GSP 2025 Week 1 Update
Friends of Africa’s Global Solidarity Project ( GSP) 2025 team have just finished our first week in South Africa which we spent in a new location with the Tsholofelo Community: in the town of Dysselsdorp in the Western Cape. Tsholofelo have established a new community here since July 2024 and have focused on developing adult skills training including welding, computer skills and sewing in addition to youth work training with the support of Friends of Africa.
We worked alongside long term Tsholofelo volunteers Angelique, Fhidolene and Leigh to introduce the Recife Programme to 28 young people aged 14-17 years at a 3 day residential retreat. The goal of the Recife Programme is to develop leadership and teamwork skills as one of the major issues that face young people growing up in Dysselsdorp is lack of further educational and employment opportunities.
When we arrived in Dysselsdorp, we met with the Tsholofelo Community volunteers, as well as the youth leaders who would also be helping out at the camp for local young people. We were shown around the local area, visiting places where the young people who would be attending camp are from. The Tsholofelo team also gave us an insight into life in Dysselsdorp, explaining some of the main challenges facing people daily.
Our focus then turned to planning and preparation for camp. There were many shopping trips to ensure we had all the food and equipment needed for the residential, which was taking place an hour away in De Hoek. For many of the young people, this was their first time being so far from home. Together, we also made the resources needed to deliver the Recife Leadership Training, a programme based on Paulo Freire methodology which has been tried and tested throughout the World.
Justice, compassion and humility, the key values of the Recife programme, guided all of the activities over the weekend. The young people had opportunities to develop their communication, leadership and team work skills, as well as a chance to discuss and identify needs in their local communities which they could address in their newly formed groups. Each group, made up of young people from the same area, were appointed youth leaders, also from the same area who will be supporting them. We played lots of team building games in the outdoor space in De Hoek, but we all had to keep an eye out for the baboons living close by who came to visit a number of times over the weekend. They must have been able to smell the famous potjiekos (ostrich stew) that was cooking for dinner. There were new friends made, rugby and Gaelic football skills exchanged and lots of dancing after the campfire to end each night of camp.
The Recife programme is enabling young people to make a positive impact in their own community in Dysselsdorp, working as a team to take responsibility for all aspects of their project. Our experience in this new location of the Tsholofelo Community has been very positive and we are all excited to see what the next 6 months brings for Dysselsdorp!
Before leaving De Hoek on the final day of camp, each group of young people identified a need in their community which they wanted to address over the next 6 months, developed their plan and presented their ideas. There were a range of ideas presented, including soup kitchens, food banks, waste collection on the local streets and sexual health education sessions to address the various needs in the local communities. It was encouraging to see how engaged all of the young people were throughout the whole weekend, but especially in the planning of their projects.
Over the next 6 months, the youth leaders will meet weekly with their group of young people to continue to plan and then carry out these projects. Each month, all groups will come together with the Tsholofelo leaders to evaluate their progress. FOA will continue to provide support through Zoom meetings where required.
