Be Strong Be Wise South Africa

BSBW continues to receive requests from schools to bring in the course, and our Coordinators are meeting the need with ongoing team-building, planning and communication with Life Orientation teachers and principals.

Most everyone will be teaching in October, and we are eager to discover how things go each step of the way. The Coordinators have also been connecting with local municipalities and community leaders in order to get a buy-in for the course and expand our outreach. We have thus far reached over 500 youth who have participated in the course. In the month to come, another 300 learners will receive the course as our facilitators head back into the classroom again.

Some specific reports from each member of the team:

Jossy: Has been responding to several accounts of statutory rape in her community. We continue to be a prevention-oriented initiative, but will support the teams as they respond to these traumatic events, for there are lots of steps and modalities that may help survivors.

Jossy also shared that she believes that helping learners build integrity and honesty is going to be important. Agreed! Most of the journal prompts are devoted to this and to helping learners create a greater understanding of themselves, in order to be more honest with others.

Noxy: Is preparing to teach another huge class (110 learners that she will divide into three groups). Thembi and Noxy have been working closely together with the school to create a quality versus quantity approach to this round of teaching. Noxy has another school interested, but is waiting until January to explore that since she has her hands full.

Paneng: will be teaching his group of athletes and the Peer Ambassador group he has built in the local school. These are each full classes (approximately 30 learners each) and his hope is to run these courses as a Pilot, so that he can present the results to the school and hopefully gain a buy-in.

Thembi:  Her team is preparing to teach another grade at the Bonela School, and they already have other schools interested. Thembi will play an active role in working with the principal and trying to attain flagship status there. 

Wilna: Continues to use her skills to explore funding options for BSBW and is supporting Carolien with data collection and analysis, as well as her team of facilitators.

Amy: has been meeting with lots of groups in the US and networking with such orgs as the Southern Africa Network. She is connecting with anyone she can. Also, with Thembi’s help, we’ve been able to create a beautiful Social Media presence and new Landing Page! 

Links:

• Our new Landing page !