Volmoed Youth Leadership Training Program (VYLTP)

Thank you!   Dankie!  Enkosi!  Tathenda!

It’s been an active and joyful few months for the young people of the Volmoed Youth Leadership Training Program, and we are grateful for so much.

There have been quite a few local and international groups and visitors. A large group from the Indianapolis Center for Middle East Peace (ICMEP) came to visit Volmoed, to spend time reflecting on Reconciliation and Justice, to drum with the young people, visit the drum making venue in Zwelihle, and be taken on a walking tour of Zwe and Mount Pleasant townships by the young people. 

Some of the young drummers were at the local Marine hotel to drum for the official celebrations to open the new cliff path extension in Hermanus, and they were praised in the local newspaper.  The next day they drummed at a Pro-Musica choir event in Hermanus – this is a large, local, excellent choir who along with the audience, just loved the drummers and their drumming. 

Another fun event was a Friday lunch at a restaurant at the Whale Coast Mall. A US friend wanted to pay for a surprise lunch for the young people. Altogether 21 of them – and this was a first for most of them – it was wonderful!

At another event, ten drummers joined to drum at the old harbour for about fifty geography educators from around South Africa, who were visiting for a geography conference and also joined the drumming. This included a bus ride through Zwelihle township. Thanks to Bridget, the organiser, who said that the commentary explaining local context provided by Siya as they drove through the township was “incredible, professional, and profoundly moving”. We are gifted to have our staff member, Siya, working with such dedication and commitment to the young people and this program. We are also gifted with the energy and commitment of Edwin, the director, who remains networked with people all around the country and the globe who have visited the group and become part of a larger, supportive family – many of whom support us via GlobalGiving platforms – thank you! 

The young people attended the annual Thursday service that precedes the Annual Meeting. This is a leadership learning experience for them, and they spend time beforehand learning about the function of annual meetings and how they work. One of our patrons, Dr Lionel Louw, described the youth program as ‘a sign and carrier of hope’.  The young people were also acknowledged and appreciated by Theresa Edlmann, the new managing trustee of Volmoed.

Some of the young people drummed at the Volmoed 40^th anniversary event of the art exhibition and de Gruchy lecture, to welcome people to the event. They are well integrated into the ongoing life and various events that take place at Volmoed, which is another way to build their confidence as young leaders. 

A group of women from Minnesota, who were on a tour of SA that focused on the environment and on different cultural expressions of  music in SA, were delighted to visit the drum making center and drum with the young people. They brought them bright colored pink and turquoise Tshirts as another outfit to drum in, and the young people love them. The young women especially were delighted to meet so many older professional women who were interested to listen to their stories of township life in SA. 

Our young drummers are getting well known in Hermanus and getting press in the local newspaper. On the September Heritage Day national holiday, they opened and closed the Hermanus celebration at the Old Harbour with fifteen-minute drumming sessions.  In November they kicked off the Western Cape Provincial launch of the 16 days of Activism to end gender-based violence, in the stadium in Zwelihle. The organiser said “they  brought energetic magic to the event!”   In December they participated energetically to help the official launch of the month of “Disability Rights Awareness” in the local town of Hawston. 

The Youth Taizé Day brought about thirty-five young people from around the Western Cape to Volmoed, and it became an intergenerational event when one woman brought her 2 month old grandchild, and an elderly resident, a founder of Volmoed, attended as well.  This event is a beautiful day of quiet reflection and song, solo and group reflection/discussions, workshops, a walk to see the waterfalls, and more. W e’ve done it for five years now and it is great to see how the young people have grown and matured over the years. 

Two of our young people joined another youth member in France, with the Taizé Community, to volunteer for three months until January. They are learning a lot, while experiencing new degrees of cold in winter. 

Meanwhile the young people continue to gather on Thursdays at Volmoed, to interact with the older folk, and engage in learning and discussions. A particular focus was Gender Based Violence, and sessions with a facilitator from Hope Africa in Cape Town. Many of the young people have experienced gender based violence themselves, and some are gaining the confidence to share their difficult stories, while also being empowered through knowledge and understanding of gender equality and their rights. 

Another opportunity for learning through experiences of diversity was a weekend that brought young Muslims and Christians together to share their stories and learn about each other’s culture, language and religion, to promote mutual understanding and respect for others.  The drumming around the firepit in the evenings was a huge success that enabled them to enjoy themselves while also sharing their stories, and learning more during the daytime sessions and through shared accommodation. The value of this kind of learning for leadership is priceless. 

The leadership team is turning its attention to the VYLTP tenth anniversary which takes place in June 2026. This will provide exciting opportunities to gather alumni and friends for a few days in June, and it is time to start planning. 

Our very best wishes to you all as the calendar year draws to a close and a big THANK YOU!  to all of you for your generous donations and support throughout the year, and especially to those who gave on Giving Tuesday. May your end of year celebrations and holidays bring you great joy and the new year lead you forward into peace, truth and beauty.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO EACH AND EVERYONE WHO HAS DONATED TO VOLMOED THIS YEAR. WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!

Thank you!   Dankie!  Enkosi!  Tathenda!

Links:

• VYLTP web page

• VYLTP Report with PICTURES! (PDF)
  

Volmoed Youth Leadership Training Program Report
August 2025

             THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS DONATIONS!

It continues to be a very exciting year for everyone in the Volmoed Youth Leadership Training Program (VYLTP), as there have been many inspiring events in the last few months. 

Two of the 2024 cohort are artists who made a beautiful gift to thank one of our volunteers from the Netherlands.  He had engaged deeply with many of the cohort and did a weekly session on ‘Leaders are Readers’ to introduce them to a love of reading.  Their beautiful framed and mounted artwork used fabric and textures to make a picture of their weekly group session with him, and it was easy to see who was who in the picture! 

16 June is National Youth Day in South Africa. Our VYLTP group travelled to Lavender Hill in Cape Town for a Youth Day event, exhibited the drums they made, and held a drumming session. They even encouraged the Western Cape official to bring the event to Hermanus next year, who liked the idea and encouraged them to speak with the organising team.

On July 18, which is international Mandela Day, VYLTP invited the local Hermanus communities to join them in drumming for 67 minutes, to represent the 67 years that Nelson Mandela dedicated to public service, fighting for social justice and human rights. 

The event was held in the Overstrand Boxing Club, as Mandela enjoyed boxing and was a skilled boxer.  Many people of all ages joined them in this event that brought people from diverse races and cultures in the Hermanus area together to celebrate Nelson Mandela. They made it into the local newspaper with a lovely article written about VYLTP and the drummers. 

Every year in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape, there is a National Arts Festival. It was a dream for the new 2025 VYLTP group to go on a mini-tour to attend some of the festival. Thanks to a very generous donation by a major donor, and many other donations, the dream became a reality. They are quite new to drumming, but had been working hard every Thursday at Volmoed with Themba Lonzi, the drum master, to prepare. It was a fantastic tour, where they were hosted by various groups and families in the area. They were not a part of the official festival program as this was a learning experience for them. They did get to perform in the beautiful historic Cathedral which has great acoustics for music and hosts several festival events. They were able to perform both inside and then outside the cathedral. What a memorable experience this was! And a good way for the young people to develop character, new skills, confidence, and to see who the emerging new leaders are. 

We are very excited that one of our 2024 cohort was accepted to return to the Taizé community in France as a long term volunteer for eight months. She had previously volunteered in 2023.  Inathi left in April and returns in January, and has been involved in managing the kitchens, the children and family program, and a whole lot more. She is learning new skills that will be invaluable here on her return. She even met up with one of our regular leadership facilitators who was attending a meeting in Taizé.  We were then invited to send two more young people to volunteer for three months, and they are currently applying for visas. 

This week the VYLTP drummers welcomed the Tutu Travel seminar group to Volmoed with drumming, as well as the VYLTP coordinator who had been away on surgery recovery and sabbatical time. The group also sang for the visitors.

The young people continue to work in the drum workshop on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.  Thanks to your generous donations, we are now able to pay them a small hourly rate, so they receive a small amount monthly, according to the hours they worked.  This makes a big difference as they are able to contribute to their families and putting food on the table.  

They spend Thursdays at Volmoed, and this month the focus for discussion and learning is Gender Based Violence and Femicide. They also spend time drumming together, as this helps them deal with the stresses they carry and is part of the healing aspect of the program.  

THANK YOU ALWAYS FOR YOUR GENEROSITY AND SUPPORT!

Links:

• Volmoed Youth Leadership Training Program

• Program Report with Pictures! (PDF)