That was the theme that brought together 43 Tshepanang members on 11.03-13.03.2016 at the Guest Farm outside Mahikeng to re-examine the foundations of their group. Six working groups on Friday tried to spell out afresh what God’s purpose for our group is. It was good to see how the contributions of the groups complemented each other. We realized anew that we need trust and reliability among the members if we want to bring our message across to the students in the schools where the members are teaching. One key point of this message remains that the building of strong and lasting relationships that are characterized by mutual trust can help to prevent new HIV infections.
In the first session on Saturday we talked about our fears because according to the book of Trevor Hudson that we used as a source of reference “few things work against the realization of God’s dream for our lives more than fear.”Paballo Loving’s input on the power of negative thoughts that can block God’s blessings for our life was complementing this topic very well.
“Are you still Peer Educators or not rather Teachers?” With this question Christel Hermann provoked a heated debate among the members of Tshepanang. This question has to be seen against the background that the members of Tshepanang during the last years became older whereas the students that they teach became younger. Even though the members could not agree on one title that would properly describe their role in the class room (somebody suggested the title of “life skill facilitator”) they were united in the view that they want to differ from ordinary teachers. Firstly they see themselves as closer to the students and secondly they identify more with the content of their teaching.
In the afternoon the six discussion groups become creativity groups who painted a banner that illustrates the message of Tshepanang in pictures. This b
anner will now be displayed on in the wall of Tsibogang Centre. In the evening all Tshepanang members celebrated the achievement of their Chairperson David Sizane who became the fifth members who after more than three years of studying obtained a diploma in Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) and has since taken up a post in an ABET school (where drop outs can do their matric).
On Sunday we conducted a church service in the nearby Rooigrond Prison. We were all touched by the powerful singing of hundreds of men in orange prison uniform in the huge prison hall and by the joyful reception that we received.
Wolfgang Hermann