Workshop held from 26-27 August 2022 in Goedgedacht Farm in Malmesbury
DAY 1
Welcoming
Pastors George started the meeting by welcoming all the participants. Lidia facilitated the introduction, rules, and expectations section for this meeting. During the introduction, the participants were supposed to learn more about each other (where they are coming from, family background, what they do for work, where they live etc).
Rules
Participants were divided into two groups and had to develop rules that will guide the workshop in the next day and half (this had to be done in drawings).
Expectations
Participants were put into two groups to discuss and share their expectations of the meeting.
| Group 1 | Group 2 |
| – Pastoral care for immigrants and what it entails. – How we can create a fellowship for immigrants (empowerment, educate). – Cohesion, intimacy, community, pastors | – Learning – Clarity – Network – Plan of action – Strategy |
Purpose of the meeting
The purpose of the meeting was for the group to bond so that they get to know each other and to develop a road map using the objectives that were developed by the AICLF.
Primary Goal and Objectives
The primary Goal and Objectives of the AICLF was shared to refresh the participants of what was developed previously and for those who were not part of the previous meeting to know the goal and the objectives. This section was facilitated by Pastor George.
Goal The primary goal is to use our common devotion to religion to help guide each other to full social cohesion throughout South Africa.
Objectives 1) To engage in networking, advocacy and lobbying on behalf of immigrants and the advancement of their rights 2) To promote spaces of dialogues and conversations around social cohesion between immigrants and local communities 3) To actively promote the social and well-being of immigrants including/through economic models of empowerment and related charitable actions. 4) To conduct research on matters relevant to the rights of immigrants and their relationships with local communities.
Mr Zoe Nkongolo shared the role of Africa unite and the temporary AICLF structure.
Role of Africa Unite
- To support and give guidance to the forum.
- To capacitate the AICLF members with the needed skills and knowledge to effectively run the forum.
- To act as a Fiscal Agency
Temporary AICLF Structure
- Leader of the Group
- Secretariat
- Steering committee
Lidia shared a survey with pastors to fill in before the second day as a way for Africa unite to get a baseline information and to assess how much knowledge the Pastors have of human rights, immigrants law and regulations in South Africa, which will be used by Africa Unite to design future capacity, building workshops, and trainings according to the knowledge needed by the pastors as identified in the surveys. (Results to be shared)
DAY 2
Devotion
Second day of the meeting started with reflection and devotion which was led by pastor George and Ps Muchanga. Pastor George shared from the book of Psalm 107 verse 23- 31. Pastor Muchanga led a prayer session (prayers for Immigrants, the forum and for the unity of the forum).
Migration
After devotion, Mr Zoe Nkongolo facilitated the section of reasons for Migration and the 4 types of migration. Reasons for migration:
- Safety
- Economic reasons
- Tourism
- Studying
- Medical reasons
There are 4 types of migration of which 2 are Force Migration (where people do not have a choice but to leave their home countries), while the other 2 are known as Voluntary Migration (people who leave their countries/area are choosing to leave).
Force Migration
Asylum-seeker:
A person who is at risk of persecution and who has applied for and is waiting to be granted refugee status
Refugee:
A person who has applied for asylum (protection) and has been granted refugee status
Voluntary Migration
Migrants:
This usually refers to people who move from one place or one country to another on a temporary basis and who return to their place or country of origin. This can be both internal and cross-border migration
Emigrants:
this refers to people who have left their own country with the intention to settle in another country on a permanent basis and is usually only used with reference to cross-border migration.
Immigrants:
This refers to people who have settled in another country on a permanent basis and is also usually only used with reference to cross-border migration
NOTE: Emigrant and Immigrant refer to the same group of people, but they are known as emigrants in their country of origin and immigrants in the country of destination.
Action Plan
After the definitions participants were put into two groups to go and develop activities for the 4 objectives. Below are the different activities developed by the two groups and presented by the two groups.
| Group 1 | Group 2 |
| Networking: § Approach other NGOs & National organisations § Build strong African migrant communities by linking with strong community organisations. § Workshop on human rights. Advocacy, Lobbying and Research: § Human rights training § Roundtable discussions with relevant stakeholders (e.g. banks, government leaders, Department of Home Affairs) § Research (NB!!) Media and Communications: § Edutainment (Arts + Entertainment) § Documentaries § Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter) § Radio interviews Integration: § Dialogues § Sports and events Social/Economic empowerment: § Charitable actions § Entrepreneurship § Jobs, skills, training § Leadership training | Objective 1: Ø Identify organisations with similar objective (solidarity) Ø Identify critical issues and policies that need to be changes in relation to migration (Advocacy and Lobbying) Ø Develop a profile (who are we?) 1 Page Ø Seeking meetings Ø Engaging the media who are “Pro” immigrants Ø Launch the forum (due date of launch) Objective 2: Ø Identify local church leaders (townships in South Africa) for dialogue – borrowing influence Ø Organise different forms of dialogue/gatherings/information sessions Objective 3: Ø Explore business ventures (undertakers, farming, hairdressing) Ø Developing cooperatives/projects Ø Short courses/short skills development programmes Ø Open a platform for reflection/business ideas Ø Fundraising/writing letters (charity) Ø Psychosocial support (counselling) Objective 4: Ø Identify issues, document, and publish the outcomes of the research for the benefit of both immigrants and locals. |
After the presentations of the above activities from the two groups, the activities were analysed, some new ones were added, and prioritised according to the month, as well as development of commissions according to objectives.
Africa Unite Blog 