South Africa: leadership training in Italy, two good experiences
Cape Town - Two South African community leaders are expected home on Thursday after a month in Italy increasing their understanding of social enterprises and volunteer organisations thanks to a leadership exchange programme made possible by the Consulate of Italy in Cape Town and other Italian istitutions. Nokubonga Mepeni and Nicholas Mzikayise Ndzuzo, founding members of Ubuntu-Bethu non-profit oprganisation in Samora Machel, Cape Town, were the first beneficiaries of the International Cultural Leadership Exchange (ICLE) programme supported by Agape Centro Ecumenico, the Municipality of Reggio Emilia, Fondazione E35, and the Consulate of Italy in Cape Town. South African non-profit oprganisation, Rainbow Media, organised the project on behalf of their Italian partners.
"Nokubonga and Nicholas have been the first beneficiaries of this project and we can already say that this pilot edition was extremely positive. Our goal is to consolidate our partnerships with the (Italian) organisations and institutions that made it possible, so that in future we can have a regular exchange of volunteers between Italy and South Africa," said Annalisa Contrafatto, chairperson of Rainbow Media.
During their stay in Italy the two young community leaders spent a few days volunteering in Agape, an Ecumenical Centre, where they also took part in a week-long international seminar on the theme of migrations. They also had the opportunity to visit and do an interview at the local community radio station, RBE. After that they moved to Turin for a few days, where they visited Freedhome, a shop selling a variety of "made in jail" products – from t-shirts to cookies – and the Ecomori project, which sees a group of refugees figthing food waste in the biggest market in Europe.
Their next stop was at Reggio Emilia, which offered an extremly rich calendar of meetings and visits to non-profit organisations involved in community development, as well as the historic Reggio Africa archive at Istoreco. The duo also briefly stopped in Milan and will return from there to Cape Town on Thursday afternoon.
"Traveling abroad is a life-enriching experience and an aspiration for many young South Africans, yet for many of them this opportunity remains unaffordable. Through ICLE (International Cultural Leadership Exchange), Rainbow Media and our Italian partners aim to offer young South Africans and Italians committed to the upliftment of their communities, the opportunity to take part in this educational experience," said Contrafatto.