After receiving our National Registration Number during February 2009, site inspections was conducted during March 2009 – May 2009 at our Provincial Offices in Limpopo, Northern Cape an North West Provinces as well at our project offices in Western Cape, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces.

We only received one contract in October 2009 to train 30 beneficiaries of the Victorious Woman Health and Welfare Ministry in Middelburg, Mpumalanga Province in HIV/AIDS Peer Educator, First Aid Level 1 & 2, Home Based Care and Capacity Building. The training was concluded at the end of February 2010.

During November 2009 LifeLine Southern Africa approach NICDAM to assist them in the assessment/moderation and verification of their credit bearing training in South Africa. A formal agreement of cooperation was signed during December 2009 and NICDAM started with the assessment process of 37 Learners of their ADRA Project, 156 Learners of the AED project and 477 learners from the Barongwa project. All Portfolios’ of Evidence was assessed and prepared for verification. All the results were endorsed by the HWSETA during their verification site visit in May 2010.

NICDAM was contracted by the Department of Social Development to standardise the learning material that was produced and presented as part of the DSD, DFID HIV&AIDS Multisectorial Support Programme: HCBC Management Capacity and Mentoring in 2006 – 2009. During this period a capacity building and mentoring district model was piloted in 10 districts of 3 provinces.  NICDAM was one of the service providers for the project.

During the first 3 months of 2010 a training needs assessment was undertaken in order to add a personal development module to the training package. Thereafter a comprehensive skills programme containing 15 unit standards (53 credits) was designed.  The following seven modules were developed.  The content was aligned to unit standards where possible.

Module 1: Personal Development for Managers
Module 2: NPO Governance
Module 3: Managing Projects
Module 4: Sustainable Organisations
Module 5: Basic Bookkeeping & Financial Management
Module 6: Human Resource Management
Module 7: Computer Skills for Managers

Each of the modules contained the following training material:

• Learner Manual

• Learner Workbook (two workbooks for Modules 1, 5 and 6; three workbooks for Module 7) containing formative activities

• Facilitators Guide

• Assessments (for all the Modules, except Modules 2 and 5)

• Assessment Guides (for all the Modules, except Modules 2 and 5)

• Practical Workbooks (two Practical Workbooks for Modules 1 and 6) containing summative assessment activities and assignments

• Powerpoint presentations (except for Module 7)

Several training needs were not addressed in the learning material that was developed for the pilot phase of the HCBC Management Capacity Building Programme and thus fell outside the scope of this contract.  

It was proposed to the DSD that the following modules are added to complete the package and a further proposal was submitted:
Module 8:  Information Management and M&E
Module 9:  Networking & External Relations
Module 10: Communication Skills for Managers

NICDAM developed the learning material and assessment tools for the Further Education and Training Certificate: Community Development: HIV/AIDS Support for the training of 15 learners in Learnership contracts with Phila, Weenen. 

NICDAM also developed an RPL portfolio for the recognition of prior learning of the learners. 

NICDAM is currently assessing the completed learner portfolios.  The verification of the results by the ETQA of the HWSETA will take place in November 2010.

The partnership for Health Programme is a six year programme developed by the European Union in collaboration with Government of South Africa. The aim of the programme is to strengthen the delivery of district primary health care services including those services addressing HIV and AIDS.

NICDAM was appointed in 2008 to train five hundred (500) carers in Waterberg district in Limpopo for the qualification Ancillary Health Care Level 1, 2 & 3 in a three year period. Level 1 and level 2 was presented October 2008 to November 2009 for phase one. Learners who were declared competent for both Level 1 and Level 2 move to the next level.

Two hundred and eighty six (286) Level 1 learners were declared competent against the SAQA approved GETC: Ancillary Health Care Qualification ID: 49606 and 197 Level 2 learners were declared competent against the National Certificate: Fundamental Ancillary Health Care SAQA ID: 49085. Seventeen (17) learners withdrew from the programme due to different reasons. Learners were issued with their competency certificates on the 27 November 2009 and the ceremony was held at OR Thambo municipality hall in Nylstroom.

The learners are coming from six municipalities in Waterberg district. They are selected from funded NPOs in the district. The training is presented in Emmerentia Centre in Waterberg district and is residential. They are allocated into five classrooms and the programme is running concurrently to allow all Levels to start.

In 2010 the contract was renewed where 644 learners will be trained for Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. The programme started April 2010 and is finishing February 2011 for the second phase. Level 1 training is presented in 8 weeks, Level 2 training is presented in 9 weeks and Level 3 in 11 weeks. Formative and Summative POE are submitted to NICDAM to be assessed by NICDAM assessors. They were also given Practical Portfolio of Evidence to complete in their communities and different institutions. NICDAM mentors guide, coach and support them in the completion of their Practical Portfolio of Evidence during mentoring visits.

NICDAM was appointed in 2008 to train 180 community health workers in NQF Levels 1, 2 & 3 over a period of 25 months in Mopani district. Level 1 and Level 2 training was presented during the first phase. Level 1training was presented for 8 weeks and Level 2 training for 9 weeks. The training was presented in Tivhumbeni College and it was residential.

Learners did formative assessment as part of classroom activities and summative assessment at the end of the week’s training. Formative and summative portfolios of evidence were assessed by NICDAM assessors. The learners were also given Practical Portfolio of Evidence to go and complete in their communities and different institutions. Ninety seven (97) Level 1 learners were declared competent against the SAQA approved GETC: Ancillary Health Care Qualification ID: 49606 and 40 Level 2 learners were declared competent against the National Certificate: Fundamental Ancillary Health Care SAQA ID: 49085. The learners receive their competency certificate on the 4 December 2009 at Nkowankowa community hall.

Level 3 training is presented from January to September 2010 during the second phase. The training will be presented for 11 weeks. Forty (40) Level 3 learners are part of the training. 

NICDAM has entered into a 25 month contract with the Department of Health and Social Development whereby NICDAM has to train 50 Child and Youth Care Workers in the province. NICDAM further added 20 learners to train them at NICDAMs own cost. The total number of 70 Child and Youth Care Workers form part of this project. Learners will be trained on FET Certificate: ID 60209 Child and Youth Care Level 4.

The learners were selected from funded NPOs in the Limpopo Province from all five districts. The breakdown of the district is as follows: Sekhukhune = 26, Capricon = 9, Vhembe = 17, Mopani = 8 and Waterberg = 10.

Learners were divided into two classrooms; 35 learners per class and training are residential. The training is presented in different venues arranged by the Limpopo Department of Health and Social Development. Training is presented in 10 weeks.

Learners do formative assessment as part of class activities and summative at the end of the week’s training. They were also given Practical Portfolio of Evidence to complete in different institutions. Mentors also do mentoring visits to support and guide the learners. Each learner identified a social worker to work with for supervision purpose. Different Child Care Institutions and Places of Safety are identified for learners’ placement for practical purpose.

NICDAM was approached by CATHCA in the beginning of 2008 to train the Catholic Health Care Association’s Home Based Care Workers. The home based care workers were from Gauteng, Free State, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West. The training was presented in four parts and Home Based Care was aligned to Unit Standard 9827: Assess the client’s situation and assist and support both client and family to manage home based health care. The training involved 332 home based care workers.

The programme was extended in 2009 and 179 learners were trained. The following province was identified for training: Limpopo 31 learners, Free State 28 learners, Gauteng 42 learners and North West 75 learners. The training was presented in 3 clusters – HAST, Palliative care and two weeks Home Based Care which is aligned to Unit Standard 9827: Assess the client’s situation and assist and support both client and family to manage home based health care.

Formative assessment was done as part of classroom activities and summative assessment was done at the end of week 1 and week 2 of Home Based Care training. Learners PoEs were assessed by NICDAM assessors. Learners were also given Practical Portfolios of Evidence to go and complete in their communities and different health facilities.

The programme was again extended in 2010 to train Catholic Home Based Care Workers on Peer Education. Fifty (50) Peer Educators were trained on the Unit Standard 114491: Educate and work closely with the community with regard to sexually transmitted infections (STI’s) including Human Immune Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS). Learners are coming from Limpopo, Free State, Gauteng, Eastern Cape and KZN. Two training sites was identified; Gauteng and KZN. Gauteng 21 Peer Educators and KZN 29 Peer Educators; total learners: 50.

This programme started on the 1st January 2010 and ended on the 30th June 2010. Initially thirty-eight organizations were identified and selected from three provinces, i.e. Limpopo with 14 organisations, Kwa Zulu –Natal with 14 organisations and North West with 10 organisations.

All fourteen organisations from Limpopo reported for training. In Kwa Zulu Natal only 10 reported for training while the other four were outstanding. They felt that they did not need any training. In North-West the 10 selected organisations could only attend the orientation; thereafter they were prevented from coming to training by their district officials.

Training undertaken:
In Limpopo the first cluster on Governance and Leadership was done in Lebowakgomo from the 15th to the 19th February 2010 while the second cluster on Human Resources Management was done in Bela-Bela on the 3rd to the 7th May 2010.

In Kwa Zulu- Natal the first cluster on Governance and Leadership took place on the 15th to the 19th March 2010 while the second cluster on Human Resources Management took place on the 24th to the 28th May 2010. Both training were held in New Castle.

The successes of the project can be summarized as follows:

• NPO’s that operated without Governing Boards managed to establish Boards

• Dysfunctional Governing Boards started to function

• In Limpopo NPO's had operational plans but no strategic plans

• In Kwa Zulu- Natal both strategic and operational plans were not known

• Legal compliance was another challenge, for instance, how to apply for tax exemption, how UIF works and how Workman’s Compensation Act works. These issues have been clarified for the participants.

• Effective organizational structure with clear lines of reporting and communication was another challenge. Now NPOs are quite clear on this.

In conclusion, although our intention was to run four clusters of training with the learners, NDOH instructed us that the training should be completed on the 30th of June 2010 because of the priority shift within the National Department of Health.

In this project the orientation of learners started on the 6th October 2009 and ended on the 9th October 2009. Learners orientated on the qualification were as follows:-  Metsweding = 20; Tembisa = 25; Daveyton = 25; Tsakane = 37; Katlehong = 42; West Rand = 40; Sedibeng = 50.

When the actual training started, learner statistics changed to the following:  Metsweding = 19; Tembisa = 21; Daveyton = 25; Tsakane = 37; Katlehong = 42; West Rand = 40; Sedibeng = 49.

During the orientation learners were supplied with Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) portfolios of evidence to complete over a period of a month.

The Technical Training of the learners started on the week of 19th October 2010 at the following centres: Sedibeng, West Rand, Katlehong, Tsakane, Daveyton, Tembisa and Metsweding. The total number enrolled was 233 instead of the expected 240.

The training clusters were rolled out as followed:
Child Care; Community Health; HIV & AIDS; Oral and Written Communication; Children in Communities; Community Development; Numeracy; Computer Literacy.

Initially it was envisaged that the training would be completed by end of August 2010, but due to the learners high failure rate in numeracy in the RPL phase, a decision was taken to train the cluster in class, hence an extension in the training period. The training will now only be completed on the 08th of October 2010.

The most important challenge was securing venues in the form of clinics, hospices, and hospitals for our learners’ experiential training in clusters such as Child Care. The standard reply from these facilities is that since our learners are not registered with the nursing council, it is risky on their part to allow these learners on their premises. 

NICDAM (National Institute Community Development and Management) was appointed during July 2008  to present training on HIV & AIDS peer education and – counselling to be implemented in all the branches as part of the Reserve Bank’s HIV programme.

Objectives and expected outcome of the training:

The objective of the training was to prepare the employees and employers of the Reserve Bank for the involvement in the HIV and AIDS awareness and education activities so they can provide accurate information about aspects such as HIV testing, treatment and living positively with HIV.

The training participants were expected to:

• learn more HIV and AIDS knowledge and counselling skills

• correct myths and misconceptions

• provide accurate information about transmission and prevention

• promote the rights of people living with HIV through advocating against stigma and discrimination

• educate clients about risky behaviour and assist them change their behaviour

• prepare clients for behaviour

• provide information about ARV treatment and caring for sick family members.

Training Programme and content:
The programme was divided into two modules over 8 days. The first part was focused at providing participants with accurate HIV information; dispel the myths and misconceptions and information on the testing procedure. The second part was aimed at equipping them with counselling skills in the form of theoretical knowledge and practical experience. The participants were thereafter assisted in linking the two modules through using these skills to depart the knowledge.

The training was aligned to the South African Authority Standards (SAQA) requirements. The following SAQA unit standards form part of the training programme:

SAQA US ID	UNIT STANDARD TITLE
13203	Counsel workgroup members in respect of HIV/AIDS: Level 5
114491	Educate and work closely with the community (in this case the workplace) with regard to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV/AIDS: Level 4

Training roll out:
1. Staff level
The 8 day- training rolled out between August 2008 and February 2009. A total of 69 learners were trained at the 8 different training sites.  All learner training results were endorsed respectively by the HWSETA and MERSETA.

2. Manager level
The training will be conducted on the 17th – 21st August 2009 at Head Office.  A total of 17 participants are enrolled for the course.  This training will be conducted over a period of 5 days.  The first day will focus on an overview of HIV/AIDS (non-accredited), while the other 4 days will be spend on the Counselling Unit Standard

In NICDAM was appointed by the Department of Health (Gauteng) to present a training programme to improve counselling skills and strengthen VCT services in the province. The programme consists of 10 training days followed by mentoring visits at the organizations and clinics where participants are located. Since March 2008, training was presented at the Esseslin clinic, Brits and Denotter  to 90 learners.

During the reporting period mentoring visits to the 90 learners took place and the learner results were verified. Learners obtained credits for competence and certificates were issue.

The project is funded by the US Agency for International Development, in partnership with the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (Path) as the prime contractor, HDA and The International HIV and AIDS Alliance. The aim of the project was to develop training materials for supporting the caregivers of vulnerable children in the 9 provinces and to promote sustainability and scale up deliverables. The programme seeks to build the capacity of provincial training service providers to deliver training as well as undertake assessment and moderation of learners in line with the requirements of the Health and Welfare SETA. To date the project has developed a skills development programme addressing the psychosocial wellbeing and support for of comunity caregivers at levels 1 and 2 of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

The training incorporates two modules on developing appropriate skills in child protection. During Year 2 a second curriculum offering more advanced child protection skills to the supervisors of community caregivers will be piloted (levels 3 and 4 of the NQF). A further curriculum offering Psychosocial Support Skills for supervisors is in the planning stages. The project has developed a Good Practice Case Study on developing accredited curricula to share the lessons it has learnt in this process. Further Good Practice Case Studies will be developed and disseminated through a seminar series in Year Two.

The South African Department of Social Development (DSD) and USAID/PEPFAR, in collaboration with the Population Council, HIV 911/HIVAN, Westat Contract Research Organization, and Trialogue is completing the development of the new national Children Services Directory. The directory contains a comprehensive, up to date listing of non-profit organisations (NPOs) and governmental organisations that are working in South Africa to address the needs of orphaned and other vulnerable children (OVC). The directory will be accessible in four ways: Online, Hard Copy, CD-Rom and SMS-like Service. For more information please visit: The Childrens Services Directory

During the reporting period NICDAM was contracted by Health & Development Africa in co-laboration with Department of Social Development as lead training provider of the national project. NICDAM participated in:

• Development and standardizing of learning material and assessment formats

• Recruiting and contracting of provincial training service providers

• Presenting of Master training for facilitators of provincial training providers

• Monitoring and evaluation of pilot training

• Mid Term review