Nhlakanipho Dlamini
1) How long I have been working at the TVT?
I have been working at the TVT organization from 2016 to date.
2) How many families and children I have interacted with over time?
I have been assigned to work with 200 beneficiaries and currently I’m sitting on 206 which is made up of 91 family households with 115 children all as the TVT beneficiaries.
However, as we all know that there is more community members facing societal ills, and that every member needs a helping hand, I have helped more than the number assigned to me. I have helped more affected people I could reach out to.
3) One of the exciting day at work
There was this one day I woke up early in the morning and started doing home visits as usual part of my everyday job.
I was doing Child Stimulation that day.I entered the premises of this homestead, and when I was about to pass by the window I overheard one of the children calling out my name. When I looked through the window. The children were alone. No parents inside the house. And I saw two of these children were TVT beneficiaries and I didn’t know the 3rd one.
I stepped back a bit and listened what was that about. The children had a role play, assigned themselves into different roles.
One of the child took my role as a facilitator and called himself by my name, “Malume Nhlaka”. The other two acted as learners. The one who imitated my role was teaching them how to count. They were using stones as learning tools.
Seeing that made me feel very honored because it showed me that the effort we put in supporting the community members is being valued, and also that the children are now placing a high value on studying and uses the chance they get to self-actualize themselves without the help of an adult person. That was the happiest day of my life.
Reporting day: Friday. This is one of the exciting days of my work since I had been doing community work during the week I myself come a cross a number of challenges of which I sometimes don’t know how to overcome them, therefore; during reporting time, I get some advise from my colleagues on how to go about overcoming the challenges.
4) Success Story
There was this family of three; a mother, father and a child. Both parents were HIV positive. The wife was taking the treatment even though her viral load was high and the husband was not on medication.
I intervened by conducting sessions where by I was giving HIV/AIDS lessons.
Topics covered:
a) CD4 Count and viral load
b) Adherence
c) Healthy Diet
d) Acceptance
Furthermore; I accompanied the husband to visit the local clinic to get help and counselling. Well he was then subjected to medication. As I did continued home visits, the wife told me that the husband has stopped taking medication. I, again sat down with him, and let him know the importance of Adherence and acceptance and also covered some more topics related to the situation. He went back to the clinic for his medication. Ever since then he’s eating healthy, and adhering to his medication.
5) What I love about my work?
As a community development worker, my job is to help communities, bring about social change and improve the quality of life in the local area.
This strengthens my values as a human being, increases myself-confidence, self-esteem, brings life satisfaction, and a sense of identity/ belonging.
6) Have your life change ever since you be part of the TVT organization, if so how?
I personally had many downfalls in my life as a person. Some were more severe than the others. I could see my life fading. But one day I sat and had self-introspection, that’s where I changed my mindset and said no, I can do something meaningful with my life.
I got hired at TVT organization and enrolled to Higher Education and Training pursuing my studies of being a teacher, of which I am about to complete now.
Ever since I changed my mindset, I am a better person now than I was yesterday and had found some more meaning in life and also became a community support.
The various of trainings I acquired at The Valley Trust have changed my perspective of how one should raise a child, how to conduct myself as just a member of the community and how much I can positively influence people in my community. Now I have seen life change before my eyes because of my intervention. I’ve seen parents who were neglecting their responsibilities starting to connect with their children, playing with them with the intention of educating and prioritizing their children holistic development.
7) What is my dream for the future?
My dream for the future is to see all the societal ills gone. To see every individual being an active participant in the community, being able to live freely, being advocates for themselves, working hard so as to self-actualize themselves and be better independent individuals.