November has been yet another good period in our successful
year. This month we have seen a number of projects in which the ICDM's
dedicated youth have been involved. We thankful to Oliver from Bremerhaven who
ran in a marathon in Germany to gain sponsorship for the ICDM. We also made a very good connection with the
organisation, Sail Africa through our neighbour Tim from Inchanga. Mondli attended the Wältwet Conference in
Cape Town. We are also happy to share with you that our Number Nine New Beginners’
Team is also growing through the programs we run there, including the weekend
support group with Hlengiwe. In addition we are happy to say that the ICDM have
begun to invite even more international volunteers to support our work.
Oliver, through the support from the Bremen Track and Field, had the
opportunity to run the Comrades Marathon and while he was in Durban he decided
to visit Isithumba where he was introduced to the ICDM. He fell in love with
the organization and resolved to support our good work. Back in Germany he ran
a marathon held in Bremerhaven in mid-November in support of the ICDM. We are very happy to see that our
international partnerships grow through the word of mouth and that our work is
being acknowledged.
Through a meeting called by eThekwini Municipality's Sport and Recreation Department,
we have been very lucky to meet with the Sail Africa Team, a youth development
foundation. During the month of November we were given an opportunity to take
our Number Nine and Isithumba youth to the Durban port where Sail Africa runs
its sailing lessons for youngsters. Because the team from Sail Africa
understand the complexity of our work they decided to help the ICDM team with
the Bike Program and we are very happy to be in such a productive partnership. When
the Number Nine Team members reported back on their visits to Sail Africa they
said that they were astonished to see the activities taking place at the Durban
port and that this was an eye-opening experience for them. They promised to
take up the chance offered by Sail Africa to learn how to sail, to engage in
team work and to enable personal development.
The Number Nine's New Beginners Team have proven that they can take the sports
centre forward through their dedication to the programs offered by the
ICDM. In early November they had a
meeting with the councillors’ office where they presented a report about the
challenges that they have faced in getting the sports centre to become what it
is now. They are highly determined and they are willing to help to develop
their community. The support groups have also helped this group to understand
each other better as the youth engage on different matters on every Tuesday of
the week.
There have been a number of other activities happening at the ICDM. Although it is now the school holidays the
kids are still coming to the centre and doing sports. Our trainers are also
busy running different activities which help the organization to grow. We are
also planning and running programs that deal with climate change and as soon as
we have more concrete details of them we will share them with you.
Our hard working Mondli Buthelezi had a chance to go to
Cape Town, where he attended a conference on partnerships between various
German and South African organizations. Such networking is very critical for
the growth of our organization. Mondli was given a chance to engage with other
organization leaders on a number of issues facing the Civil Society Organization
in South Africa and in Germany.
We are looking forward to hosting our short term international volunteers. They
will all contribute towards growing our organization internationally. We are currently looking for support for
provision of a replacement car to enable us to run our activities and would
like to hear from anyone who is able to help us with this matter.
Remember:
We are ICDM, we are the future!
