The Wellness Workshops have gotten off to a good start, with groups attending sessions in Kuyasa, Samora Machel and Macassar. The facilitators have gone back to co-facilitating, which allows them to support and give feedback to each other to improve and strengthen their facilitation skills. The participants in the workshops have been eager to learn, and what has been interesting in this last cycle is how many young people are attending the workshops. A healthy cooking demonstration was held for crèche teachers in partnership with CHOSA. The teachers shared that the information will help them to ensure that the meals they cook for the children in their care are nutritious!
Nomvuyo, one of the facilitators was nominated to represent Mamelani at a workshop in Canada, hosted by one of our funders, The Stephen Lewis Foundation. Nomvuyo spent three weeks at The Arts, AIDS, and Activism Academy in Toronto. The course focused on utilizing creative methods in working with women and children affected by the AIDS pandemic. She returned with new tools and insights which she was very keen to implement on her return. To meet the inspiring facilitator for this incredible process, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=So30jB93Q5c
Cleopatra and Thandi, our other health facilitators, attended a digital storytelling workshop, facilitated by PATH that focused on the new female condom. Aside from learning about how to use this new condom, they both learnt how to make a basic video using their cell phones. They were each challenged to make a short video of their own experience of using the new condom – and they both presented impressive videos at the end of the course. They walked away from the workshop with new knowledge surrounding the new female condom, and also with a creative and useful skill that we at Mamelani will no doubt be making use of in the near future!
