proposed Arts & Culture programme.

After two days of hard work, members developed and adopted the following Mission Statement:

The Arts & Culture Programme aims to promote multiculturalism and integration through music and arts. The programme is based on traditional African values and belief systems, and uses training and crafts for the integration, upliftment and development of different people. The programme also uses story-telling, African instruments and crafts as a tool to revive African culture by making it visible to the world, thus instilling a sense of pride and belonging to all Africans. 

FIRST STEPS
The Department of Arts and Culture, through the local Social Development division, provided Africa Unite with a grant of R10,000. This has allowed Africa Unite to purchase a set of marimbas, built by one of our members in Gugulethu.

Africa Unite has now established a Marimba Band and is in the process of starting a drumming group as well. Both groups will perform in different communities, and will offer training to other young adults. Performances of the Marimba Band and drumming group will serve to promote participation in arts and cultural activities, and will also generate an income for the young adults involved.

Through performances at private functions, such as weddings, workshops and corporate events, the Marimba Band has already started to generate income for Africa Unite and for performers. The Band’s performances have provided entertainment for audiences of all kinds, but have also raised awareness about traditional African music and culture. 

And the Africa Unite Marimba Band is now in high demand for bookings at other events and functions!

Language Lessons
To promote awareness and appreciation of cultural diversity, in during 2004-2005 Africa Unite offered language lessons to both South Africans and migrants interested in learning French and Swahili. Language classes were initially offered by a volunteer from France, but were then taught by refugees who are members of Africa Unite. 

Language classes were offered at Masizake Community Centre in Gugulethu and at IDASA in Cape Town. Most participants were South Africans interested in learning a foreign language.

Students were extremely excited to learn a foreign language. They also enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about African history, as a focus of the course, and were surprised by similarities between African languages in South Africa and in other countries. Students felt that a better awareness and understanding of languages, culture and history could help to promote unity in Africa.

Africa Unite has also developed proposals to offer language training to police officers, who regularly interact with refugees and migrants from other countries. Africa Unite will focus on offering training in French, Swahili, and Portuguese in 2006.

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Vulnerable Children’s Programme
Since 2001, much of Africa Unite’s work has been in disadvantaged and impoverished communities, both in metropolitan Cape Town and rural areas of the Western Cape province. Our time working in these areas has highlighted the extent and depth of poverty in South Africa, and its impact on youth and vulnerable children.

Many children in South Africa live below the poverty line, often without food or basic services. Children also need to be nurtured so that they can grow and develop mentally and emotionally.

WORKING WITH CHILDREN
In 2005, Africa Unite launched a new initiative called the Vulnerable Children’s Programme. The Programme targets both South African and refugee children, and over the course of the year Africa Unite members met with staff from residential homes, social work agencies, government departments and non-governmental organisations to gather information and build support networks. The Vulnerable Children’s Programme has five main goals:

1. Fundraise and channel donations to vulnerable children living in poverty;

1. Strengthen and extend Africa Unite’s existing youth programmes (Homework Help, Sport and Outreach) to include other vulnerable children;

1. Conduct research on children’s rights in South Africa, and particularly on the situation of unaccompanied refugee children;

1. Establish a dedicated Scholarship Fund for orphaned, abandoned and unaccompanied refugee children, who often cannot access bursaries or scholarships for further education; and

1. Work with other organisations to find sustainable livelihood and housing solutions for families of refugees and asylum-seekers, to keep families intact in South Africa.

SUPPORTING YOUNG SCHOLARS
During 2005, Africa Unite had already begun receiving donations to support vulnerable children who wish to pursue a higher education after school, but are unable to qualify for bursaries or scholarships.

In spite of living in poverty and hardship, many youth know just where they are going and what they want to study! Popular subjects include Engineering and Information Technology (IT), and Africa Unite plans to seek corporate sponsors willing to support young scholars in 2006.

For refugees and asylum-seekers, achieving a higher education in South Africa will mean the possibility of taking newfound skills back to their countries of origin to promote growth, development and stability.

CHRISTMAS BY THE SEA
On December 2nd, Breadline Africa sponsored a holiday outing for 150 young children to Silverstream beach in Atlantis. Africa Unite was brought on board to identify and help transport the children, aged 4 to 8, from disadvantaged communities and temporary shelters in Manenberg, New Crossroads, Gugulethu, Phillipi, Place of Hope shelter in Athlone, and Lawrence House in Woodstock.

With bottles of sunscreen, lots of bathing costumes and fresh fruit juice, all 150 children descended on Silverstream beach for an amazing day – especially for those who had never been to the sea before!

Volunteers braved the cold water to make sure that all of the children were safe and accounted for - most of them swimming happily and taking no notice of the water temperature!

The children wore colourful Breadline Africa t-shirts, built sandcastles and shared a meal together. After lunch, they were entertained with music and dancing by the Africa Unite Marimba band, until Father Christmas himself arrived at Silverstream to present each child with a gift for the holidays.

When the children returned home at the end of the day – most already fast asleep on the buses – their parents and care-givers were grateful that they had been able to spend such a special day by the sea.

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