November 2015

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!