Fist day at Etafeni

The week started with our first day at Etafeni - the non profit organisation we decided to work with during the next three weeks. Etafeni (http://www.etafeni.org) is located in Nyanga, one of the oldest black townships in Cape Town. The people face several challenges, such as crime, unemployment and high rates of HIV/AIDS. Nyanga is slowly developing due to the engagement of the community members who try to provide job opportunities and health improvement. In Nyanga live about 60,000 people.

This morning we met the director, the program managers and some of Etafenis staff members. All of them are very dedicated to the project work. We got to know each other and were introduced to the organisation of Etafeni. Afterwards the students were separated into five groups and met their program managers to get more information. Today's aim was to determine the goals of each project group and to define an agreement between the managers and the project group. The five project groups are:

1) Women's Wellness Mobile VCT (Health)
2) Early Childhood Development (Children)
3) Enterprise Development Programs Income Generation (Women)
4) Fit for Life, Fit for Work (Employment)
5) Nutrition and Catering (Agriculture)

We are very happy about the warm welcome at Etafeni and the very interesting and challenging projects we can work with. Katharina, a student who is working for the Agricultural Project, sums up her first impressions: "Our first day at Etafeni was full of of interesting information and I think we're awaiting an exiting time in South Africa and can learn a lot from the work and people at Etafeni."








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