A record breaking 25’000 South Africans have graduated from a skills development program called Tools for Life delivered by the Scientology Volunteer Ministers over the last 5 years. The skills development programme, delivered for free, aims to empower communities for sustainable livelihoods.
Wanting to contribute to community development, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers began providing free skills workshops in 2019 and have trained thousands of South Africans from all sectors of society across the country attended Tools for Life workshops by the dozens all in an effort to their lives and the country.
The beneficiaries of the program come from all backgrounds: unemployed graduates, youth, elderly, educators from all levels, government officials, municipal leaders, community developers, early childhood practitioners, university professors, business leaders, pastors, social workers, nurses, police officers and agri-preneurs from all over South Africa- all of them were trained very hard to learn these very effective and practical skills.
Those skills included how to resolve conflicts, poverty alleviation, youth empowerment, tackling learning barriers, improving the quality of education, communication, business ethics, improving self-confidence, how to achieve goals, successful relations, public relations, financial ethics, overcoming drug abuse and many more needed to be successful in improving the current conditions that plague our country.
“Our skills development programme comes as a voluntary service our country. Many of the previous graduates of this program have since opened successful farms, successful businesses, improved their employment opportunity, changed quality of education and more. Their successes make the important point that these simple but powerful skills work,” said Sandile Hlayisi, Chairperson of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers.
With thousands trained, the testimonials flood in daily giving a picture of the successes achieved by the graduates as they implement these tools in their daily lives. Boitumelo Maswanganye, a Soshanguve resident who uses these skills to improve illiteracy in her community. Deeply concerned by the recent reports indicating that 82% of grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning, she rolled up her sleeves to tackle these barriers to learning head on. Kids in her afterschool programme all describe how they now are able to learn better and have improved their results. She mentioned “It not only rehabilitates learners who had given up on study, but it encourages them to pursue further studies. Learners that come here go from not being able to understand what they read to now getting over 90% in school tests,” says Boitumelo. “It’s magical”.
Reverend Phampha William Ramodike, Deputy Principal from Limpopo, used the skills learned in the program to improve the quality of education in his school and succeeded in getting the highest passing school in his district. “I had the privilege of attending a seminar where I was introduced to a free life skills community development programme called ‘Tools for Life’. It became clear to me that God had led me to the right place.
“The programme trained me on skills to handle study difficulties, communication, conflict resolution, achieving goals, ethics and many more. After the seminar, I knew exactly how to improve my community, starting with my learners and it brought fantastic results,” said Ramodike.
Irene Moemise used the same tools to change her life by opening her own business. Moemise, like many South Africans lost her employment due to the covid-19 impact. Despite being highly qualified for most jobs, even a Master’s degree in her field, she could win against retrenchment and struggled to find employment, but it wasn’t until she dedicated herself to this community skills development programme that her fate changed.
“I got introduced to the Tools for Life programme and that was exactly what I needed. It gave me a sense of direction on what to do next,” said Moemise.
Moemise used the skills she learned through the programme to change her status from employee to employer by opening a growing bakery in the community of Meadowlands that has proven to be a hit with locals. Through her bakery known as Le’Bakery, she turned her passion to survive and achieve sustainability as a new entrepreneur.
Many more share weekly how this training has enabled them to finally achieve their dreams and finally be able to bring solutions to their families and communities, said Hlayisi. “We make this training available to people from all walks of life. It is applicable to everyone, it doesn’t matter what religion, profession, race, color or area people are from. Everyone can benefit from this practical skills training” added Hlayisi.
According to Hlayisi, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers have so far trained over 25’000 South Africans who all completed the 19 Tools for Life courses written by renowned humanitarian, Mr. L. Ron Hubbard to improve conditions in life.
“Real empowerment begins with getting an individual to believe that they can control life and achieve their dreams. This program is called Tools for Life because it equips individuals with tools to handle life. That is exactly what the creator of these skills, L. Ron Hubbard wanted when he authored this powerful program” concluded Hlayisi.
The Scientology Volunteer Ministers also vowed that they are open to bringing this to everyone in the country and are looking forward to the many more people that are going to benefit from this skills training. They consider it to be part of their role in improving the conditions many face in life.
