Sibambene Development Communications & Sibambene Trust

11/07/2017

This page is a record of the work of Janine Simon-Meyer and Patrick Cockayne in the period 2002 through 2015. It is an archive and no longer active. Janine and Patrick continue to provide consultative services in C4D and SBCC, among other areas, in their individual capacities. They can be contacted by email.

11/07/2017

02/07/2014

After overcoming multiple obstacles, administrative and other, Txivirika's community-developed billboards have finally gone up along the N1 highway in Mozambique and are looking slendid .. on the first day the project was fielding many calls from people who had seen the boards and wanted to engage with the project. The one in the picture is at the first project site, set up in 2007, in Tres de Fevereiro, 20 or so kilometers south of Xai Xai, Gaza, Mozambique. The slogan, loosely translated, says: Mutual support is our aim.

31/03/2014

Finally ,from the printers and into the hands of Care Supporters in Mthatha ... Sibambene's booklet on HASTS (HIV, AIDS, STIs, TB and Silicosis. The Care Supporters are going door to door in Eastern Cape villages from which traditionally mine workers have left for the minefields of Gauteng, North West, and the Free State. Silicosis is a much neglected condition, suffered by many, and only now being placed under the spotlight. We are hoping that greater awareness will lead to regular bi-annual screening and compensation, and a better understanding among health care providers of the links between HASTS.

31/01/2014

With Colleagues working for the Communication for Change Programme, in the Titiane Restaurant, Xai-Xai, Gaza, Mozambique

23/01/2014

Sibambene is working with Thembalethu on a pilot TB, HIV, STIs and Silicosis project in three districts of the Eastern Cape. The Yale research described in this article confirms what we have found on the ground - that hardly anyone who applies for compensation for occupationally acquired respiratory diseases actually gets the compensation, that almost no-one knows about Silicosis, that the process for applying for compensation is opaque and costly and that very little effort is being made to address this situation, though there are now moves afoot to address system shortcomings at MBOD and to establish one-stop centres to facilitate screening and compensation applications. We are hoping that the pilot project will add significantly to an understanding of the reasons for the logjams and will illustrate practical ways to speed up the compensation process and the delivery of care and support to sufferers and their families.

Far from the bustling streets of downtown Johannesburg, much of it built by the bounty of South Africa’s gold mines, thousands of former mineworkers suffer from painful diseases contracted on the job. These men labour to breathe, their lungs degraded by the occupational diseases of silicosis and tub...

08/12/2013

Lala kakuhle Madiba. You showed us the way, now it's up to us. Celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela with Care Supporters, Field Workers and Nurse Supervisors in Mthatha the morning of 6 December 2013.

08/12/2013

Lala kakuhle Madiba - you showed us the way, now it's up to us. Celebrating his life with TEBA care supporters, nurse supervisors and field workers in Mthatha on Friday morning, 06 December 2013.

13/11/2013

RIP. It is with great sadness that we announce the passing this week of a co-founder of Sibambene, Dr Teboho Maitse. She passed away at her home in Johannesburg on the morning of Saturday 09 November. Our deepest sympathies are extended to her daughters, Keke and Mpho, and to her family and friends. Tebs, you will be sorely missed.

30/10/2013

From telenovelas about Latin America’s missing girls to a series portraying conflict resolution in wartorn lands, soap operas are becoming surreptitious agents of social change in the developing world. By Christopher Dickey.

27/10/2013

Maputo - with our colleagues and gracious hosts, the team from N'WETI, with whom we worked on the SBCC planning and Implementation module of the WITS School of Public Health's SBCC course. This was the first time the course has been conducted outside of the university and beyond the borders of the RSA, so we were especially pleased to have been asked to present the module. A big thank you to the N'WETI professionals whose valuable inputs will help to make the course an even more effective vehicle for building regional capacity for SBCC.

14/10/2013

SADC Regional Consultation in Ekhuruleni last week - Working as part of the CSI+ team with Gael Lescornec, left, and the incomparable facilitator, Sisonke Msimang, standing. Proceeding now with the drafting of harmonised regional guidelines on Social and Behaviour Change Communication for HIV and AIDS, TB and STIs. Aiming to reduce the jargon and get down to the basics.

19/09/2013

Janine with Mathildah Mokgatle - it's been a pleasure working with her on the Billiton-funded PATH WinOp maternal and child health intervention. Once again, the need for both dialogical and engaging communication AND solid, reliable information becomes apparent.

26/08/2013

Thanks, Nomsa and the Silindini Care Supporters for welcoming us last week. This URC / USAID supported initiative promises to enhance early detection and treatment of TB and at the same time to integrate other health conditions affecting mine workers and mine-sending communities in the Eastern Cape, North West and KZN. We look forward to being back in the Eastern Cape in a few weeks time to work out with you how best to implement the programme.

24/08/2013

We've just been in the Eastern Cape conducting formative research in the Engcobo District on opportunities for communication around prevention, treatment and care for for conditions affecting mine workers and their communities, including Silicosis. The pic shows Janine with ex-mine workers, their families and care supporters in Silindini Village about 40 kilometres north of Engcobo, where the dirt track ends and cell phones don't reach. Thanks to you all for sharing your experiences with us.

11/08/2013

Patrick and UNICEF/WITS team members about to leave for their first series of engagements with the children, staff, ECD students and volunteer parents.

10/08/2013

We have the pleasure of working with a very fine group of people from UNICEF and the WITS MPH SBCC group - designing a Communication for Development Strategy with a pre-school serving the Midrand/Ivory Park area. Looking forward to week 2.

01/08/2013

Congrats to Christine du Preez for winning the award for South Africa's Most Influential Woman in Business and Government in the civil society sector!! The Hlokomela team had a long party at Gallagher Estate last night, hope all you had a peaceful journey home.