Outreach Programme

AMP's Outreach Programme has three components:

Outreach

AMP has regular donations of food coming in weekly from the Food Bank and countless volunteers. When possible, this food is brought to the homeless asylum seekers and refugees who stay in City Bowl District, and to the many individuals who wait in line for asylum papers outside of the Home Affairs office in Maitland. We have volunteers who regularly provide hand made sleeping bags for us to hand out to the homeless. We pass out informational brochures to new comers with contact details of various NPO’s throughout the community who offer specific services. Oftentimes newcomers are unfamiliar with the area and unaware of resources available to them.

Lay Counseling and Advice Center

Our programme in Observatory serves nearly 15 individuals per week. Volunteers and staff schedule appointments with individuals to assess their needs and see where we can help. We liaise with various hospitals, free clinics, employment agencies, training centers, rape and trauma counseling centers, shelters, and other releavanat organisations in the area and refer individuals for further, specific help. We also explain how to get proper asylum documentation (i.e. where to go, what to expect, etc.) for undocumented asylum seekers. We network with organszations and our own supporters to try to fill any needs that we can. In the past AMP and supporters have helped source employment, find and sponsor accommodation and training courses, covered (reasonable) medical costs, sponsored repatriation, sponsored small business start-up costs, and helped source trade tools such as carpentry tools, plumbing tools, etc. for those who have trade skills but need tools. In addition, each interviewee receives a food pack and a packet of clothing from our storage room. We also supply odd items that are donated to our project such as dishware, pillows, blankets, toys, books, etc. The amount of help we offer often depends on the amount of resources we have, giving priority to the most destitute individuals.

Support Groups

AMP has recently started a weekly support group for HIV-positive women. The sessions are often coupled with craft-making, and we hope to market and sell some of these products in order to raise money for the women in the support group, and the project.

Last month AMP was approached by a young company called Rubybox who needed some ladies for three days a month to pack their costmetic boxes.  Five of our support group participants worked for three days last week and made a very tidy sum packing boxes.  They were so excited, and they really enjoyed the employees, the work and the environment of the company.  They will be going back next month to do the same, and if the company grows as it expects to, Rubybox may increase the work from three days to five!

These women are needy single mothers whose main concern is providing for their children in these difficult times.  They have been associated with AMP for months now and a number of them have shown incredible commitment, diligence and character while with us.

Last year we decided to start a support group for single refugee and asylum seeker mothers who were struggling with illness and unemployment. With the number of women coming to our offices seeking help, we saw a great need for support for these women. The project was well received by the participants and this year we were able to expand on this project and develop it further with the support of two UCT Social Work Students who ran a 9 week programme as part of their community coursework. During the course of the 9 weeks the support group participants engaged in different topics which included introductions and expectations of the group and learning about one another and the different backgrounds the women were coming from. They went on to learn about stress and depression, domestic abuse, coping skills, health and well-being, and creative skills. We were also fortunate enough to have Sunyata Choice, from Project Colors, come and do a mosaic workshop with the women.

AMP has always to some degree or other been involved with the foreign people who live under the Culemborg and Kavukiland Bridges.  In the past we have provided food, clothing and even CV services to the people living there.  As word about AMP’s services got out, there has been a flow of clients from there coming directly to us at our offices.

The following thank you letter was written by a client we assisted through our Refugee Outreach Programme. It is responses like this that motivate and encourage us to continue the work we are doing with asylum seekers and refugees!

"Please allow me the opportunity to express profound gratitude for the assistance and support extended to me in particular and other refugees in general. Indeed your noble and erstwhile organisation does offer invaluable service that restores confidence, self-esteem and a determined approach to life through the material and psychological support offered. Depression which could have resulted in numerous refugee suicides is thus curtailed.

As an educator who realises and laments the advancing chronological age of school going children, I applaud and salute your initiation to assist this group of individuals through assisting them to access education. Successful completion of the education programs will positively reward you and bring smiles of hope to an otherwise lost generation. Your selfless dedication to service will help these youth realise their educational aspirations.

AMP’s latest exciting venture, The Mukana Project, is an Income Generating Project aimed at assisting single mothers with health challenges.  With few resources available to them, unemployed, sometimes ill, and in an often hostile environment, these women face the challenge of providing for their own and their children’s basic day-to-day needs.

The project goals include: generate a living wage for the group members, create a self-sustainable project that empowers its members and enables them to become active members of society, provide emotional support, skills training, holistic family health information and a sense of belonging, assist members to rebuild their lives and be a stepping stone project to greater independence.