Mototo

I spent my last week traveling in a rural town in Uganda called Mbale. I found my time there an interval that slowed me down, a lot. I spent my time in an area called Mototo, a very heavily Muslim …

Tip to Toe

Once a year Oasis provide health assessments to underprivileged children living in and around Harare. Most of these children will be living in informal settlements around the city and Oasis aim to see to the health needs of the children, …

Greenlight

The Greenlight project reaches out to girls working as commercial sex workers in Diepsloot and Randburg.

The Greenlight team meet before their outreach in a building they believe to be an old brothel, but they are unsure as to whether the building is inactive at night or not! Above are one of the families that now live in the old brothel! Below is the Greenlight Team!

Girls are usually recruited and sometimes forced to work as commercial sex workers. They are particularly vulnerable due to the high rate of unemployment and lack of opportunity in the areas they live in.

Through the Greenlight project, Oasis Youth Change Agents, build relationships with these girls, train them to become peer educators and come to a place of healing and wholeness, which includes freedom from substance abuse and access to opportunities for alternative employment.  

When I was in Guatemala I saw a similar sort of thing happening with a street outreach team who seek to see street living children & youth leave the streets. The team was predominately made up of ex-street living young adults, whilst out on street outreach I saw them able to engage and meet on a level with the people living on the streets, as they once were there themselves, they got it! See the post Generate a Generation for more info on this topic.

Many have ministered effectively to hurting people because they have triumphed over their own hurts

It is tough to help someone who doesn’t want to be helped! But the most important thing is to not give up on them, because if we give up then all hope is lost. One day they may see the potential that we see in them and pick up their mat and walk away…(Generate a Generation)

The girls start conversations about sexual health with people, by introducing themselves on the streets of Randburg and Diepsloot. It was really encouraging to see the girls engaging and talking to people on the streets about sexual health, all done with a smile yet a real seriousness and importance to the outreach!

They talk about issues such as STI’s, how to use a condom, myths related to sexual issues etc…

These outreaches happen 3 days a week.

Rainbow Kids

Rainbow Kidz is a pre-school based in the township of Grahamstown in South Africa. The drive down to Grahamstown was breathtaking as we drove through the Free State, although the drive was 10 hours long it flew by as we made our way through the beautiful African plains.

On arrival to Grahamstown I was greeted with a very English looking town. The architecture has a lot of English influence and for the first time in 4 months I felt like I was back in England! The next day we jumped in the ca,r to go and visit the Rainbow Kidz project. As we drove through the beautiful town I found it hard to imagine coming to a undeveloped part of the city, but as we drove through the streets you could see the level of poverty slowly creeping upon us.

On the hillside parallel to the road small shacks sat amongst the overcast morning and cows grazed on the sides of the road. Amongst our desaturated  surroundings the Rainbow kids pre-school sprung into our view.

We were greeted by the teachers at the school and 21 children staring back at us. As soon as I got my camera out the children came to life, laughing and enjoying a new toy, that was my camera to play with. I would take a photo then they would rush over and see the photo. I had to be very sly to capture those natural moments.

We sang songs and played with the children.The environment the teachers had created for the children was so inspiring and safe. This little hub in the community was not only a safe place for children to learn and play in but also a place of hope. Rainbow Kidz sticks out in this part of Grahamstown, it is a place of refuge and safety and is more than just a pre-school it is a building that reminds the community that they are not alone, there is great potential for relationships in the community to change through this little project.

Wellness

‘Our vision is for community – a place where everyone is included, making a contribution and reaching their God-given potential.’ Oasis

Since the clinic opened in 2007 it has grown with support from the community, several governmental and non-governmental partners together. The project has seen significant progress in reducing the incidence of HIV, preventing AIDS and empowering people to take responsibility for their own wellness.

Today was my first visit to the clinic in Cosmo City, it was great to see a project that is so beneficial to the communities wellness and development. From talking to a few of the volunteers that help at the project, I was able to understand the huge benefits the clinic has and is having on the continual growing community.

“We believe that this comprehensive approach to community wellness would significantly improve the general well-being of our community over time.”

I was so pleased to here that a major achievement for the clinic has been the fact that there has been a 0% rate of HIV among babies whose mothers attended the antenatal clinic, this sure testifys to the effectiveness of clinical services with community based follow up.

Community Health Workers act as change agents in the health and well-being of the community, with a specific focus on HIV, antenatal care and home-based care, reaching an average of 15 000 people each year.