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At the beginning of March 2008, we said farewell to Margaret Daniels, referral officer and administrator for the Childline office in Wynberg. She had been with the organisation for five years, and I chatted with her about her journey with LifeLine/Childline Western Cape:
As a mother of two young daughters at the time, Margaret decided she would like to develop some new skills and do some courses, to prepare herself for a career in the future. She did a computer course with the Resource Action Group and met someone who had done the training at LifeLine and she heard about how helpful this person had found the course to be.
“At that time, I so eagerly wanted to do so many things. I went with my husband to the Bishop Lavis LifeLine office and applied for these courses. We were both going to do the course, but unfortunately only I ended up doing the course,” she said. Margaret did both the personal growth and the counselling skills courses and found them to be very challenging. “It felt like everyone could see right through me; that I could not hide from anyone. None of us could!” she said. “You say a few words and then they know everything!”
On completion of the courses, Margaret went through the selection process successfully and subsequently began her probation period. During this period, she applied to become a Childline counsellor, and was successfully appointed to this post. She worked as a Childline telephone counsellor for just over three years, and then moved to the referral officer position, based in Wynberg. She has been working there for just over two years.
“I have learnt so much. My experiences in doing this kind of work have just given me so much, empowered me in many ways by doing things so differently from what I was used to. Especially with my own children, I have learnt to do things so differently,” she said.
“And I am now beginning a new journey. With leaving the employment of LifeLine/Childline, it does not mean the end of my journey of learning; it is just going to take me on a different path. I will carry on learning and learning. I am sitting with skills which will still be used, but in different ways. I plan to continue with my studies in adult learning, to focus on my family, and to have some time for me,” she said.
On behalf of LifeLine/Childline Western Cape, thank you, Margaret, for your service and for your commitment to the work of the organisation. We wish you every success on this new journey.
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