Private Eye Community Watch Project, Saint Mary’s Development and Care Centre and 12 other organisations aimed at developing children gathered at Rhodes University’s Centre for Social Development recently to receive certificates for the latest course they have completed under the Rural Development Support Programme.
Private Eye Community Watch Project, Saint Mary’s Development and Care Centre and 12 other organisations aimed at developing children gathered at Rhodes University’s Centre for Social Development recently to receive certificates for the latest course they have completed under the Rural Development Support Programme.
These certificates for training are the last part of the three-module course these organisations completed this year.
The modules, which cover good governance and structures, planning and budgeting, and fundraising and collaboration, are part of the programme’s attempt to grow the organisations in effectiveness and capacity by training them in development skills and mentoring them as they implement their anti-poverty programmes.
The Rural Development Support Programme was started in 1992 with the aim of focusing on rural development and newly formed non-governmental organisations.
“Most of the rural organisations we work with are small in size, struggle to access training opportunities and require assistance in organisational skills,” said development consultant Nosakhele Mpushe.
“We have worked with or trained well over 600 organisations, many of them in remote rural areas.
Many have received long-term support through numerous training sessions and mentoring visits and we wanted to do the same in Grahamstown.”
Private Eye Community Watch Project aims to be an implementing agency for social change, with various programmes to stop drug and alcohol abuse finding the training beneficial in their development.
“In receiving this training from Rhodes University, we are now able to start operating as an NGO," said Ndumiso Nkonki of Private Eye.
"Our main aim is to establish our offices here in Grahamstown, render these services and then move to other places like Alexandria, Port Alfred, King William's Town and the rural areas where there are high number of youth and even adults who are abusing alcohol without any help,” said Nkonki.
