At the Rotary Club of Waterfront’s breakfast meeting on 10 July, members welcomed Sophia Zittel, Manager of iThemba Labantu Community Centre in Philippi, who shared how education, skills development, and community partnerships are transforming lives in one of Cape Town’s most underserved communities.
Recently their established vocational training programmes in solar plumbing, motor mechanics and cooking and a new one – training local music facilitators – have acquired funding through a global grant project run by RC Waterfront and RC Münster Rüschhaus. By paying the trainees a small allowance to cover the cost of transport, food and hygiene the hope is to increase the completion rate in the programmes and assist the trainees in becoming employment ready.
Against the backdrop of a very challenging surrounding, iThemba Labantu strives to deliver excellent services in a warm and caring environment. Working in partnership with youth, job seekers and educators we aim to access the strengths and talents of our community to build a brighter future.
Philippi is one of the largest former townships in the Western Cape, with a history and progress linked to the discriminatory policies of apartheid.
Located 30 kilometers from Cape Town, Philippi is a densely populated neighborhood with an estimated 450 000 people living in an area of approximately 25 square kilometers. There is widespread poverty and unemployment, and limited access to housing with many residents continuing to living in collapsible ‘shacks’ as opposed to brick houses – often without adequate access to running water and toilets.
iThemba Labantu means hope for the people. It is a Lutheran Comunity Centre – an oasis in the heart of Phillipi. Its purpose, to empower people through various programmes and to break the cycle of poverty. This is done through Education, after schools programmes, feeding schemes, skills development and income generating projects.
Education includes PreSchool, Primary School, Aftercare, Afternoon Programmes, Voctional Training – UCT Support.
Opportunities given by Rotary Grant
Support of music outreach classes at UCT:
Train music facilitators:
Supervise music program during the week
Acquire pedagogical skills to find work.
Skills Development
Students equipped with vocational skills
Solar/Plumbing (level 1, 5 months)
Motor Mechanic (level 1, 5 months)
Culinary school (level 1, 4 months)
Theory and practice
Financial literacy
Life skills
Certificate
Internships and job referal/placement
Going forward, we believe there are many areas where we could cross polinate ideas and assist. Piet suggested that “our Innerwheel Waterfront Club” may well like to get involved to assist where they can.
To better understand what this project is about, a site visit of interested crew is to be organised later in the year. Rebekka thanked Sophia for an informative talk, confirming that we would visit the community centre in the not too distant future
