We are nearing the end of the first year of our pilot programme and are now officially registered as a Trust here in South Africa.  As many of you know, in the UK we are registered as Off The Street Kids.  Here in South Africa we are registered as Siyaphambili OTSK.  We asked the young people taking part in the programme to come up with a name and they chose Siyaphambili. Siyaphambili means “we are moving forward” in Xhosa (one of the 11 official languages spoken in South Africa) and it encompasses what we do. Using OTSK at the end keeps us connected to the UK organisation.

We are wrapping up the year with evaluations of the mentees to assess their progress since joining the programme and we are delighted with the outcomes.  We have a fun day planned for the mentors, mentees and Siyaphambili OTSK staff where we will all celebrate our accomplishments this year.  We are recruiting mentors and developing the programme, which looks quite different for next year. We have learnt a great deal in 2010 and we are are looking forward to 2011!