Majuba FET College, in partnership with The EduCentre, has been fortunate to run a Community Outreach Project in 2013 for the Amajuba District.
This project was started to equip Community Work Programme (CWP) employees with the necessary skills and knowledge to create a sustainable income for themselves.
The CWP provides unemployed people with a chance to generate an income during their search for full-time or part-time employment. This safety net offers them a basic level income.
On March 24, the graduation ceremony took place at the Farmers Hall with CWP workers bursting with excitement. Altogether 844 workers received certificates for completing programmes such as Youth Empowerment, Business & Environmental Skills, Early Childhood Development, Home Based Care, Computer Skills, Candle Making, Bead Work and Vegetable Growing. These programmes were offered in Dannhauser and Utrecht.
Guests and officials from Newcastle were present at the graduation, all with words of encouragement and pride, celebrating this day with the CWP workers.
Newcastle Mayor, Afzul Rehman, welcomed the attendees, as well as Lechesa Tsenoli, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister.
Mr Tsenoli shared some words of excitement and enthusiasm with the CWP workers. “Today you took a big step,” he said. “With every step you take forward, the more you can see. You can now see what is available for you out there. It is never too late and you are never too old to start learning.”
The Minister was very taken with the Vegetable Growing programmes that some of the workers have completed. “This is a very good programme; it urges people to live healthy. The result of healthy living is better performance at school or work and even in sports. When you aren’t healthy, you aren’t motivated. With the motivation that comes with health, we can move forward. We can make a change,” he said with a firm voice.
“The Majuba FET College and The EduCentre’s Community Outreach Programme is a real example to other areas. Projects like these are creating opportunities for these people,” said Mr Tsenoli.
The good news doesn’t end in Newcastle. This project is part of a National Development Programme. “There are currently 204 000 people part of this programme. In 2010 there were only 55 000 people involved. This is a definite increase and it’s good,” he said.
The programme also aims to instil pride among the workers. People who work hard for what they have, tend to have more pride in their work and this was proved when Mr Tsenoli took a drive out to Dannhauser. There he found people very eager to show him their gardens and how much work they have put into it.
“People rely too much on the private sector for economic growth, but forget that rural areas can also have an effect. This programme increases the economic growth and adds more people in the process,” he said.
Mr Tsenoli also made it clear that the focus should be on width, rather than the depth of a project. “When you go too deep into a programme, only a few are benefiting from it, but when you involve more people, the project continues to grow. This is how it should be,” the said.
