First Aid and Fire Training

Members of the Masakhane community had the opportunity, through funding by SABMiller, to participate in a First Aid Level 1 and A Fire Safety training course. This course was presented by Ben Supke of Firemed. Receiving training in First Aid and Fire Safety is essential for this community especially since they are not able to access emergency services ealily. As has been reported recently, a cooking fire, which got out of hand, destroyed the dwelling of a family of seven people. Basic Fire Safety training could have prevented this disaster and have helped the community to deal with the fire more effectively.

Younger participants like Willie in this picture, helped to facilitate the material to older and semi-litterate people.


The First Aid course was presented in a canvas and plastic structure which serves as a church. Unfortunately the place flooded due to heavy rains and the course had to be completed in one of the sink dwellings in the community. A farmer in teh area kindly let us use his generator to provide the neccesary electricity for the television and video machine which was used in the course. The fire Safety training was held in the open air, under a tree, where most of the community gatherings take place.Despite these challenges, Ben Supke facilitated these courses very effectively, making use of multimedia and interactive learning activities to engage learners in the subject matter. Songs were sung and games were played and young children were encouraged to participate, thus spreading the benefits of this exposure further than just the participants.

38 People in all received certificates for these courses. These will be laminated, courtesy of Melon Rouge restaurant in Magaliesburg and presented to the participants at a special graduation ceremony. This was the first training event for this community and the benefits of attending accredited courses will hopefully soon be experienced and witnessed by everyone in this community.

Relief for family left homeless by fire

Doctor receives some much needed blankets for his family


The family of seven that was left destitute by a fire in January has received donations of corrugated iron, food,clothes and blankets. NGK Welsyn and Village power assisted this family through donations received as a result of a report of their predicament which was sent out via the Masakhane Newsletter. The response from the public was wonderfull and within a week from when the fire happened, this family had a new house and could function again. Assistance for this family will continue and their situation monitored carefully so that they will be helped untill they are able to provide in their own needs once again.