For my summer 2, Leadership In Action I am working with a non-profit called Uzima South Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa. The organization caters to the Ezimbuzini community; an informal settlement  in Orlando West, Soweto with over 1200 informal houses and approximately 5000 residents. The organization's pillars are Health, Education, Nutrition, and Psycho-social needs.

In week 1, we facilitated a weekly 'mommy and me' class called Hamba Bamba Funda (Go, Hold on, and Learn) in collaboration with the University of Johannesburg and Texas Tech University. The class mainly focused on pre- and post-natal education. The community has high rates of teenage pregnancy, so most of the mom's were young, and very eager to learn more about how to take care of their little bundles!

In the same week we hosted a mobile clinic at the organization's premises which was facilitated by Nurses with Purpose. Community members of all ages were invited to be screened for TB, blood-glucose levels, and hypertension. Little babies got their vaccines, and were checked mainly for any of the childhood killer diseases (tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, poliomyelitis, and measles).

In the first week I also got the opportunity to organize my first set of donations. I have an existing connection with African Bank (former: Barclays Bank) and reached out to them to see if they were willing to sponsor a donation to Uzima. They were super responsive and eager to help! That weekend they sent out some of their team members who came with winter blankets for the grannies at Ezimbuzini, and helped them open banks accounts which would make it much easier to receive their government-funded social welfare. 

Pictured is Unalerona during the Mommy and Me session. Pictures were taken and uploaded with prior permission from Unalerona's mom.