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Thandanani appoints new executive director
Thandanani Press Release. 24 May 2004.
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Thandanani?’s mission has been to build the capacity of communities in Southern Africa to respond to the needs of their Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children. Thandanani currently works with volunteer committees in the Pietermaritzburg areas with the main areas of focus being training and education, the advocating children?’s rights and psycho-social support. They also provide accredited training.
Sbusiso Msomi joined Thandanani Childrens Foundation as the Executive Director in April 2004. Mr Msomi?’s passion for voluntary work was kindled at a young age. He grew up in Richmond, in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Midlands during the 1990s, a time when the area was experiencing a great deal of violence and was already suffering from the effects of poverty and HIV/AIDS. Mr Msomi was a volunteer while at high school assisting with the life skills programme for the youth of the area.
While his contribution began at this early age, he recognised the importance of obtaining a formal qualification and the right kind of experience. It is this vast experience that he brings to Thandanani Childrens Foundation. His formal qualifications combined with his hands-on experience are impressive. His latest qualification is an MA in Social Research and he has worked his way through the ranks from an internship to his current position as Executive Director in organisations which are as diverse as Triangle (a gay-rights organisation based) in Cape Town and the uMngeni AIDS Centre in Howick.
Mr Msomi has admired Thandanani Childrens Foundation from the outside as he has watched it grow from a small NPO to an organisation with 21 permanent employees in a relatively short space of time. He is looking to build on the strong foundations but already has a clear perspective on the way forward.
Commented Mr Msomi, ?“These are still early days for me, but I see Thandanani expanding geographically into the more rural areas of the Midlands to areas such as Greytown, Richmond and Donnybrook. Rather than the community being passive recipients of our support, we will strive to make the communities increasingly independent of Thandanani over time, by empowering them through skills development and training. As opposed to setting up another programme in parallel to the ones already in place, there may be instances where it makes more sense to assist NPOs that have already made inroads into the community.
?“We will also be looking to launch new and innovative programmes in the near future that complement the current ones. In this way, we see ourselves responding to a dynamic environment and, at the same time, continuing to grow and develop both the Thandanani staff and the volunteers in the communities.?”
Mr Msomi described his appointment at Thandanani as being the culmination of his dream and that he is looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead. He sees the ultimate goal of Thandanai being to serve the needs of the community in the most effective way possible, to make a real difference in the lives of Orphans and Vulnerable Children. |
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Mr Sbu Msomi, New Executive Director of Thandanani
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