Yet again in February, in the month of love, Isithumba Community Development Movement (ICDM) welcomed more visitors; Milena from Switzerland and Pierre from France. Milena was not just a volunteer but also a member of the ICDM team as she came to inspire our youth to pursue their future and to remind them to never let their background define them. Milena had an amazing experience as she truly clicked with our youth, adapting so well to the life style of the Isithumba community and its culture.
Through this experience she was able to easily fit into the Zulu culture and she interacted so well with everyone. Her stay enabled the children to be exposed to the Swiss culture. This proved to be an excellent opportunity for everybody to experience the cultures of two very different countries. It is with great sadness that we had to say goodbye to Milena last week. ICDM wishes her a prosperous academic year as she will be pursuing her teaching degree later this year. 
Over the past months we have been struggling to reinstate our BMX bike activities into the daily programs because our BMX bikes were broken and needed to be fixed. Through great kindness and the spirit of giving we have managed to raise funds and get the bikes repaired. Therefore we are proud to announce that we are bringing back the BMX bike program, with the assistance of Pierre who is also helping our youth to repair the bikes. Soon the kids will be riding again! Pierre will be volunteering for a month. He will also be working closely with Mondli to put grass on our volleyball pitch during his stay. We thank him for his work in the project – it is much appreciated.
This month ICDM was also thrilled to welcome back Christian from Germany – a former volunteer who fell in love with the organisation and has become more than just a volunteer but a partner who has been actively helping the organization to succeed. He sacrificed his holiday to come to help us with our administration and also with the organisation of our work. We are very grateful to him for his monthly donation to the ICDM which pays for our internet connection. Thank you very much Christian.
February was filled with excitement and joy from the kids and the ICDM team as we reintroduced canoeing back into our programs. ICDM aim to empower youth, possibly through all sporting codes and this water sport inspires team work and inclusion. It is very enjoyable too!
ICDM is looking at strengthening its stakeholders by expanding its existing school programs. Our annual schools event will take place in April. This year we aim to include more schools, including secondary schools, not just the four schools as we normally do. This will ensure inclusion of all schools in the communities where the organization resides. We hope to make this possible with the help of our stakeholders; the Government International Relations Department and the Sports and Recreation Department.
ICDM humbly thanks Femke Christin Kujas and Matthias for their heartily welcomed €800 donation. We are very grateful to receive this donation as it will be very helpful in ensuring the schools programs are running in full force. Thank you very much.
Our youth have been working tirelessly to fund raise for their Reunion trip later this year. So far they have raised R180 by selling clothes to the community. Slowly but surely we are hoping to raise about R450 from this fund raiser. This amount will contribute to their monthly savings.
We are looking forward to hosting more volunteers next month, to contribute in developing our community through culture, sports and educational activities. Through word of mouth we have been able to receive more international groups to explore our activities. Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Kristin this month and we thank her for her work in Isithumba, but we will always welcome volunteers to help us to achieve our aims. If you are interested in joining us please view our web page at http://isithumbacdm.wix.com/icdm and contact us for more information.
ICDM We are the future!!
