ANNUAL REPORT 2005/2006 QUAKER PEACE CENTRE

Contents

Chairperson's  Report

Overview
    History
    Geographic focus
    Project focus
Projects
    Project statistics
    Positive Discipline
    Youth at Risk
    Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP)
    Diversity
    Nutrition

Other Programmes & Projects

    Election Observation
    Young Women’s Forum
    Jet Community Awards – Panel Member

Audited Financial Statements

Board Members 2005-2006

Staff members - year end

Funders

Press Clippings
 

Chairperson's  Report

This report was written more than a year after the close of the 2005/2006 financial year.  The delay has been caused by the problems of  converting the imperfect books into fully auditable accounts. This has now been done and I wish to record my thanks to consultant Peter Henochsberg for sorting them out and to John Broom who we co-opted as Treasurer.

As the report  has been so delayed we have restricted it to the most basic information.

At the start of this financial year we formed an Action Committee to  resolve urgent  problems.   The Finance Committee was disbanded so the Board members now have complete responsibility and say on all financial matters.  Progress in the year has been such that by the end  of the year the Action Committee could be merged into the main Board.

People
Martin Struthmann was employed as manager on a one year contract.  Martin was ideally placed having been at QPC for a number of years. I want to thank him for his exceptional dedication and willingness to step into the breach and congratulate him on a job well done.

A number of staff members who were clearly exploiting the system either resigned or did not have their contracts renewed.  There were some repercussions from the CCMA but none of these cases was it able to find QPC at fault.

I particularly want to thank those staff members who remained faithfully at their tasks and all the dedicated Board members who stayed faithful during all the anxious moments – there to support and assist through many hours of sorting out and readjusting of some very challenging times.

Also special thanks to Sadie Stegmann who was able to guide me into historical information which gave me the perspective that was needed to carry out my task.  I also want to extend particular thanks and heartfelt appreciation to Karin Fry who was always available in difficult moments.
Looking back  this has been a  year with a lot of shedding of outdated and top heavy structures which have made way for a more streamlined operation, more efficient and clearer in its goals and objectives.

QPC has, in my opinion, a winning team and I look forward to the steady and growing stream of contributions to the peace process that the Centre will continue to offer in our beloved country.

Celeste Santos
 

Overview

History
The Quaker Peace Centre was established in Cape Town from the work of peace activists who organised human rights watches during the forced removals of the 1980s.  At that time QPC programmes included conflict resolution, peace education in schools, training in vegetable gardening, sewing for families without income and a reintegration programme for returning exiles.

Following the first democratic elections of 1994, the  Centre provided mediation training to enable communities to solve their conflicts non-violently.  In 2004 we made a further shift to realign our work with the challenges facing South Africa at this time.

Geographical Focus
We have focussed our activities on Delft for two reasons
First in the hope that by concentrating on one area we may be able to better determine whether or not our peacemaking activities are successful and, second, because this is an area providing a challenging context in which to build a culture that celebrates diversity.

Delft is a large township east of Cape Town International Airport.  An urban area for only the last 12 years, Delft is characterised by poverty and high levels of unemployment .

The community is mixed with Afrikaans and Xhosa as the two main languages. There is little social integration and the different cultural groupings live uneasily together.

Communual recreational facilities are almost non-existent. It is a physically bleak environment and is grossly under serviced compared to other areas in the Western Cape.  Unemployment, gangsterism, violent crime, HIV/Aids, child abuse and violence against women are widespread.

Project Focus
The focus of all our projects is “youth” because we believe that it is here that our projects are most likely to have significant effect – before violent responses to conflict are almost immovably ingrained.

We recognise that much of our work is experimental in the sense that we
are responding to potential sources of conflict and working out ways of alleviating them  By carefully recording and building models of successful work (which can be used by anyone) the projects acquire “sustainability”.

Project progress has to be flexible as they are all linked to schools  which are subject themselves to all sorts of pressures and interruptions including strikes and holidays which makes  them more or less welcoming.
 

Projects

Workshop Statistics  2005-6
 

Project	No of workshops	Total participants
Youth at Risk	74	3912
Nutrition	28	434
Positive Discipline	21	596
Diversity	22	553
AVP (Alternatives to Violence Project)	4	55

Note:   Individual workshop length varies considerably.
            Some take place over three days while others were
            Only two hours in duration
 

Positive Discipline Project

When corporal punishment was abolished in schools, educators (teachers) were not equipped to deal with issues relating to discipline in class.  The Positive Discipline Project addresses this need by helping teachers establish a culture of respect (teacher/pupil and pupil/teacher) with a focus on positive re-inforcement instead of punishment

Within the schools where QPC works, classes are large (40 to 50 learners), the culture of learning is often weak and there are few resources.  Learners sometimes come from problem homes while educators frequently feel demotivated and lacking in commitment.

Positive Discipline is not a soft approach to discipline.  It seeks to promote a culture of respect amongst both learners and educators.  It also aims to promote positive self-images and anger management.  It is made clear that every action has a consequence that must be applied consistently.  Nobody (learners or educators) should be allowed to display unacceptable behaviour at school.

2006 is the fifth year that the Positive Discipline course is being run as a compulsory module of the professional studies course at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).  It is a module in the advanced curriculum of education post graduate course.
 

Youth at Risk

Youth at Risk is an integrated project aiming to combine personal growth, capacity and skills development in young people, hoping to steer them away from violent and criminal activities.

Educators at Eindhoven Primary School in Delft identified 20 learners who displayed serious behavioural problems and working  In collaboration with other service providers, QPC provided support.

The work is experiental (not academic).  The topics included gangsterism, teenage pregnancy, learning to forgive, team responsibility, respect for others

132 youths took part, divided into three groups, two Afrikaans-speaking, one English and including boys and girls. Three days a week they took part in workshops and sports.  Highlights of the training were a weekend away and a sports tournament in honour of Youth Day on 16 June.
 

Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP)

AVP aims to challenge participants’ views on how conflict can lead to violence.  It teaches them to transform their negative responses when confronted with internal or external conflict.

Other goals are to develop a sense of community in the group based on respect for all the people in it as well as training in peace building and con-violent conflict resolution.

There are two levels of training – the Basic course and the Advanced .

AVP is being run at schools in Nyanga and in Delft.
 

Diversity Project

The QPC Diversity Project addresses racism and prejudice within schools.

The pilot study started at Eindhoven  Primary School followed by a series of anti-racism workshops with learners and educators.

The pilot indicated that learners were, in many ways, following the  behaviour of their educators who (equally divided among Afrikaans and Xhosa speakers) had virtually no cross-cultural contact.

As a result the focus has shifted to the teachers.
 

Nutrition Project –
Food Preservation and Using Herbs

The Nutrition Project offers workshops in both food preservation and
growing and using herbs.  The aim is to provide food security for families affected by HIV/Aids through food gardens as well as through education on health and nutritional issues.

The workshops target unemployed people within Khayelitsha and Mitchell’s Plain.  Some participants have started their own small projects.
 

Other Programmes and Projects

Election Observation

The Quaker Peace Centre has been involved in election observation, monitoring and voter education since South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994, acquiring considerable knowledge and expertise.

QPC representatives, the majority women, observed Municipal elections in Delft in March 2006 at 15 polling stations across Delft.  This was achieved by recruiting and training 20 observers from the Delft area plus three volunteers from the Cape Western Monthly Meeting (Quakers).  All were accredited with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

Their reported findings were that overall the election process was free and fair in Delft, the majority of voters casting their votes in secret free from intimidation.

Young Women’s Forum

This project has only recently been launched.  Its focus is on the raising of awareness on issues that affect young women and their rights.   It aims to provide young women with understanding and opportunities to network and to provide leadership in their communities

Jet Community Awards:  Panel Member

Following QPC’s receipt of the Jet Community Award in 2004, the Centre was invited to send a member of staff to sit on the panel to judge the 2005 competition.
 

Audited Financial Statements 2005-6
 

The complete audited financial statements are obtainable from the Quaker Peace Centre.
 

Board Members 2005-2006

Celeste Santos (chairperson)
Brenadh Gaine (vice chairperson - resigned)
Karin Fry (secretary)
John Broom (treasurer)
Thozama Gcememe
Candy Malherbe (resigned)
Mary Newman
Bill Sewell
Keith Vermeulen
Derek Daniels  Director (ex officio - resigned)
Martin Struthmann (staff representative)
Shanil Hancharan
Frances Moore
Margie Pankhurst
Julie Suberg
Keith Vermeulen

Advisors
Michael Bagram
Brian Perrow
Sadie Stegmann
Tony Turner
 

Staff – at year end

Manager                                                    Martin Struthmann
Project Leader, Positive Discipline             Avril  Knott-Craig
Project Leader, Young Women’s Forum    Nokuthula Mbete
Project Leader, Youth at Risk                    Hirschel Heilbron
Project Leader, Diversity                           Athalie Crawford
Project Leader, AVP                                 Mlungiseleli Dywili
Facilitator, Youth at Risk                            Sheena Heilbron
Receptionist/Administrator                          Leone Heuvel
Cleaner                                                      Michelle Mdamoyi
 

Funders

Departmentt of Social Services and Poverty Alleviation, Western Cape
Entraide Protestante Suisse
Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst, Germany
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, UK
National Development Agency – WC-Nacosa
Quaker Hulpfund, The Netherlands
Quaker Service Aotearoa, New Zealand
Wensleydate & Swaledale Monthly Meeting
(committee for fundraising among British and Irish Quakers)
Switzerland Yearly Meeting (Quakers)
City of Cape Town
Quaker-Hilfe, Germany
 

Press Clippings

General

A Quiet Word, 2006 Issue 2, ‘Quaker Peace Centre Cape Town – Update’, by Evelyn Shire and Ken Smith.

The Friend, 18 November 2005, ‘New brooms at the Quaker Peace Centre’, by Simon Risley.

Networking

Southern Africa Quaker News, Number 220, Summer 2005/2006, ‘A Journey to Rwanda and Burundi’, by Martin Struthmann

Nutrition and HIV/Aids

MetroBurger, 10 August 2005, ‘Flu bug banished from Tafelsig households’, by Clayton Barnes.

WC-Nacosa Informer, Issue 23, November 2005, ‘Nutrition Project makes herbal remedies accessible’.
 
 

Quaker Peace Centre 3 Rye Road Mowbray Cape Town 7700 South Africa Phone: (021) 685 7800 Fax: (021) 686 8167 Email: qpc@qpc.org.za Visit our website: http://www.quaker.org/capetown

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