3 February 2002 was the 10th anniversary of Seliba Sa Boithuto (SSB). SSB is a growing organisation. It is an organisation that stood the challenges of past 10 years. The strength of Seliba Sa Boithuto lies in the nature of its establishment and in the way it is run: it was established out of the need of its members; it is used and managed by its members; it is a simple organisation, which is run from a very modest budget; and it is run largely from the contributions of its members.

Seliba Sa Boithuto has grown from strength to strength over the past 10 years.

The future is bright

The future for Seliba Sa Boithuto is bright, because its users value it:

SSB is all about empowering learners to take responsibility and control over their own leaning process; they decide for themselves what to study, when and how to study. The fact still remains that not all members/users fully understand that leaning process is their individual responsibility and therefore have to take control, but peer-support and the experience of success leads them on the right path.

The future for Seliba Sa Boithuto is bright, because there are many success stories:

There are many former SSB learners who have established their own successful businesses.
Those, who found employment, are performing very well. Many of these people do not hold certificates. Some employers have recognised that one does not have to have a certificate in order to be able to do work properly. As a result people who have acquired skills through SSB do get jobs and, therefore, SSB gets more recognition. These success stories will in the long run persuade the sceptics of the value of non-formal education.
Still, there are also learners, who have registered for formal examinations and succeeded to obtain certificates.

The future for Seliba Sa Boithuto is bright, because there are further audiences:

There have been a number of requests from different places in the country to establish new branches of SSB and organise local learning centres.
Many potential learners have seen the advantages of the SSB approach and have asked SSB to offer more materials and support than available at present: on basic Literacy and Numeracy, for Primary level learners, for tertiary correspondence learners, for learners with disabilities and for artisans.

The future for Seliba Sa Boithuto is bright, because expansion is coming:

Both the requests for SSB to offer more and the fact, that the number of learners is too big for the present rented premises, necessitate bigger facilities.

A SSB Trust has been established, which has applied to private sponsors, mainly from The Netherlands. With the initial funds received it has been able to acquire its own site, which has been fenced in. The Trust is now in the process of developing the site and approaching more donors for the funds to build and equip the proposed buildings.

The uses of the future facilities

The design of the building is the integration of ideas from SSB members and users. This further entrenches the feeling of ownership of the entire organisation by its members.

For more information go to the page SSB Building.

When the proposed building and facilities are realised, SSB will be able to cater for more learners and have the potential to offer:

• ÞMore IT facilities for
• ·Learning computer skill
• ·Computer Assisted Learning
• ·Internet access
• ÞMore space for
• ·The peer learning groups
• ·The use of Educational Videos, without disturbing the other learners
• ·The use of the HIV/AIDS corner
• ·The activities of the clubs
• ·Meetings
• ÞNew projects, such as
• ·Running Literacy / Numeracy support groups
• ·Supporting peer collaboration of artisans

Conclusion

From a small seed a whole tree can grow. Seliba Sa Boithuto looks to grow into big tree, which will provide supportive cover to a wide range of learners. These learners will also tend the tree well, so that it will continue to grow and create offshoots.

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