Shop 14, Michaels Arcade
Somerset West
7130
' 021-8500061
:
February 2015
UKUKHANYA – A STORY OF HOPE
Looking back over the last nearly five years, it was the best of times and it was the worst of times.
At the beginning of 2010, after being prompted by individuals as well as organisations in the Helderberg area, I decided to take the bold step to start an NPO where free counselling could be given to members of our community.
Many of the problems in our communities are trauma based. According to the “cycle of violence” a violent incident is followed by trauma, substance abuse, and eventually this leads to crime such as domestic violence, assault, poaching, drug trafficking, etc. As someone who grew up in an abusive environment, I also know the long-term consequences and effects on you, your family and social life.
During April 2010 a group of women got together to discuss the possibility of starting such an organisation. Without any funding, but with lots of passion, we opened Ukukhanya’s doors in August 2010 to support victims and perpetrators of crime – from domestic violence and bullying to xenophobia.
Ukukhanya – meaning “a new morning”, or “daybreak” – was founded as non-profit organisation to give both victims and perpetrators – women, men and children from all spheres of our community in the Helderberg Area – a free service and new hope.
It is known that 1 out of 4 women in a relationship are abused by their partner. But also men suffer partner abuse. Men living with male intimate partners experience more intimate partner violence than men who live with female intimate partners. Approximately 23% of men who live with a man as a couple, report being raped, physically assaulted, and/or stalked by a male co-habitant, while 7.4% of men with a female partner report such violence by their wife or a female co-habitant.
Children are often drawn into a case of physical assault and may suffer injuries because they have attempted to intervene, or were simply present during a domestic violence episode. Children are often terrorised and interrogated to provide information that will discredit or harm the mother. Many children with special needs like ADHD or autism are more prone to be abused. They form a big percentage of our clients, and yet, previously there were no free services available to them.
Our services are offered in a friendly, safe environment in which these victims, mostly women and children, are educated to improve their lives through the assistance of voluntary Lifestyle Enhancers and Social Workers.
We empower victims to recognise and overcome abuse by offering them mechanisms of prevention and early intervention, as well as other support, and conciliation services.
Both victims and perpetrators are assisted to overcome abuse as we attempt to provide them with the necessary support to re-establish harmonious relationships in the home and the community. They are assisted, educated and directed to regain their self-esteem and to fulfil their rightful place in a democratic society.
Our Empowerment Groups allow their members to not feel isolated and alone, and to realise that there are people experiencing the same as they are. These groups create an awareness that help is available and that healing is possible. Empowerment Groups available at Ukukhanya include Anger Management, Conflict Management and Communication Skills, Parenting Skills, Emotional Intelligence and Self-Enhancement.
1. PROGRAMMES:
· AWARENESS RAISING:
Ukukhanya has done some awareness raising in the community through training that were offered to various groups. Training, however, is limited due to funding constraints – we hope this will change in the coming year. Currently we offer two Abuse Awareness sessions per month, one in English and one in Afrikaans, as part of our Conflict and Communication Skills workshops. Further awareness was created through the media, our website and our Facebook page and groups.
Our Facebook statistics are:
o Ukukhanya Page: 561 members
o Ukukhanya-kids: 109 members
o Ukukhanya (closed group for female survivors): 133 members
o Ukukhanya for men (Started January 2015): 20 members
o Ukukhanya (Volunteers group): 23 members
· ANGER MANAGEMENT
The court refers people for anger management to us, and both victim and perpetrator follow a programme which includes Abuse Awareness, Conflict and Communication Skills and one-on-one counselling. Much success has been reached this way.
· CONFLICT AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS
We now offer regular Conflict and Communication Skills training at Ukukhanya. These workshops form part of the programme that perpetrators attend, but are not exclusively focused on them, as it is also beneficial for victims. There are two workshops per month, one in English and one in Afrikaans. These groups get together for four consecutive weeks.
2. THERAPEUTIC SERVICES:
We offer a variety of psychological services to our clients. These services include amongst others:
o Anger Management groups
o Conflict and Communication Skills groups
o Adult Counselling (mostly due to abuse of various kinds)
o Parental/Marital Counselling
o Adolescent Counselling
o Children (Play therapy)
o Equestrian therapy
o Testing for ADHD/ADD
o Psychiatric evaluation
o Divorce Mediation for the purposes of compiling parenting plans
3. COURT SERVICES:
o Protection orders
o Referrals by probation officers
4. CHILDREN’S ACT: FORM 22’S
We assist in the completion of Form 22’s for our own clients and assistance to others (schools, crèches, day-care centres, counsellors and psychologists). In terms of Article 110 of the Children’s Act it is compulsory to complete this form when abuse or exposure to abuse is alleged.
5. TRAINING
Various training workshops are offered:
o Children’s Act (including the completion of the Form 22’s)
o Abuse Awareness
o Conflict and Communication
o Completion of Protection Orders
o ADHD/ADD
o Contingency plans for the home
o Domestic Violence (including how to complete a Protection Order)
o Working with behaviourally difficult children.
6. BUDGET
Since August 2010 we have used volunteers to do our bookkeeping.
Our monthly budget is currently around R10000 per month. This does not include any salaries, as there are no funds available to pay salaries. We have now reached a point where we urgently need to start raising funds to pay a monthly salary to a full-time social worker and an administrative person.
Our staff of volunteers currently consists of:
1 Managing Director
1 Administrative Head
1 Administrative Assistant
1 Bookkeeper
4 Counsellors
3 Social Workers
3 Clinical Psychologists
1 Psychiatrist
2 Psychology students
2 Social Auxiliary Work students.
None of us, including myself as managing director, gets a salary.
7. CHALLENGES
The biggest challenge we had to face this past year, apart from funding, was flooding. Our office was flooded twice, causing the loss of a large number of administrative documents, with among the items lost the minutes from previous Annual General Meetings, client information, training materials, etc.
We also had to replace most of our furniture, which was fortunately covered by insurance.
We face many challenges in the coming year:
Ø Firstly, the lack of funding.
This means we cannot
1. Appoint qualified personnel
2. Pay our rent
3. Pay services (electricity, telephone, internet etc.)
4. Computers and other equipment
Ø The building in which our offices are currently situated in, has been sold – we will have to find a new office venue
Ø Further training for our volunteers.
8. PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
We are excited about lots of new plans and their potential as we want to continue with our existing services and extend them. Yet, to this, we need permanent staff as well as more volunteers. More fundraising will thus also be necessary.
To be able to continue providing these services, and fulfil the ever growing need, we however urgently need the broader community’s assistance in terms of donations/sponsorships or other contributions.
You can help in many ways; perhaps by giving a few hours per week of your time as volunteer – we need counsellors, psychologists, medical doctors, etc. You can also assist by making a financial contribution into the following account, marked donation:
Bank: FNB
Branch Code: 200512
Account Holder: Ukukhanya
Account Number: 62325848052
Account Type: Cheque account
Hilda Lourens
MANAGING DIRECTOR
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