Ububele Programme
As a Mercy School our core values include Global Responsibility, Compassion and Collaboration which we try to embrace on a daily basis. When the Rosies Beyond Borders Outreach Programme was launched a few years ago it aimed to unite the community service activities of all Rosies under one umbrella with our core values in mind.
St Teresa’s founded Ububele in 2015, a Saturday School for girls from a less resourced school. What better way to become involved in meeting the needs of South Africa than by paying forward the wonderful educational knowledge and opportunities that we all enjoy at St Teresa’s. Ububele means Mercy and Kindness in Zulu and is a fitting tribute to our founders, the Sisters of Mercy.
As Catherine McAuley, the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy said “No work of charity can be more productive to society… than the careful instruction of women.”
Based on the principle of “pay it forward”, our girls and staff pass on their knowledge in English, Maths and Computers to 15 Grade Grade 2 and Grade 3 learners from a less resourced performing government primary school. Lifeskills such as swimming, netball, beading, knitting, self-defence, public speaking, yoga, arts and crafts are also taught and enjoyed by the girls. By acting as teaching assistants, sports coaches and life skills facilitators at Ububele, St Teresa’s girls and staff are helping educate many young learners with the aim of giving them the opportunity to be accepted into Model C government high schools. By supporting Ububele, they are directly involved in the education of women in society.
Rosie girls from Grade 6-12 are involved in Ububele by:
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Acting as teaching assistants in the Maths, English and Computer classes so Ububele children can have extra assistance if needed (hours can go towards community service hours needed for LO)
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Volunteering to do sporting activities with all Ububele learners
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Paying forward life skills learnt in Grade 7-10 to the learners at Ububele enabling the Ububele School and the Life Skills Programme to work together
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Catering and housekeeping
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Being bus monitors and registers
ALL Rosies are involved in Ububele by:
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Raising funds
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Obtaining donations for the Ububele School from friends through the Ububele online donation page
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Holding numerous events in Grades 00 – 5 in support of Ububele e.g. donations of swimming costumes, towels, stationery, holding Read-a-thons etc
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Offering to do breakfast or lunch meals for the Ububele learners
We are very proud of the interest our Rosies show in the community beyond our borders and in their incredible support for Ububele. In the words of Catherine McAuley “It is a special favour of God to be made a teacher” and we know many of our Rosies are loving passing on their education and knowledge to our Ububele learners.
For more information about the Ububele Programme, please contact the Ububele Coordinator, on gdalcol@stteresas.co.za.