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My name is Thobekile Mbanda I come from a place called Inchanga in Kwa Zulu Natal close to the valley of the Thousand Hills. I was raised by my grandparents Dhlokwakhe Mbanda who was a teacher and community builder (the pillar for people’s needs)and Valentine Dhlamini a nurse and also a community builder(working with woman in creative hand work a Nomphilo(life giver)for people with AIDS and very active in the church).So I grew up in the environment of care givers selfless lifestyle and we always had to cook in big pots because there was a constant flow of people which my gran made it a point they need to be fed.

So being exposed to that kind of life every community I live in I embrace as though as it was my own, which was what happened in Phillipi through my interactions with the people I got to learn what were there needs and desire and amongst the women I learned they needed some independence and a sustainable place for their children and that’s when Red Gold and Green Educare was born when I started the whole idea I was also greatly affected by the amount of young children not cared for roaming the streets aimlessly and all I wanted was to gather them all and give them love that they so need and also to take them to see places they haven’t yet seen.

I personally am not a teacher but every time I’m at the crèche and meeting kids who don’t go to RGG they always running up to me and giving me hugs and they call me teacher they warm my heart in the most.When I started the crèche I there were 15 women and now only for and through the years (3) I have realised the amount of attitude change the realisation that anything is possible and when TCD started helping us and build us a beautiful Wendy house the community the teachers and the children have come to embrace the beauty and pride the crèche has restored in the community, they have something that belongs to them something that they have worked towards, because amongst the shacks and all the mishaps of the area they have something that resembles beauty and hope for a better beautiful future.Sense of pride and ownership and to have such a beautiful structure and makes the surrounding homes want to be beautiful too cleanliness etc and that for me is pure success, for beauty is in the eyes of the be holder.

I now run my own restaurant in Observatory and the money that I make here a certain percentage goes towards the crèche so as to continue in our growth so at to maintain our mission:
Red Gold & Green embraces the different people who contribute towards this little nation in the making, called RED GOLD & GREEN We welcome the unity and humbleness created by the vibrancy of colors Red, Gold and Green and languages represented by RGG our school.

]]> http://www.tcdtrust.org.za/blog/meet-thobekile-mbanda-from-red-gold-green-creche/feed/ 0 http://www.tcdtrust.org.za/blog/a-message-from-the-principal-of-blomvlei-primary-school/ http://www.tcdtrust.org.za/blog/a-message-from-the-principal-of-blomvlei-primary-school/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:47:29 +0000 Bronwen Wetton http://www.tcdtrust.org.za/?p=2172

Good day all. Where to start!!!!! Bronwen, from the TCD Trust asked me to write some news from our school which will be sent out to our friends of the trust.

How do I sum up who I am, what our school is about and what the donation of our school
Library by the TCD trust means to me and the whole Blomvlei School Community??????

My name is Dawn Petersen, principal of Blomvlei Primary School, situated in Hanover Park.
I am happily married with a supporting husband and 2 amazing teenaged girls, who at times
drive me insane, but who means the world to me.

Every year that I have spent at Blomvlei since I took up the post of principal in 2007, has
been an exciting and challenging experience for me.

I have seen tremendous growth around me and have also experienced much personal growth. There have been times when I have often been tempted to give up in my persuit of “creating a home away from home” and “providing quality education in a challenging environment” for our learners, as I felt small when positioned up against the challenges.

Challenges such as gang violence/activity which infiltrates our school, learners coming to
school without having been fed a proper meal as there was no food at home, learners who
are physically, emotionally and sexually abused, parents who are unco-operative, dealing
with traumatized learners whose parents have died, are in prison or who has left them in the
care of strangers…………. Not to mention the admistrative responsibility, managing the little
money we have for the day to day running of the school and the human relationships which
are embedded in this job; which at times can be very lonely, thankless and stressful!!!!!!!!

However, I am most fortunate and grateful that at Blomvlei the rewards far outweigh the
challenges. I have a past that is rich in memories. I have a present that is challenging and
adventurous because I am responsible for investing in the future and being a positive role
model for the whole Blomvlei school community. I would not be able to achieve much
without the input and cooperation of each and everyone, and I thank everyone for their role in shaping our school to be able to do the best we can for our learners-despite our challenging
environment.

On Tuesday 28th of February, around 20 pupils of Blomvlei Primary School in Hanover Park were assembled in the library for a cross-cultural exchange through Art. Already excited by the prospect of new visitors to the school, they were even more so when Nancy and Zeke – the couple undertaking the project – introduced themselves as New Yorkers and presented the art of Polystyrene drawing.

Not familiar with this art technique, the kids were soon all taken with this monochromatic way of drawing that gives different results from their usual drawing styles. Nancy first set a world map in front of the children, encouraging them to come and locate various places that are going to be included in the Art Project.

Initially a little bit shy, the little boys and girls soon loosened up. When Nancy initiated the first part of the project by showing them drawings made by children from New York City to represent their country, we could hear excited shouts of “Oh I know I know…the Statue of Liberty, New York City, the empire state building, The White House …”

Further to this, they had to do their share by putting pencil to polystyrene pieces they were given and in turn draw something that they associate with South Africa or their immediate surroundings, a task each child took to heart.

After they were done, they went to Zeke and Nancy to do the roller transfer onto plain paper and each was proudly exhibiting his or her own piece of art to everyone, saying “Look, look… I did this”

Nancy and Zeke’s Art Project this year takes them around the globe to several countries – South Africa, Zambia, Namibia, Rwanda, Cambodia, Vietnam, Australia amongst other – whereby they will do the cultural exchange with primary school children, helping them develop their general knowledge on the world and world cultures.

Zeke and Nancy say they plan to end this year’s project in September with an art exhibit in New York. The concept behind the exhibit is to provide a platform for information sharing on the various organizations they’ll work with during the Global Art Project.

“We feel that different individuals are drawn to different types of charities and we hope to raise awareness on the work that is being done by all these amazing organizations to help children worldwide,” Nancy explained.

Nancy and Zeke further added that they hope this venture will act as a conduit and lead to response from people, inciting them to make donations directly to the various organizations involved in the Project.

We wish Nancy & Zeke all the best in their endeavour and last but not least, we extend a warm thank you to Andulela Experience for having introduced the couple to us, thus initiating Blomvlei Library into the Global Art Project. It has been a lovely experience for the children and we really appreciate your continued support of the TCD Trust and Blomvlei Library!

That’s an interesting question that we have been pondering on and someone rightly pointed out last week at the ‘pecha kucha’ presentation organized by Responsible Tourism Cape Town that she always sees the same faces over and over again at these events and was wondering why that was the case.

And hence my blog on it! Responsible Tourism Week 2012 – a recent occurring that should have firstly been more mediatised I would think. So why is it not? I mean Valentine’s Day has nearly four times more hits (430, 000,000) in Google search. And I see Valentine’s Day specials everywhere but has anyone seen Responsible Tourism Week specials? Please do share if you have!
Admitted Valentine’s Day has huge marketing potential. But so does Responsible Tourism if positioned properly. We live in an era where individuals beg to differ, where everyone wants to be part of the global movement of betterment and positive change. And more and more people travel and wish to travel responsibly. So why is it that not every representative in the tourism industry is rushing forward to become the next best agent of change?

If a tourist has to choose between two competitors, both with approximately the same costing, the former would go for the one offering a more sustainable option – for his or her personal peace of mind. So companies do stand to win by adopting Responsible Tourism as a business initiative!

So then what might be the problem? Why is the response to Responsible Tourism initiatives less that it should be? Due to a lack of assets, a lack of interest, or a lack of time?

Responsible Tourism is a tourism that “creates better places for people to live in, and better places to visit”. This starts with the creation of a healthy social, economic and environmental setting. The success or failure of this is the plight of all! So I wonder why then Responsible Tourism is, so far, just the pledge of a selected few?

Please share your thoughts!
Thank you!

Picture beginning of last week, February 13th… Stroll down the street and witness the buzzing activities of partners searching the perfect gift for their better half and carrying colourful bouquets to be presented on Valentine’s Day. So cute and romantic!

But in the Tourism Industry, some concerned members shared the love in a completely different way – by bringing together members of the industry under the umbrella of Responsible Tourism.

Responsible Tourism has, for some years now, had its own celebratory time – the Responsible Tourism Week. A worldwide endeavour, Responsible Tourism week serves as a platform of information sharing on how to make tourism a sector that does not cause further extensive damage to the earth while ‘creating better places for people to live in, and better places to visit’.

As part of our contribution, the TCD trust presented our projects in the Responsible Tourism Cape Town “pecha kucha” (which I discovered was just a Japanese style of doing a Powerpoint) presentation held on Monday February 13, 2012.

Several key players in the tourism industry partaking in the shaping of Responsible Tourism in Cape Town such as The Green Cab, Table Mountain Aerial Cableway and Serendipity Africa were also present and some very interesting projects, dealing with different priority destination issues, were showcased during the presentation.

As a reminder there are 7 priority destination issues, as identified by Sheryl Ozinky, namely conservation of water resources, energy efficiency, Integrated Waste Management, preferential procurement, enterprise development, skills development and social development.

Since the TCD Trust falls under the social development category, we at the Trust take our role very seriously as agents of change in community development. Cape Town has several key areas with the potential for development and growth but that lacks the resources to do so. The TCD Trust aims at identifying these hidden potentials and empowering them so they can in turn be sustainable and autonomous and progress to bring positive contribution to their immediate locality and ultimately to the Mother City.

Oh as a side note, I even found out that I can go to Kirstenbosch Summer Concerts by the Green Cab from Cavendish Square now – not go through the hassle of finding a parking space while at the same time helping to some extent to reduce harmful gas emission! I am thinking of the phrase “Killing two birds with one stone” but it might be a tad-bit ironic given that we are trying to protect the environment, not annihilate it! But oh well so goes the saying!

Please share your thought on Responsible Tourism! We would love to hear from you! Thanks!

As an industry we have neither the time nor the money to waste on interventions that have no measurable, positive and long lasting impact on people’s lives. Fragmentation threatens to dilute impact.

Our goal at the TCD Trust is collaboration to work together as the tourism and hospitality industry bringing meaningful, accountable and long lasting change to desperate communities around us. Since 2004 we have successsfully completed six community development projects mainly focussing on children, education and health.

How do I become a Friend of the TCD Trust ?

We have a number of options availble to become a Friend of the TCD Trust and let your business start reaping the benefits in 2012 of being part of an increadibly successful responsible tourism organisation :

Membership Options

BRONZE – R1500 p/a

SILVER – R2500 p/a

GOLD – R4000 p/a

PLATINUM – R9000 p/a

DIAMOND – R10000 + p/a

Benefits include:<br />
• BEE scorecard points
• Tax deductible
• Use of logo on marketing material / web site and more …

For full details please do not hesitate to contact me and I would be happy to meet with you and discuss the benefits for your company for joining the TCD Trust in 2012.

“The travel and tourism industry could do more for responsible and sustainable tourism, reveals a survey that took place at World Travel Market 2011 – the leading global event for the travel industry – by exhibitor SustainIt.

As the travel and tourism industry continues to grow there is an increased emphasis on responsible travel. During WTM 2011 Technology and Online Travel exhibitor SustainIt, the leading software and data consultancy that specialise in sustainability performance, surveyed more than 200 WTM participants. This was to understand the industry’s experiences of sustainability and responsible tourism and work out whether the industry really is engaging in the principles of sustainability.

More than seven out of ten industry professionals including hoteliers, airlines, resorts and tourist attractions believe the travel and tourism industry could do more to reduce poverty and support sustainable local economic development in destination communities. Only 18% of companies questioned have sustainable supply chains and procurement policies in place.

An increasing number of companies offer their customers carbon offsets, but only 26% of companies were looking at their own carbon footprint. Six out of ten industry professionals asked felt their company could do more to promote sustainability overall, with only 29% of employees not knowing if they had an targets or objectives to meet in these areas.

When WTM delegates were asked to identify the key responsible tourism issue for 2012, the survey ranked ‘Increasing employee and customer engagement in sustainability’ as the top issue. With only 29% of respondents believing their company is doing enough to promote sustainability and responsible travel/tourism to its employees and customers.

These two statistics coincide to unveil that the industry is informed and aware of sustainability on one hand but has a lack of employee and customer engagement on the other hand.

SustainIT Managing Director Charlie Stockford explains: “Our survey shows that whilst there is increasing activity and concern around sustainable and responsible travel and tourism within the trade, many employees are not aware of what their own company is trying to achieve and therefore are unable to share it with their customers.

We really hope that 2012 is a year where businesses start communicating and engaging far more with their employees about their sustainability and responsible travel programmes and that those companies who are just starting out realise the real positive impact a good sustainability programme can make to both their profitability and to the future of our planet.”

Reed Travel Exhibitions Chairman World Travel Market and pioneer of responsible tourism Fiona Jeffery expressed that the key observations revealed are ultimately the key reasons why WTM World Responsible Tourism Day – an international day of action dedicated to help protect the world – was formed.

“Travel companies, destinations and professionals worldwide recognise that responsible tourism offers a valuable and exciting new dimension to travel and tourism. With this in mind, one of the key objectives of WTM WRTD is to help drive change by educating more responsible behaviour with the travel and tourism industry and travelling public”

From the above leaking and dilapidated shack to the below gorgeous, warm, comfortable classroom, office area, sick bay and bathroom.

Construction of the new wendy house classroom, office, sickbay and bathroom facility has been completed, with only the plumbing and installation for the toilets and hand basin which still need to be completed. It really is beautiful and the crèche now has all the facilities they need to go into 2012 and make this crèche the success that they dreamed of.

They can now almost double their capacity for the amount of children they can take care of and grow the crèche into a viable and sustainable business in their community and for themselves.

We thank you for your continued support of the TCD Trust and helping us to make these sort of changes to people’s lives which are meaningful, long lasting and bring hope for a brighter and positive new year ahead for this community. What a GREAT start they have for 2012, without your support and generous support of the Mount Nelson Hotel this would not have been possible !

Sabelo from Andulela Tours visited Blomvlei Library last week with a group of visitors from the UK. The group meet with the school headmistress, Dawn Petersen, who explained to the guests some of the problems which the children face growing up in Hanover Park and that keeping them away from drugs and gangs is an on-going headache for the parents and the teachers. She said that the library has already changed the lives of the children at the school and that the library periods were a highlight of their week, the children love reading new books and each week they give book reviews to their classmates about the books they have read.

We were all amazed to realise how lovely and cool it was inside the library although temperatures outside were in the mid 30c, this is thanks to the eco design of the library which is naturally cool in the summer months with windows strategically placed to allow the cool southeaster wind to blow through the library and then in winter the much larger north facing windows allow for maximum sunlight ensuring no high electricity accounts for heating or cooling inside the library.

After the visit to the wonderful library the guests visited various classrooms where they meet the children and read to them introducing the children to the new books which they had brought with them and had donated to the library.

The purpose of the library was to create a place of safety, inspiration and education for the learners and it seems that it is already a great success. We would like to see more of our Friends of the TCD Trust visiting our projects in 2012. It is wonderful to come out and meet the people and experience for yourself the great work the TCD Trust has done with your support.

Let’s hope that 2012 will be best year ahead for the TCD Trust and hopefully many more members of the tourism and hospitality industry will join us as Friends of the Trust and our longstanding friends will continue to support us. The TCD Trust is providing real, meaningful and long lasting change to desperate communities around us, it is wonderful to be a part of it and it’s going to be great for your business too in 2012, so join us now and enjoy the rewards of being a Friend of the TCD Trust for you and your business.

Dear TCD Trust,

My name is Carlijn Smeets, I have been an intern at TCD Trust since October. I worked very close with Bronwen Wetton, the manager of TCD Trust. My tasks at TCD Trust were;  writing blogs, sending newsletters, updating the Facebook page, updating the website and arrange meetings with companies from the tourism industry to inform them about TCD Trust and try to attract them to cooperate with us. I have also been involved with several projects which are supported by TCD Trust.

During my first weeks in Cape Town, I have mainly experienced  Cape Town as;  beautiful beaches, stunning landscape and friendly people. However, after a while I noticed the other side of this mysteries city , and it was shocking for me; there are still a lot of people who are left behind. Besides my internship at Ashanti Lodge (a backpackers hotel), I also decided to do something more then only work in the tourism industry. My boss, Lisa Kröhn, gave me the opportunity to work two days a week for TCD Trust. During my first week with Bronwen, she showed me the RGG crèche and the Library at the Blomvlei Primary School; the two latest projects of the TCD Trust. I knew what I could expect, but to see the conditions of the different townships was still shocking for me. But by speaking to the people from the communities, I have really created respect for them. Most of them are trying to improve the situation where they live in, especially for the children. But these communities have nothing and depend on the support from others. I have visited the projects for several times and I always tried to make good contact with the children and the people who are involved with every project. During my whole internship I learned a lot from Bronwen; how she deals with problems and the daily activities. She presents TCD Trust very good and is always correct in the way she communicates with the people around her, even when she gets a bit disappointed. But most of all I learned from her that you must not give up if something does not work out well, but always try to be motivated and make the best of every situation. Every step we make is one step forward!

I am very glad that I have seen everything in Cape Town, the sunny side and the sad side. Some people may shut their eyes down and don’t want to see this other side of South-Africa, but these communities really need support! The TCD Trust is really doing a great job and I hope that there will be more people who will notice the demand for the communities who have been left behind during the ‘apartheid’.

I would like to thank Bronwen for everything that she has done for me and for giving me this wonderful experience.

Kind regards,

Carlijn