This last year has been a significant one for Thandanani. Financially, with the help of our donors, we have managed to pull out of the funding slump that we and many other NGOs suffered from at the peak of the recession. Organisationally, we have restructured so as to develop our staff and strengthen Thandanani from within. Operationally we have undertaken to deliver new health services to households. These services allow for a more holistic intervention with the caregivers and children in our households, providing for HIV testing that allows for earlier detection of the virus and the necessary support for those who test positive.

 

Thandanani's purpose is to develop community based volunteers to identify children in need and to support and connect their caregivers to resources so that they can effectively look after the children in their care. It is the job of the Thandanani Board to ensure that this vision is implemented and sustainable. We are concerned with service delivery and the development and well being of our caregivers, children, volunteers and staff.

Thandanani is largely effective in delivering services to communities. Our model is sound. We work with households, taking them through stages from initial reliance on Thandanani to greater selfreliance. Households are connected to available state resources and the basic needs of caregivers and children are addressed. Volunteers interact with households regularly. Life skill groups, caregiver support groups and counselling are made available to encourage development. Basic HIV health services are provided. Ultimately households transition to a point where they no longer need Thandanani's interventions and we are able to move on to deliver services to others who are in need.

The model works well, but we acknowledge that there are certain areas where we can do better. In particular, a critical step in enabling households is to ensure they receive state assistance where this is indicated. This gives caregivers a small income to provide for basic household needs. This is essential, as it is the starting point for a household in finding its feet. It is important that we engage the state quickly and effectively to alleviate the suffering in households. Changes have been made in our welfare team to facilitate this process and are being monitored to ensure an improved throughput in this critical area of service delivery.

I have mentioned above how households are developed. What of our volunteers and staff?

Our volunteers undergo fairly extensive in-house training, first a general training and then more specifically in the area of their chosen focus. They meet regularly with and are mentored by our staff. Our volunteer model, which is at the heart of how we interact with our communities, works well but may benefit from some revision to ensure that we respond to the ongoing developmental needs of our volunteers. For example, from time to time we have discussed having a process for facilitating further development of volunteers who have shown noteworthy leadership and acknowledging them through giving them greater responsibility and remuneration.

Regarding staff, Thandanani underwent a considerable restructuring during the course of last year. We have seen a number of staff promoted to positions of greater responsibility and now have a structure that incorporates a management team. The Thandanani Board believes that this will promote the sustainability of the organisation as this has encouraged growth in staff, spread organisational knowledge, and introduced a broader managerial approach. The sharing of the management of Thandanani also allows our Director to dedicate more time to strategic matters.

Any human enterprise rises or falls on the strength of the relationships of the people involved. Over the last year we have had some internal difficulties as occurs from time to time in any organisation. These have required us to pause, to listen, to understand one another and then to find a positive way forward together. During the course of the year we had two sessions of facilitation to enable a process of dealing with internal issues. The process was at times painful, but we were able to be honest, work through the issues and come through the other side positively. It is, I believe, a real strength of Thandanani that people, at all levels of the organisation, are prepared to engage constructively in such a process.

Thandanani is a dynamic organisation. It is always in a process of change. We frequently ask ourselves how we can do better. Our volunteers and staff grow and develop and bring new ideas or challenge old ones. The board considers new possibilities and we take on new projects to implement or extend the Thandanani vision. This change process works because it is embedded in a solid foundation – our tried and tested models. As a result of solidity on one hand and openness to change on the other, I believe Thandanani is a vibrant and effective organisation. We sometimes make mistakes but do not remain stuck in them. We learn and develop – the same process that we ask of the households and children who are our beneficiaries.

It has been my pleasure and privilege to be been chairman of Thandanani for the last 6 years. I will be handing over to Lisa Strydom and remain on the board as a board member. I have every confidence that Lisa will take Thandanani from strength to strength.

It remains for me to offer my warm thanks to all who are involved in Thandanani's valuable work – our hard working and caring volunteers who are at the coal face, our staff and director who are dedicated, imaginative and committed to the cause, members of the Board who have proved time and again that they approach their role of governance seriously and thoughtfully and our funders who provide the means for us to fulfil our vision. May Thandanani long continue to provide a way forward to a positive future for children in need!