Scientology Free Skills Training Contributes to Community and Economic Development in South Africa

Feb 8, 2024

Recently, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers NPO held their first graduation of 2024 and announced that 25’000 South Africans have graduated from a skills development program called Tools for Life. The skills development programme, delivered for free, aims to empower communities for sustainable livelihoods.

Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa - February 8, 2024 —

Recently, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers NPO held their first graduation of 2024 and announced that 25’000 South Africans have graduated from a skills development program called Tools for Life. The skills development programme, delivered for free, aims to empower communities for sustainable livelihoods. 

Their skills development initiative began in 2019 after noticing a gap in creating sustainable livelihoods and community development with practical skills suitable for every demographic. Since then, they have trained and graduated thousands of South Africans from all sectors of society across the rainbow nation. Attending the weekly workshops by the dozens all in a n effort to better their lives and contribute to building South Africa. 

The recent graduates that add to the 25,000 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 to our country. Many of the previous graduates of this program have since opened successful farms, successful businesses, improved their employment opportunities, changed the 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. Seriously 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 after school 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. His school has been awarded as one of the top schools yearly since attending this programme. 

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 couldn’t 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. This represents over half a million individual online courses completed in 5 years. 

“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.



Contact Info:
Name: SANDILE HLAYISI
Email: Send Email
Organization: CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY SOUTH AFRICA
Address: Gauteng, South Africa
Phone: +27 061 907 9325
Website: https://www.castlekyalami.org.za/

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Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkUy2jrjNOc

Release ID: 89121011

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