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Title: Sporting-2000 Project
Location:
, Gauteng,
Categories: Poverty
Work & Economics
Learning & Education
Fitness & Sport
Status:
In Progress
Timeline:
Ongoing
Description:
A integrated community-based sports, arts and culture development project catering for the disadvantaged rural communities. All the participants in the project have been drawn from the communities themselves in and around the rural areas of Midvaal Local Council and will eventually focus around Sedibeng District Council in general; based solely on total voluntarism with no any kind of monetary payment as at current. Sporting-2000 Project will focus on providing numerous opportunities for the disadvantaged rural communities in particular the youth who are out-of-school, unemployed, the employed and students in sports, arts and culture as well as vocational education and training, while currently it is concentrating on sports i.e. soccer (including ladies soccer) and netball, especially those from the extremely low income areas such as the marginalized rurals and to a lesser extent the few close townships in Midvaal; since they still have rural people who were forced by various compelling circumstances to leave the farms. It is expected that through the provision of information to these communities, it will be possible to have a direct and positive effect on the well being of the rural community in general.
Sporting-2000 Project strictly utilizes willing, dedicated, and determined volunteers who are students at various schools as well as employed and unemployed community members. Each student and community volunteers will be expected to successfully participate in this project for a minimum of twelve(12) months’ as part of their training program to transfer skills in the field of community-based projects that will follow from the beginning of their participation/volunteering work with Sporting-2000 Project. This training program will provide basic understanding of what a community project is all about and all the activities associated with it. Volunteers who demonstrate proficiency during the initial training program, especially students will be invited to participate in an advanced training program to learn effective project management skills in general as well as the associated techniques. Each student/community member volunteer will be expected to contribute an agreed amount of time each week and to continue with Sporting-2000 Project for a period of not less than 12 months.
Sporting-2000 Project will operate with 8 part time voluntary staff members and some additional members depending on the programmes initiated within the project itself. They will be constituted as follows:
• 5 members of Board of Trustees – two adult women and two adult men who are community members of standing order and respect while the project leader will also be included as the chair.
• 3 members of the Executive Committee – chair, secretary, and treasurer (financial officer).
• Additional members as required per programme e.g. soccer with its technical manager, coach, physical trainer, and captain.
This volunteering Board of Trustees will serve to provide overall sanctioning and administration of the Project’s operations and programmes. Periodic evaluations will be conducted to assess the value of Sporting-2000 Project on :
1. helping the student volunteers to become effective educators and leaders of the future generations of the project and the community in general,
2. the development of new rural generation that will serve as the best model to accommodate the rural communities in the same way as their urban counterparts by ensuring that there is proper service delivery which will result into sustainable socio-economic development, and
3. the improvement of the well being of these communities especially their social aspect where a concept of Agrivillage will be the end result.
Background:
Major obstacles to rural communities socio-economic development in the developing world including South Africa has been HIV AIDS, parasitic diseases, malnutrition/poverty, crime, drug and alcohol abuse and the risks associated with low birth weight and high fertility in children. This serious problem exists in almost all of the rural villages of the country including those in Midvaal Local Council such as of those children suffering from common illnesses and infections that are attributable to poor nutrition as a result of poverty and inequitable public service delivery. This is attributable to more attention being paid to the socio-economic upliftment of urban areas including peripheral townships than the rurals who are still marginalized despite the more than TEN YEARS OF DEMOCRATIC DISPENSATION IN THIS COUNTRY; hence inequitable spread of resources among these communities.
Midvaal rural areas are no exception to the rule of marginalization and the following are the most critical aspects that Sporting-2000 Project will embark upon to remedy. Since this local council consists of mainly 70 to 80% rural areas, it is imperative that the whole situation gets overhauled so that reconstruction and development progress can be speedily achieved.
1. Socio-economic Development – this is a result of rural areas’ marginalization from the broader development programmes undertaken by the government,
2. No or little public service delivery is visible such as:
a. Housing – they heavily depend on farmers for housing and cannot easily come together since these areas are situated far apart from one another for social activities and gatherings, while forced farm evictions and ill-treatment are rife. There are several farms that have been identified as non-productive due to owners having left them and are not being worked. These farms are suitable for various developmental programmes such as agriculture, housing, recreational, shopping, and sporting facilities.
b. Employment – there is a high rate of unemployment due to farmers resisting labour law changes thus resulting in most people living for the townships in the hope of securing better jobs or starting their own small business in designated areas. The rurals have no
option to create jobs for themselves since they do not own any land nor resources to do it themselves.
c. Education – unlike in the urban areas, the rurals have limited number of schools which are ill-equipped and terminate at lower grades while they are gradually being phased forcing rural kids to opt for long travelling to and from townships. There is no education at all for the adults such as ABET despite that some schools has the technology to allow
people to learn further e.g. GautengOnline since some school heads restrict or do not allow access to these facilities.
d. Recreational, shopping, and sports facilities – these two are non-existent or where they exists, they are controlled by farmers since they have been erected on their land thus giving them the power to close them down. Another milestone in the marginalization of the rurals while their urban counterparts continue to enjoy a surge in these facilities which some are being used for reasons not intended for or are just neglected.
e. Transport – previously transport was serviced by private companies in the form of buses but as the political landscape began to change, they withdrew gradually until the taxis took over but this mode of transport is also gradually disappearing. These transport service providers cites the low number of commuters which continue to dwindle due to forced evictions and some other compelling reasons such as poverty and no means to create jobs for themselves. The main means of transport is cycling and lifts which also brings restriction to people who want to attend church services or social gatherings.
f. Health services – there is limited health services in the rurals in the form of mobile units which are not well-equipped or without a doctor, bringing burden to those who needs to consult such a children and pensioners as a result of having either to travel long distances to where the mobiles are stationed or have to face the wrath of walking to the nearest point of getting transport to town(many kilometers indeed to travel on foot). There are no clinics or hospitals.
g. Local economic development – this has been hampered by lack of designated land to trade their produced goods nor resources to start their own small businesses. If these resources were available, there will even be an opportunity to form small corporates that would enhance economic development which eventually will boost the regional or mainstream economy resulting in sustainable development.
h. Community awareness and information access – there are no community awareness campaigns like in the urban areas to throw light on the public services offered by government due to political leaders ignoring visiting those areas. There is no access to information except through radios or televisions for those who can afford. High illiteracy rate has also contributed to people not bothering even to buy newspapers.
i. Safety and Security – among all the concerns, the safety and security aspect of the rural areas of the worst degree, whereby only farmers are being better looked after than farm labourers and dwellers. Police service is quicker to react to calls from farmers than farm labourers or dwellers while on the other hand farmers do deny access to police called by farm labourers or dwellers including sometimes emergency vehicles. As much as there has been widespread attacks on the farmers, in Midvaal this is very rare and it has been long since it happened. On the other hand, there has been a steady increase in attacks against rural people which by fear and minimal response by police service do not get reported, including recent killings among the youth. Cases such as those of stock and farming equipment theft can be resolved amicably by having shared responsibility and formation of policing forums including the farmers too.
3. All these problems can be over-come by seriously considering the use of sports, arts, and culture/heritage driven by the use of youth volunteers in particular to provide some of the abovementioned essential community services, an eventual viable way to provide trained manpower for service delivery in these areas. While it is true that these rural communities got no or few accessible resources, it is better for the government in its three spheres to proportionately deliver these essential community services to them they also get a fair share in line with the Batho Pele principles. The Extended Public Works Programme should also concentrate some of its efforts in the rural areas to avoid further delay and deterioration in these areas. This project seek ways and means of addressing these burning issues such that its goals and objectives are meaningfully met in and around Midvaal Local Council and closeby peripheral townships. This will also seek to address the question of a concept of AGRIVILLAGE, where these communities will be able to live together for socio-economic development that is sustainable in the long term.
Objectives:
There are three major goals for the "Sporting-2000 " Project and specific objectives within each of the goals.
Goal #1 - To reduce the degree of rural areas marginalization.
Objective #1.1 - To provide means by which the rural communities of Midvaal and closeby peripheral townships can be fully recognized and served like their urban counterparts in this democratic dispensation.
Objective #1.2 - To assist these communities getting full access to all government services without prejudice of any kind in line with Batho Pele principles. This will be achieved by splitting the main project into three programmes serving the three tiers of the community
Objective #1.3 – These programmes are as follows:
• Midvaal Rural Community Forum – consisting of the general adult activities,
• Midvaal Rural Youth Forum – consisting mainly of recreational, arts and cultural activities for the youth including but not limited to informal and formal education.,
• Sporting-2000 Project – consisting of all offered sporting activities.
Goal #2 - To effectively use available human resources volunteering in their respective communities as a major factor in helping rural people to learn to setup a sustainable Agrivillage that will serve all their interests.
Objective #2.1 - To recruit a group of skilled people drawn from other communities engaged in the same programmes as well as from government to assist in training and skilling the available unskilled people through Extended Public Programmes and other government sponsored projects through skills transfer. This in turn will culminate into teaching and transferring mission critical skills to the people of the rural areas so that they can be able to sustain themselves and their respective communities.
Objective #2.2 - To provide opportunities for participating rural people in sports, arts, and cultural activities for further exposure to other higher levels which could culminate into careers; whereby they will also have chance to participate at provincial, national and international level thus raising awareness and ridding off the marginalization.
Objective #2.3 - To effectively use available experienced human resources to drive the agricultural development of the area without compromising the development of other aspect of socio-economic nature.
Milestones:
TIME LINE (Foundation Year (01/04/05 – 31/03/06) :
01/04/05 – 31/06/05
• Adoption and signing of the constitution by the EC with full unqualified support of the two members of Board of Trustees.
• Meeting with individuals and spreading the word about the project.
01/07/05 – 30/09/05
• Head-hunting of additional professional members of the Board of Trustees.
• Briefing sessions for the EC with regards to Project Plan and NPO status issues.
01/10/05 – 31/12/05
• Project Plan evaluation sessions.
• NPO status application submission to national Dept. of Welfare(13/01/06).
01/01/06 – 31/03/06
• Awaiting NPO status application outcome.
•Participants’ and volunteer operational staff recruitment drive and related briefing sessions as well as associated paper-work.
•First General meeting to be scheduled for end of March 2006.
Budget:
•Budget –
Year 1 - Development of Project Operation and Recruitment/Training of First Group of Youth/Student Volunteers.
Total budget = 47,050 ZAR.
Year 2 - Operation/Maintenance of Project and Recruitment/Training of Second Group of Youth/Student Volunteers.
Total budget(assuming 5% increase from Year 1) = 19,032.50 ZAR.
Year 3 and beyond (assume 5% yearly increment on Year 1 budget) .
Total budget = 30,408.38 ZAR
*Note: All current staff for this financial year (2005/06) will NOT get paid but strictly work on volunteering staff. This will be reviewed when financial resources allow.
*Note: Vehicle rental will serve to ferry one sporting code participants to their away activities i.e. ladies soccer, gents soccer, and ladies netball, while the last weekend of each month will be an away activities for the best performing team.
*Note: A breakdown of the whole budget may be forwarded upon request.
Needs:
NEEDED RESOURCES:
• Personnel – Four voluntary members of the Board of Trustees and additional part-time voluntary staff for each code and when available.
• Facilities - None (proposal to be made to local schools to permit us use of one class room at least) .
• Equipment:
oPhotocopying machine (for high volume printing of informational and communication as well as educational materials).
oOffice with chairs and desks equipped with writing board.
oPersonal computer with 3-in-one fax/scanner/printer and associated accessories.
oDigital projector.
oDigital camera.
oCellphone sets for at least Executive Officers for ease of communication and contact.
• Supplies - Paper, pencils, board-markers, duplicating supplies, and materials preparation.
• Other Resources – any sporting code kits, balls, nets, etc.
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