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SHAWCO Vision: To improve the quality of life of individuals in developing communities within the Cape metropolitan area.

SHAWCO Mission: As an innovative student community service organisation our mission is:

• To promote the involvement of students and other members of UCT community in: - Voluntary community service, - Experiential and community service learning, - Research that has a direct benefit to our partner communities,

in order to educate students for life.

• To focus and build on community and individual strengths through the management of vibrant community centres and programmes in order to: - Educate young people for life, - Increase access to basic care - Effect a transfer of skill, knowledge and capacity, - Provide access to opportunities previously out of reach, - Use strategic partnerships to assist people in developing communities to manage their own development.

We do this to address inequality and promote responsible citizenship amongst our volunteers and partner communities in our African context.

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SHAWCO was started in July 1943 by Andrew Kinnear, a UCT medical student, who spent the vacation driving an ambulance to earn money to pay for his medical training. He was appalled by the poverty, lack of hygiene and lack of medical facilities in areas like Kensington and Elsies River, and became determined to do something about it. Andrew Kinnear asked Dr Golda Selzer of the Pathology Department at to help him establish a . Dr Selzer became one of the founders of SHAWCO and remained SHAWCO honorary life president until her death in 1999. In 2001 Mrs Graca Machel agreed to become SHAWCO’s new life president. What started as a one-man initiative grew into one of the largest student volunteer organisations, attracting around 900 UCT students, close to 300 foreign students, as well as about 20 community volunteers every year, all of whom give of their time and energy for the same goal of building a better future. Youth development, as well as the provision of care for the elderly and the disabled are the two areas that the communities want SHAWCO to focus on. Healthcare projects and running multi-purpose community centres with skills training and recreation projects also remain part of SHAWCO’s strategy.

SHAWCO Kensington Community Centre is home to the Visual and Performing Arts Project, STEP and Stepping Out. In addition, it houses the SHAWCO Adult Day Care Club, provides meals-on-wheels to about 45 people in the area, and also houses a number of local organisations: the Jewish Women’s Union crèche, a home-care training facility, a church group, a community newspaper, as well as the Provincial Administration of the Western Cape (PAWC) social services. The hall is used by a judo club, the ballroom dancing club, is hired out for weddings and other occasions, and serves as a pension payout point twice a month.

A project with the intention of consolidating the existing projects with a view to concentrate efforts to encourage and provide opportunities for learners from this community to be able to access Higher Education Institutions, SHAWCO is commencing with a project in 2007. Learners from Grade 3 to grade 10 will be supported in Maths, Science and English together with arts, sports, debating etc.

SHAWCO Manenberg Community Centre. The Performing and Visual Art Project, taking place at the centre, involves UCT student volunteers who help local primary and secondary school pupils develop communication skills and leadership qualities through art and drama. The Manenberg Sports Project also takes place at the centre. It involves more than 100 children participating in various sports codes with the help from UCT student volunteers and community volunteers. In addition, the centre houses a local crèche, family and child support services and serves as a pension payout point.

In 2008, SHAWCO would like to implement the “all round education model” where about 300 learners from the community could be exposed not only to arts, sports, debates and IT, but also a sustained effort to be made to provide Maths, Science and English education with the aim of getting children from these communities into tertiary institutions.

SHAWCO Nyanga Community Centre is home to Masizikhulise (Let us help one another grow) Project. This is a vocational training project, which involves unemployed mothers and their children at risk. SHAWCO organises literacy classes and training for the mothers, while UCT students assess the children’s development, ensure that they receive adequate nutrition and engage them in stimulating activities. The Nyanga Sports Project takes place at a near-by community hall. The centre also runs an Adult Day Care Club for older and disabled people, and delivers meals-on- wheels to elderly and disabled residents in the area.

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SHAWCO K2 Community Centre is home to the Arts Project as well as SMART - Student Mentored All Round Tutoring Project. With the help of qualified teachers, SMART student volunteers provide Grade 10 to 12 learners from several schools with educational activities, complementing the school curriculum with the aim of facilitating their future transition to tertiary education. There is also a computer training facility with 30 computers and a predominantly children’s reference library, the STEP Project, which provides primary school pupils with tutoring and extracurricular activities, and the Masifundisane (Let us teach each other) Project. This project involves vegetable production at two schools and the creation of an Environmental Park on a wetland site adjacent to the centre. The centre also houses the Nonceba mother and child abuse-counselling centre, and it is used by the local community for church services and community meetings.

SHAWCO Khayelitsha K1 Community Centre is home to the Noxolo Adult Day Care Club, as well as a number of local NGOs providing family and rape counseling, working with Aids orphans and offering other family-related counseling services. SHAWCO has raised funds in the name of the late Dr Golda Selzer, to upgrade and expand the centre in order to transform it into a UCT teaching site and therapy centre, where members of the Noxolo club, as well as other Khayelitsha residents can receive occupational therapy, physiotherapy and other kinds of therapy from UCT students.

In addition to the projects run at the SHAWCO centres, there is also the Masizame (Let us try) Project, which aims to improve the quality of life of children in 3 children’s homes, a convalescent hospital and an orphanage for disabled children through outings, play and learning, and SHAWCO Mobile Health . At the moment SHAWCO Mobile Clinics operate in three informal settlements and three community clinics, providing professional care to communities where state medical services are inadequate. On average SHAWCO clinics treat about 5,000 patients per year.

UCT RAG (Remember and Give) is SHAWCO’s student fundraising team at UCT. RAG’s 90 student volunteers raise money mostly through sponsorships and corporate events. SHAWCO also has a small fundraising team at the head office, whose task is to complement RAG’s work.

In short SHAWCO has:

- 22 staff members; - 1,200 student volunteers per year; - 20 community volunteers; - 5 community centres; - 4 clubs for older and disabled people; - 4 buses and 2 mobile clinics; and - a budget of approximately R4m

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SHAWCO PROJECTS

Step The Step project tutors English, Maths and life skills to 150 Grade 3-7 learners at the Khayelitsha centre. They have seven contact hours in three sessions a week, four more lesson based and three interactive and activity based, and go on an outing each term. There are 91 volunteers in the project. There is a strong emphasis on ongoing mentorship and evaluation of the learners. Step learners are also involved in Sports or Arts at Khayelitsha from Grade 4 onwards. Step learners will also be involved in the holiday programme for two weeks in the July holidays.

Kenstep Kenstep teaches English, Maths and life skills to 60 Grade 5 to 7 learners in Kensington. They have four hours of contact time in two sessions each week. There are 35 volunteers in the project. Kenstep learners are also involved in Arts at the centre.

Stepping Out The Stepping Out project provides two hours of homework support in Maths and English (one hour for each subject) and two hours of life skills each week to 30 learners. Stepping Out learners also participate in Arts or Sports at the centre and Grade 9 learners participate in IT.

SO Live and Learn The SO Live and Learn project provides two hours of homework support in Maths and English (one hour for each subject) and two hours of life skills each week to 30 learners.

SMART The SMART project aims to improve the English, maths, science and biology results of Khayelitsha learners through the provision of additional teaching and tutoring. The project currently works with 60 Grade 10 learners. These learners will move into Grade 11 next year and 60 more Grade 10’s will be picked up. These learners will then move into Grade 12 the year after, when there will be 180 learners in three grades.

Learners have one hour of teaching in each of English, Maths, Science and Biology with an employed and experienced teacher on Saturdays. They then have one hour of tutorial support from students in each of these subjects during the week. There are life skills modules once every three weeks focusing on career guidance. Learners can also choose to be involved in Arts, Sports or Debating at the centre.

Arts The Arts project aims to provide a range of art skills to schoolchildren in the 3 SHAWCO centres in Manenberg (Grade 5-12), Kensington (Grade 3-9) and Khayelitsha (Grade 4-10). Through this we hope to provide them with an opportunity for expression and improved self-confidence and worth with the aim of highlighting possibilities for an alternative way of life. They have one contact session of 2 hours per week, which is either visual, performance, a mix of visual and performance or drums depending on the age group and centre. They work with participants.

IT The IT project aims to create opportunities, for grade 9 to grade 12 learners of Khayelitsha, to empower themselves through the learning and practicing of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Resources, with the help of student volunteers. It aims to teach participants how 5 to use Microsoft Word, Power Point, Excel and Outlook and the Internet and to be able to use these skills to complete various tasks. They have one two or three hour contact session per week with 162 learners.

Masifundisane Masifundisane aims to provide environmental awareness and education amongst grade 11 and 12 learners. They run one two hour classroom based lesson and one two hour practical lesson a week.

Holiday Programme UCT student volunteers carry on the tutoring and training activities with SHAWCO project participants. This programme involves about 50 volunteers and 200 learners from the participating schools.

Mobile health clinics SHAWCO health clinics take place in the evenings. They provide to communities where state-provided health care is inadequate. Currently we run six clinics in the following areas:

- informal settlement in Noordhoek - Joe Slovo township next to Milnerton - New Rest informal settlement on the N2 motorway - Browns Farm informal settlement in Philippi - Zibonele site in the Khayelitsha township - K1 SHAWCO community centre in the Khayelitsha township - The clinics are run by approximately 200 medical student volunteers, supervised by qualified doctors who also volunteer their time. On average the clinics treat about 6,000 patients per year. The clinics also respond to emergencies such as fires in informal settlements.

Day Clubs for Older and Disabled People SHAWCO runs four clubs for older and disabled people. The clubs operate in the following areas:

- Khayelitsha - Nyanga - Elsies River - Kensington.

In total about 300 vulnerable adults are provided with daily cooked meals, as well as activities, physio and occupational therapy, outings and companionship.

Community centres SHAWCO’s four community centres provide a base from which our projects are run. They are also home to a number of community-based organisations, clubs and groups.

Transport Student volunteers are SHAWCO’s main asset. It is the volunteers who carry out the day-to-day activities of the projects. This means that one of SHAWCO’s greatest needs is to have safe and reliable vehicles to transport our volunteers. Currently we have four buses and two mobiles clinics, but our transport needs are growing with the expansion of our projects and with the growing interest in our work form overseas universities.

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SHAWCO Head Office Breamar Cottage, Faculty of Health Sciences, UCT; Anzio Road Observatory, 7925 Tel: 021-406- 6740; Fax: 021-406-6741; Email: [email protected]; Website: www.shawco.org

Donations

Standard Bank Branch: Parow Current account # 072713305 Branch code: 03 11 1044

SHAWCO NPO number: 002-830 SHAWCO PBO number: 930012605