October 2016

October was full of activities and fun as it marked the beginning of summer. Isithumba Community Development Movement (ICDM) is the place to be if you like water sports, particularly canoeing.  ICDM Youth Committee took the kids to Umgeni River to learn how to canoe.  The children were so happy and had real fun in the water.  Canoeing has been part of our programs for years but it takes full force in the summer month with the great sunny weather conditions we experience in Durban.  Thus canoeing will be available for the kids twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  One of the ICDM aims is to educate youth through sport activities we and feel that canoeing plays an important role since it encourages team work and communication skills, both of which are essential to a child's upbringing.  While the sport nourishes their minds, it also nourishes their health because it improve strength, fitness and endurance.

ICDM would like to congratulate all of the youth who took part in the ‘Leader through Youth’ Life Skills programme.  The programme, provided by Vuleka Centre in partnership with the ICDM, is a four week course and the graduation ceremony was held at ICDM.  The participants will now have an advantage in the jobs market because they have learnt valuable skills such as how to conduct themselves during job interviews, and leadership. 

The ICDM team and youth were invited by the Department of Sport and Recreation (Provincial Office) to take part in an Essence Festival fun walk, which took place in iNandi Durban Green Corridor trails.  The walk, with entertainment, was just a glimpse of what is going to be like in the Essence Festival which is to be held in Durban from the 8th to the 13th of November. 

                                 

ICDM welcomed two volunteers this month from Germany and United States of America; Christian and Siobhan.  They are both doing well in Isithumba as they experience a different lifestyle and culture.  Siobhan is teaching English at iNdunakazi Primary School.  Christian is also teaching English in addition to Mathematics.  We are very appreciative of their work in the schools and with the ICDM programmes.

     

November will mark the beginning of an educational project which will involve kids from Kirkby Stephen Grammar School in the United Kingdom, Hillcrest High School and kids from Isithumba who attend schools with which the ICDM partner. The young people will all take part in the ‘World’s Largest Lesson’ and will learn about the Global Goals for Sustainable Development.  The project will study Goal 5, Gender Equality. All learners will conduct a survey in their respective communities to find out the ratio of female to male leaders and decision makers in each area.  The kids from the three groups will discuss their findings in a Skype Chat on the 8th November. Christian will be play a major part in this project as he will prepare our youth to take part in the project.  Resources have been sent to Isithumba from teacher Kate Knight at Kirkby Stephen Grammar School to enable the youth to learn about the issue of Gender Equality and to be able to follow the same programme as kids at Hillcrest High School and in the UK. In addition Kirkby Stephen Grammar School students have raised money to fund the transport of ICDM kids to Hillcrest High School who have the IT equipment necessary for the Skype chat. 

ICDM We are the future!!

September 2016

Isithumba Community Development Movement, is an inspiring non-profit organisation that aims to serve the communities of KwaXimba.  Amongst other things we do is serving our community with information that will help better the future of the eleven villages of KwaXimba.  Doing so requires the depth of resources which is a challenge for the ICDM since it is a non-profit organisation and we rely on the kindness of our stakeholders who we share the same vision, namely to empower the youth in every aspect of life.  Nevertheless ICDM continues to strive to empower the youth through our programmes.   

The beginning of last month marked the beginning of a great relationship between Sandile Mbatha and the ICDM.  With the help of the ICDM team Mbatha secured a large area of land in Isithumba.  The land will be of good use to the youth in our communities.  It had been neglected prior to our acquisition, with no proper management in place.  Now our youth will get a chance to learn about farming and what it entails. Since this relationship started, ICDM is looking at expanding its programs and is excited to include farming as part of these programs.  The farming project will also create employment opportunities for the unemployed youth.  

   

The ICDM under 15 soccer team, played a tournament in Cato Manor, Durban. This is a tournament that our young soccer stars had been training hard for in the past few months.  Even though we didn’t win, the kids were so happy to have taken part in this tournament.  There was a heavy rain during the duration of the soccer event but their courageous effort to play all the games throughout the tournament was remarkable.

The month of September is commonly known as Heritage Month where we embrace our different cultures in a diverse society.  On the 24th of September ICDM celebrated Heritage Day in style by organising and hosting our annual cultural event which was full of performances from Zulu traditional dance to poetry and King Shaka Zulu praise songs.  The event was in the form of a competition where different groups and individuals competed for Shoprite vouchers.  ICDM would like to thank all the participants and spectators who made the event a success.   

       

As we aim to empower youth through education ICDM has gone to partnership with Vuleka Trust which is a non-profit organisation that teaches life skills to unemployed youth for a period of four weeks.  The lessons are already underway and youths spend three weeks at Isuthumba and a one week at Bothas Hills where Vuleka reside.  After the four weeks training the youth will get a chance to volunteer at ICDM for two weeks where they will be part of the daily programmes and ICDM extended programmes. 

ICDM took 22 young people to the art gallery in Durban to an exhibition themed “Through Positive Eyes”.  The exhibition was based on the stigma of HIV/AIDS and told stories from people around the world living with HIV/AIDS.  The day was very informative and helped our youth to learn more about this pandemic.  Now they have better knowledge of HIV/AIDS and they will share that knowledge with their friends and family and thus their exposure and learning from people who are infected will validate the impact of the exhibition. 

          

Next month the ICDM will be working on an international schools partnership to which kids from different countries and schools will engage in learning about the Sustainable Development Goals. In September 2015 World Leaders committed to 17 goals in order to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice and to fix climate change. To realise these Goals everyone needs to take part so the project aims to teach our young people about them to encourage them to become the generation that changed the world.  This is an initiative from our good friend Kate Knight from England. It intends to have kids from Isithumba, Hillcrest High School and Kirkby Stephen Grammar School in the UK discussing the goals and completing a joint project about Gender inequality in the world. These discussions will be held face to face via Skype. On behalf of the ICDM, this project will be under the administration of our upcoming volunteer Christian Günzel, from Germany who arrives in Isithumba in October. We appreciate his willingness to help the youth at the ICDM and hope that he enjoys his stay.

The ICDM is also happy to announce it appreciation with the support received this month from BMW Berlin and Christian Pässler through our German sister organization UBUNTU- gemeinsam stark für Afrika e. V.  This will help us have at least 10GB internet per month which will help a lot in our organizational communication. We would also like to thank Kate Knight’s fundraising contribution towards purchasing a computer that will improve the work and help the organization grow.  The monies have been raised from staff at Kirkby Stephen Grammar School in the UK who have been extended a warm welcome when they visited Isithumba as part of the British Council’s Teacher Exchange program and who all support the vision of the ICDM.   It is support like these that keeps our organization going and ensuring that the youth gets the opportunities they otherwise wouldn't have.

ICDM is also looking at intensifying its programs in the area of Isithumba and Kwaximba. We are happy thus far with the support and cooperation we receive from all our stakeholders and the youth of Kwaximba.

We are excited that we will once again be hosting an English-speaking volunteer, Siobanna Williams, from the US of America. She will be involved in our administration and she will be with ICDM for a period of one month.  We hope that she will enjoy her work with us.

ICDM We are the future!!

August 2016

August was the month of Isithumba Community Development Movement was to excel in every aspect of its programmes involving sport, cultural development and education.  With activities aimed at uplifting the youth through cultural integration with foreign groups we were pleased to welcome the Kenyan group this month.  ICDM prides itself for hosting many African groups, which in turn enhances the understanding and conformity of our culture and enables us to explore the similarities in cultural practices between African countries.

ICDM had the pleasure of hosting the Kenyan Rugby Sevens team, LPS Nairobi. The group spent the whole day at Isithumba and participated in our programmes.  We took them for cultural tour around the region of KwaXimba and went to the skate park where they also had fun in trying out a new sport.  After the tour we played indigenous games and concluded the day with a Zulu a dance performed by the kids from ICDM.  We hosted this group through our partnership with the Department of Sport and Recreation managed by Teddy Adams, whose support we appreciate. 

ICDM would like to thank BMW Germany and Christian for donating 60 T-shirts for the kids.  We welcomed the T-shirts with a lot of games and fun, playing indigenous games such as Shoe Game, African baseball and drie stokkies.   It is companies like BMW Germany that helps us to keep moving forward and to continue to improve the lives of the village children who are most affected by the socio – economic challenges facing the village of Isithumba.

The most anticipated day of the second edition Cross Country Marathon came to reality when athletes came in their numbers to partake in a beautiful cross country marathon run along the Umgeni River in the Valley of a Thousand Hills.  Athletes from different age categories took part, ranging from seven year olds to the seniors.  In this year’s edition William Mtolo took part by running 8km with the seniors.  This Isithumba Cross Country Marathon will forever be famous as the marathon that was run by the Comrades Marathon legend and New York Marathon winner. ICDM, in partnership with Puseleso, would like to thank all stakeholders who helped to make this event a success.  We would like to acknowledge the support given to us by the Ethekwini Department of Sport and Recreation. We extend our gratitude to Umsuduzi Clinic for providing us with an ambulance and last but not least the KZN athletics and the marshals who made sure that the race was run safe and fair. Thank you to Kaz Mac photography for the amazing photos!

          

      

         

ICDM creates the mass inclusion in sport regardless of your demographics and your background and it has taken part in weeks of training, every weekend in Durban, for the Provincial Indigenous Games.  Our very own Mazwi and Buhle represented Ethekwini municipality in the Provincial Games which were held late in the month in Portshapestone. They were both playing the same code; drie stokkies.   Mondli was also part of the Indigenous Games as a Technical Official for drie stokkies. Buhle now has the chance of being selected as part of the KZN team that will participate in National Indigenous Games which are to be held in Limpopo from the 24-30th of September.

Comrades Marathon legend and New York Marathon winner, William Mtolo.

ICDM We are the future!!

June 2016

Isithumba Community Development Movement (ICDM), aims to uplift and better the lives of youths from disadvantaged communities around the Valley of a Thousands Hills.  In the month famously known as the Youth Month, the 16th of June marked the 40th year anniversary since the Sharpeville march of 1976 where the youth embarked on strike for equal education for all.  This month ICDM focused on programmes that are aimed at in stimulating the minds and equipping them with skills that will help shape their future.

         

To celebrate the 16th of June, ICDM hosted a soccer tournament and invited all teams from around KwaXimba.  ICDM takes this opportunity to congratulate Sthumba City FC for winning the tournament and also to extend thanks to all the participants and spectators who came out in large numbers despite the cold and windy weather.  Most importantly ICDM would like to thank the Department of Sport and Recreation (provincial structure) for their support in making this day a success.  This year’s June soccer tournament also featured ladies soccer for the first time and it therefore fulfilled our object for sport inclusion for all genders.

     

In the spirit of June 16th, and equipping youths with necessary skills that will help their families and communities, ICDM hosted a workshop on the 27th of June in partnership with Heart4More Foundation from the United Kingdom, again with the support of the Department of Sports and Recreation of the Ethekweni Municipality.  The workshop included education about health; the importance of the healthiness of the heart, fitness, diet, first aid, and sports, mainly soccer and netball. The workshop was attended by youths from both the primary and high schools from KwaXimba and its surroundings and also from the organisation we work closely with; Siyanqoba Peer Education.   Not only was the workshop about healthy living but also there were great performances from Siyanqoba youths.  Thanks to the Heart4More Foundation and Department of Sports and Recreation from the Municipality Office - now our youth will have knowledge about their health and they will also receive a First Aid Level 1 certificate.

This June the ICDM welcomed Laura from Germany who will be volunteering with us for one month.  Laura will assist us with administration and also sporting activities. The youth fell in love with her bubbly personality and she is very good with the kids.

                   

ICDM have also taken some of our youth to the Provincial Indigenous Games organized by the Department of Sports and Recreation (provincial structure) through Khethiwe Mhlongo. We are really thrilled to see our youth compete on regional level which will become soon provincial and national. This also serves as part of our Schools Sports Development Program (Schools Athletics).  There is no greater feeling than seeing youth that we have trained for the past 7 years compete and winning in regional events.

        

We would also like to thank BMW Berlin and Christian (our previous volunteer and a leader) for the contribution in the continuation of running out programs. And not forgetting to thank our sincere friend Oliver for donating clothes which he collected in his home town of Bremerhaven - we appreciate the continuous support. All attention is now turning towards the 6th of August when we will be hosting the Cross Country Marathon for the second time. This has now become an ICDM annual event since we hosted a very successful event last year.

Since we selected the youth committee at the ICDM, we can see the youths’ interest in our programs grow. We intend to introduce new exciting activities with the help of our short term volunteers and the youth committee.

ICDM We are the future!!