ALEXSAN/LIFE LINE COUNSELLING CENTRE - IRIS MALIBOHO
Introduction
We are in our eighth year of operation. 590 people were counselled over this period with 152 being male and 438 being female. The counselling categories included: Depression, Violence, Unemployment, Alcohol Abuse, Information on Pensions, Children Grants, Disability Grants, HIV and Relationships.
In addition to the counselling, the office has been involved in a number of projects. They are:
Athlone Girls High
Counselling has taken place at this school for three years and through hard work and commitment, friends have been made with the girls and teachers. Between February and October 2003 one hundred and twelve (112) people were counselled including parents who were called in for joint sessions with their daughters. The problem areas were around: Boyfriend issues, Mother/Daughter relationships, Depression, Learner/Teacher relationships.
San Salvador/Sallys Workshop
A hundred and eighty adults were counselled 62 being male and 46 female. The adults were recruited from Alexandra for Day Care at Sally's Workshop. This programme ran from 5th February to 27th May 2003. This outreach aimed to address issues on HIV, Drug Abuse Awareness, Violence, Sexual Relations among clients and extra relationships which were affecting the Alex people and residents.
The project was put on hold for the programme needed to be better scheduled so that it did not affect the production line when a person had to go to counselling. R1120.00 was raised on this project that helped to support the work of the office.
Wise Choice
This programme is in its fifth year. We have trained 15 young people from Realogile High, a group called Interact. The group is volunteering in old age homes and community centres as a way to gain both work experience and community service.
The group comes to us for training and situation management as they can deal with some difficult issues in some of their outreach work.
Youth Development Programme
15 young people from Alex have been trained on this support programme. It supports young people on issues of HIV, Trauma, Rape and Self Awareness. Those who are identified for this programme are those who have counseled before.
Radio Counselling Programmes
The programmes are still ongoing every Thursday from 11h15 am to 12h15 pm on Alex FM. AlexFM has a listenership of 48,000 people.
LifeLine Alexandra has also proved to be an important part of the body of service providers and networkers:
We have been a member of the Alex Service Providers since inception which has about 18 member organisations. LifeLine is serving in four of its sub-committees namely, Child Protection, Welfare Month, Adult Victim Support and HIV/AIDS clusters.
The networking takes place with Partnership Against Aids, Alex Youth Development Forum and Alexandra Development Forum which has a membership of 75 organisations.
Evaluation for the Year
One of our main challenges lies in the area of trying to keep volunteer counsellors. We train twice a year but many people register with us hoping to find a more permanent job. We are able to assist with a travel allowance but funds do not permit anything more.
We have four active counselors and each shift is managed by two people. We have increased our travel allowance as a way of appreciating the work done by our counsellors. We have three other counsellors who are doing intern training and we hope to grow together with them.
Future Plans
To do more outreach programmes such as more counselling in schools. We have been approached by someone in Rabie Ridge reporting that young people and the community at large are affected by Violence and Drugs. We are planning to take resources to them once they have compiled their part of the research. Possibilities from our side would be to get counselors to visit the area once or twice a week once the venue has been identified.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank all the volunteers at Alex namely Christina Usiba, Maggie Radebe and Ntloko Mokgokoloshi for your hard work and commitment. We welcome Mavis for joining us at Alex from the previous group of Integration.
Our grateful thanks go to the Anglo American and De Beers Chairman's Fund for keeping the office costs covered, Toyota for funding the counselling programmes and other adhoc expenses and Life Line Norwood for supporting the monthly salary.
TRUSTEES
There was no change in Trustees during this reporting period.
OUR OVERALL THANKS
We would like to again thank all our donors, community, staff, trustees and all those who contributed to the organization over this reporting period. Thank you for being a part of our family and for the role you have played over this past year.
Overview
National Facilitator And Centre Director - Holly Luton-Nel
Centre Usage And Activities - Ben Mhlongo
Alexsan Community Library - Sonny Mothopeng
Computer Training - Olgah Phenya
Alexsan Youth Desk - Prince Mafora
Alexsan/Life Line Counselling Centre - Iris Maliboho
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