Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

This week my professional contact organization is Ikamva Labantu of South Africa, which Tamalin Harper is my professional contact.  I did receive a couple of emails from her, but has not received a response from my latest email.  So I will be sharing some of her input and some of my thoughts about this organization.

Ikamva Labantu is now one of South Africa’s largest and most respected organizations in Africa. Today, they employ more than 100 people and care for around 25,000 children and adults every day through our network of thousands of community careers.

Ikamva Labantu’s Vision:

Every human being has the right to a dignified life.

Ikamva Labantu’s Mission:

Enable communities to be self-reliant because they have hope, information, support and resources. 

Tamalin’s greatest challenge:

She shared that many of the schools located is South Africa are overcrowded and has no money for many extracurricular activities.  Many of the township children are barely passing the achievement tests, because of the high rate of drugs and alcohol increase.  She feels that many of the children will be failing in school or either standing around on the streets.

 Tamalin’s hope for Ikamva Labantu:

It is her hope for loving and fostering environments through mentorship, social support and life skills coaching in the early childhood area.  Even though they partnership with local youth programs and some offers after-school activities and sports involvement.

Ikamva Labantu Values:

Community owned and driven: Their work is always driven and owned by actively involved community members.

Dedicated people: They work with focused, selfless and cause-driven people who show tireless dedication to addressing community needs.

Adaptable and responsive to need: As thought leaders they recognize that community needs evolve and change and therefore our responses are flexible, forward-thinking and supportive.

Self-sufficiency: They support the entrepreneurial spirit that drives community action to self-sufficiency.

Collaboration: They believe in the power of collaboration by connecting people and building their capacity.

Personal Note:

She also shared with me that they are compromised by poverty and has a high rate of unemployment in the society.  This affects many of our children that are trying to make a future for them, she stated.  She wants to provide a loving and caring family environment and sustain community safety nets that affect their social development. Tamalin believes children should be offer an opportunity to excel in school, but due to the lack of resources many has been turned away.

The voice of the caregivers, known as community representatives gather monthly at the Ikamva Labantu Community Forum and voice their challenges that the community faces, share their insights and try to find solutions too many of the community awareness.  This forum plays a critical role in the Ikamva Labantu organization, ensuring that the community is successfully addressing those needs.