28 March 2013

Cape Town NPO’s unique approach to tackling social issues

Submitted by: Abram

A Cape-based NPO is achieving remarkable successes in diversity training and assisting victims of prejudice and abuse, using non-threatening, lifelike dolls to break down barriers and encourage interaction. Their unusual model, which provides solutions while helping women generate income through the manufacture of these unique figurines, has received interest from as far afield as Uganda and Belfast.

Persona Doll Training (PDT) is becoming known internationally for its highly effective programmes that address many of the social issues we are facing in SA today. These issues include the unholy trinity of unemployment, poverty and inequality, which in turn spurn a host of related social problems including crime, HIV & Aids and the abuse of women and children.

In practical terms, the ‘Persona Dolls’ are used as a workshop tool to help vulnerable women and children to share or talk about issues that affect them. The Persona Doll approach is an innovative, interactive way to raise and address issues of inclusion, diversity and identity for both children and adults. Through its doll creation project, PDT has also quietly been creating sustainable employment for many unemployed local women (particularly in rural areas).

“The Dolls are really sounding boards. They are ‘friends’ to which children and adults alike can relate. They help people to talk about issues that are difficult to talk about. This includes HIV and Aids stigma, gender, racism, language, culture, faith, social class, and living with disabilities,” explains Carol Smith, Founder and Director of PDT.

PDT trains and supports community workers, early childhood development (ECD) practitioners and trainers, primary school teachers, childcare workers and young children to build strong self –esteem and identity, pride in their cultural heritage, challenge unfairness and prejudice, xenophobia ,and strengthen language and emotional intelligence.

Through their programmes, they raise awareness for better education around social issues, equality and diversity. This is done through an anti-bias training approach, coupled with psychosocial support for those in need. The physical Persona Dolls provide an innovative, effective, non-threatening and practical platform or tool for this teaching.

“We are quite adaptable but our main focus is to engage with as many educators and trainers as possible .We’ve concentrated on working in the education and community development sphere, particularly on building capacity in the early childhood development (ECD) sector,” explains Carol.

However, despite their good work and successes to date, like many NPOs the organisation struggles with inadequate facilities, lack of volunteers, lack of sewing materials and the challenge of finding and retaining qualified staff.

These challenges are quite pervasive in the non-profit sector at the present time. Research shows that there are not enough individuals with the right skills and competencies to supervise non-profit organisations, resulting in many organizations being staffed by individuals who are not adequately qualified to perform their jobs effectively.This of course has a major impact on the quality of services offered to disadvantaged communities, and millions of rands of donor funds are used inefficiently in the process.

Carol agrees with this notion; she says that lack of proper financial management capabilities and severe skills shortages are some of the major concerns that NPOs are battling with. She believes that NPOs need support structures or programmes that will help them improve in areas where they need improvement most.

For that reason, Carol applied for the Legends programme, a national SMME and non-profit business incubator implemented by Fetola and sponsored by Old Mutual, which offers mentorship, business support and other resources to non-profit and for-profit organisations nationally.

Carol points out that since getting selected on the programme, she has gained invaluable knowledge and teaching that has helped improve her management skills in the areas of finance, marketing, staff management as well as how to access funding.

“The workshops they host have allowed us to network with similar organizations like ours; this has really helped identify and resolve some of the challenges we face on a daily basis as a collective.

If there were more effective programmes such as Legends, focusing mainly on aiding NPOs, I think it would help transform our sector for the better,” adds Carol.

A partnership with the Western Cape Education Department’s HIV and Aids Programme enabled PDT to train Foundation Phase educators from across the region- in Athlone, Bellville, Crossroads, Riversdale, Ceres, Stellenbosch, Grabouw and other areas. At present partnerships with ECD organizations reach women and children in the Eastern Cape, KZN and the Free State.

A branching out into diversity training for corporates and public sector organisations is next on the cards for Carol and her dynamic team, who are looking at ways of reducing donor-dependency by generating their own income.

To learn more about PDT, please contact Carol on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.persona-doll-training.org

Abram Molelemane is a third year journalism student at the Tshwane University of Technology. He has written for various publications such as Wealthwise magazine and Reckord newspaper. In 2011 he was nominated for the Reckord print journalist of the year award. He is currently a media officer at Fetola.