SYLVIA ANDERSON is a director at Manna Consulting.
Sylvia grew up in Zimbabwe, received a BSc in Zoology at University of Cape Town and taught Biology, Physics and Maths at High School level in Zimbabwe from 1994 to 2000. Sylvia then worked with several NGOs on a voluntary basis while raising four children.
Some of the volunteer work she has done has included work with Scripture Union in Zimbabwe, training gap year volunteers in presentation of Scripture Union’s Life Skills programmes, presenting the Life Skills programmes in high schools herself and running camps for children of all ages and economic backgrounds, including physically challenged children. In Zimbabwe, she was also involved in the start of a project and home for abandoned babies. She worked extensively in disadvantaged communities in Zimbabwe.
In South Africa, she has worked with iThemba Projects in training and mentoring preschool teachers in Mpumuza on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg and with Dlalanathi training with them to train caregivers in local communities to give psychosocial support to orphans and vulnerable children in their care. This work too, has given her the privilege of working in many communities and having the opportunity to listen to and learn from many remarkable people.
In May 2015 Sylvia completed a Masters Degree – MA International Development from Eastern University, PA. USA.
Through her extensive involvement in communities in Zimbabwe and South Africa she too has a wide understanding of the developmental challenges communities face and of the structures that perpetuate poverty and injustice.
Sylvia has a particular passion for orphaned and vulnerable children and social justice issues facing women in communities. She also enjoys working in community development and helping organisations address how they are working in communities, helping them to ensure that their work is respectful, empowering and sustainable. This is interwoven with the MERL and Strategic Planning workshops that she has run.
