What We Do
Capacity Building
Building “capacity” is a primary goal of the Desmond Tutu Centre for Leadership (C4L).
Capacity may be defined as the ability to receive, absorb or hold, and also
the measure or volume of this ability.
This applies to individuals, organizations, and societies.
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, and an inherent understanding of the South African culture, or "the way we do things around here".
At C4L, the focus is on building capacity at the wholesale level rather than retail, by training trainers, tutoring consultants, mentoring managers, and teaching young people to be role models, so they in turn can transfer their skills and knowledge to build capacity in the next generation of South African society.
C4L offers several different training options for building capacity.
Work-Study
As C4L is a direct development programmer as well, in terms of community outreach, it is able to alternate study periods with placements or practicums. This has become the preferred approach, although not to the exclusion of flagship short courses like:
- Project Management
- Development Practice
Joint Ventures
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 tribalism, border issues, 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 most useful in this regard.
Turn Key
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, courses and materials are based on the client's Terms of Reference (TORS), and can include techniques such as:
- Exposure visits
- Round table discussions
- Hands-on training events
- Dramas and role-playing
- Instructional videos
- Creation of specialized manuals
Community Outreach
Several of the courses included under both the Adult Learning and Youth Leadership Development have arisen from verifiable needs at the community level. To address these needs, courses are designed in conjunction with community members and evaluated using participatory methods. Resource development will include: preparing an outline of the topics to be explored, preparing the training materials, such as manuals and videos, and preparing the trainers who will facilitate the course work. Community needs projects now account for over half of C4Ls public benefit activities.
Externally-funded Outreach projects currently operating under the auspices of C4L include:
- 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)
- Training youth leaders in Development Practice (sponsored by ETDP SETA - Education, Training and Development Practices Skills Education Training Authorities)
- Deploying youth leaders in schools-based Kids Club (MDHSS - Mpumalanga Department of Health and Social Services)
Outreach projects that have been completed and closed include:
- Training the Laity (Swedish Mission Council)
- Teacher Counseling for OVC - Orphans and Vulnerable Children (Canadian International Development Agency - CIDA)
- Training Tools (Tearfund UK)