What We Do

For Individuals

Building “capacity” is a primary goal of the Desmond Tutu Centre for Leadership (C4L).  This applies to individuals, organizations, and communities.

At the individual level, this is known as "human development".

 

In the context of South Africa, “capacity building” means striving to increase the number of South Africans who have both the knowledge and skills needed to sustain an effective, modern society, without losing the legacy of South African culture, especially its core value of "Ubuntu".

At C4L, the focus is on building capacity of youth.  The emphasis is on youth from 18 - 28.  Not only does C4L offer training to youth, it has a special focus on youth-led organizations.  At C4L itself, the majority of volunteers, staff and Senior Management Team are under 35.

C4L offers several different training options for building capacity, both non-formal and accredited.

Work-Study

As C4L is basically a direct development programmer, in terms of community outreach, it is able to alternate periodic study with placements or practicums. This has become the preferred approach, although not to the exclusion of flagship short courses like:

• New Venture Creation
  
• Business Practice
  
• Project Management
• Development Practice

For Organizations

C4L welcomes joint ventures with other service providers.  These strategic alliances add value on both sides to enhance cooperation and create mutually beneficial relationships.  Solidarity gained through group interaction and team building is good for both individuals and groups in civil society.  In a context of intolerance, outbreaks of xenophobia, and top-down leadership styles, it can also be useful for managers and other leaders to step out of their comfort zones through role playing exercises.  Short courses, seminars and workshops in which participants rub shoulders with people from other workplaces and other walks of life are very useful in this regard.

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C4L will organise events and courses and develop customized training resources for client groups, usually in response to Requests for Proposals (RFPs) circulated in the public sphere. These events, projects, courses and materials are based on the client's Terms of Reference (TORS), and can include techniques such as:

• Exposure visits
• Round table discussions
• Roll out of training to a designated target group
• Instructional tools (e.g. videos and CD ROMs)
  
• Creation of specialized manuals

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For Society

Several of the modules included either as Adult Learning or Youth Leadership Development have arisen from verifiable needs at the community level. To address these needs, learning materials and interactive training  are designed in conjunction with community members and evaluated using participatory methods. Resource development will include: preparing an outline of the topics to be covered, preparing the training materials such as manuals and videos, and deploying trainers as facilitators and assessors. C4L's status as a Public Benefirt Organization derives from the capacity building that it designs and delivers to communities.

Outreach projects that have operated from the C4L campus include:

• Establishment of Diversified Green Coops (sponsored by the ABSA Foundation)
  
• Mentoring support for youth organizations (sponsored by German Development Services (DED))
  
• Community-level awareness-raising about the cross-border trade in body-parts (sponsored by the Human Rights League)
• Community-level awareness-raising about the scourge of human trafficking
  
• Training youth leaders in Development Practice (sponsored by ETDP SETA)
• Deploying youth leaders in schools-based Kids Clubs to offer care and suppoprt for OVC

Outreach projects that have been completed and archived include:

• Training the Laity (Swedish Mission Council)
• Teacher Counseling for OVC - Orphans and Vulnerable Children (Canadian International Development Agency - CIDA)
• Training Tools (Tearfund UK)

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Equipping God's people for works of service