Other Projects
fixlocal
fixlocal is a web and WhatsApp based service that enables citizens to fix their local challenges by working with the authorities to hold them to account, getting organised, or fixing the problem themselves. The fixlocal.org service provides step-by-step how-to guides, useful links, tools and letter templates on:
How to report a problem (i.e. leaking sewage, potholes, broken streetlights)
How to escalate a problem
How to organise peacefully to put pressure on authorities
How to fix it yourselves
Bridge Leadership Engagements
Bridge leadership engagements are two-day, offsite sessions that use personal storytelling and dialogue as tools to build bridges between key leaders of a system or sector. Heartlines has recently been involved in facilitating specific peace-buidling Bridge engagements with communities in KwaZulu-Natal and Gqeberha.
Masiviwe
In 2022, Heartlines was appointed as the communications partner on a project which is headed up by the Foundation for Professional Development, funded by Pefpar, that is bringing focus to the issue of mental health.
We've called it Masiviwe, let's be heard, and we aim to provide mental health information through different platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and our website www.masiviwe.org.za.
Church in Action
Church in Action was developed and managed on behalf of the South African Council of Churches, with support from the Solidarity Fund, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It aims to ensure that as many South Africans as possible have up-to-date and accurate information to stay healthy and stop the virus from spreading.
Church in Action also creates and disseminates information in 11 languages to help caregivers and leaders look after the sick, conduct funerals, support their communities, and cultivate spiritual well-being.
Youth Citizens Action Project
Our Values in Action for Youth resource was adopted by YCAP – a youth development programme that, as a result of our campaign, decided to turn its dialogue sessions into a schools competition. It’s been running nationally since 2010. It is a competition to get the learners to look at the problems in and around their school, choose an issue they want to solve, and then put together an action plan on how to solve it. The programme is run by Empowervate, under the leardership of Amanda Blankfield-Koseff, and forms part of the values and civic engagement pillars within the Department of Basic Education at a national and provincial level.
Find out more at www.empowervate.org
Forgood
As part of our 2009 campaign, we launched a Movement for Good, to encourage people to work together to put their good values into action. We developed a written resource, and started work on a web platform which would put volunteers in touch with causes that needed help.
After several years in development, www.forgood.co.za is now a fully-fledged company, connecting thousands of people to social causes.
The Heartlines mentorship programme
Another initiative to provide ordinary people with support to put values into action was the Youth Mentorship programme. We produced a resource with guidelines on how to mentor a young person. With clips from well-known figures such as Basetsana Khumalo and Bryan Hababa, the resource has been rolled out in churches and organisations countrywide. We partnered with the National Youth Development Agency in reaching many communities.
Youth leadership academies
The Columba 1400 leadership programme for youth has its roots in Heartlines, when former Heartlines’ staffer, Buhle Dlamini, and members of our activating partner, Young & Able were invited to become local partners of the Columba 1400 programme, a youth leadership development charity from Scotland. We supported the first South African-run leadership academies with local high schools. Since 2009, a separate organisation was formed, which has grown into a hugely successful youth programme.
Heartlines comes to town
Using a systems approach to putting values into action, we developed an intervention which brought together the leadership of different systems in a community – such as schools, churches, business, municipality, law enforcement – to tackle an issue in their community. We rolled this out in Johannesburg South, Nelspruit, Emakhazeni, Cato Manor and Veeplaas. This same methodology is reflected in the Values and Money programme and Bridge Leadership projects still running today.