In June, Skhumbuzo Mlibeni attended the World Community Development Conference 2018 in Maynooth, Ireland. The conference provided a unique opportunity for practitioners, participants, academics, policy makers, funders and other stakeholders to share perspectives on current contexts and challenges for community work. The conference encompassed cutting edge inputs, papers, creative installations and poster presentations on rights-based community development, addressing and engaging locally, nationally and internationally with key current issues.
Skhumbuzo delivered an oral presentation on the Khanyisa Programme – an initiative of the Khuphuka Project in rural KZN. Khanyisa is a transformative education project working with young men, boys, women and girls (aged 13–25) and is currently in phase 2 of its development. Khanyisa facilitates a programme of workshops with groups of young people in wilderness settings, partnering with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. The focus of the workshops is Ubuntu, the Southern African concept of interdependence – that we can only be human in relation to others and that, through knowing this deeply, it becomes natural to care for and be of service to others. Using Ubuntu as a core theme, the leaders facilitate exercises which explore subjects such as gender, masculinity, femininity, inequality, violence and HIV/AIDS with an emphasis on personal and group reflection and transformation.
This programme is one of Khuphuka project’s that was addressing issues of ASRHR (Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights). Through involvement of these young men and women in out Zazi Clubs and brothers for life where they were championing for change addressing ASRHR.
