On 22 September, ikamvanites joined Equal Education and thousands of learners and supporters on the walk for quality and equal education. The turnout was amazing. Following the route of the youth of 1976, We walked from Salt River High School to the City Hall.

Viva, Equal Education, Viva! 1 school, 1 library, 1 librarian! 

By Nicolas Commeignes

IkamvaYouth partnered with librarians from Masiphumelele and Fish Hoek and World Teach to bring a a three week programme hosted by the community library between June 30^th & July 17^th 2009.

A Career Indaba was the focus of the first two weeks of the event and official Ikamva tutoring began on July 13^th.

Ikamvanites from KZN, Western Cape and Gauteng spent this last weekend together to co-create our plan for expanding our reach and impact. They co-created processes and structures through which ikamvanites can collaborate and combine their talents and ideas. This will ensure that IkamvaYouth's by-youth for-youth transformative opportunities are brought to more young people across the country. 

Isabel Quintero is from Colombia and, while learning English at the EF International School in Cape Town, came to intern with IkamvaYouth during the holiday programme. Click on "read more" to find out about her experience in her article "The Future is in Our Hands"... Starting from our own place.

IkamvaYouth Gauteng is hosting a Talent Show and Photography Exhibition this Saturday, 1 August 2009, from 9AM onwards. Ikamvanites will be show-casing some of their many talents including: a HipHop routine; some creative film and drama with the use of green screen technology; some poetry; and some samples of the digital photography project that took place on the Winter School Programme. All Welcome.

There will also be a motivational talk by Dumisani Dladla who is graduating from CIDA City Campus this week. Click 'Read more' for additonal information.

As part of the Bidorbuy Celebrities up for Auction Campaign we are delighted to have the opportunity to offer you the chance to bid to spend time with Zolani from Freshly Ground. If you are the highest bidder you will get the opportunitiy to hang out at a Freshly Ground rehearsal and then go out for lunch at Birds Boutique Cafe with Zolani -- and all the funds from this prize of auction prizes go directly to IkamvaYouth!

Make your bid anytime from June 23rd to June 30th to seize this opportunity and support a good cause at the same time. All the details of the auction can be found here.

Thank you Zolani! Thank you bidders!

On the 23rd of May we hosted a Parents meeting for our ikamva learners at the Chris Hani High School nearby our offices. The parents meeting was very well attended - we had 50 parents in attendance! Luyanda Kota welcomed the parents and gave them background information about what we do. He also shared the details about what we intend to do during the holiday programme and more generally motivated the parents to engage in their children's education. Ex-learners and volunteers were also in attendance and shared their stories with the parents.

Saturday the 4^th of July will see a gathering of some of South Africa’s top universities, colleges, companies and educational bodies at the Nazeema Isaacs Library in Khayelitsha. The day will provide an opportunity for IkamvaYouth’s learners, volunteers (most of whom are university students) and the wider Khayelitsha community to gain insight into and understanding of post-school career and study opportunities.  

“Our vision for this Indaba is to inform and inspire these talented and committed young people about how to achieve their career dreams,” says Luyanda Kota, Director of IkamvaYouth Western Cape. “We’re grateful to the organisations for spending this day with us. This personal interaction will give our learners the chance to discover what it really takes to have a career in their field of interest and better insights on where to study.”  

Everyone is welcome to join us on the day! Please find the full programme for the day's activities here.

Volunteers are regarded as people who willingly work without remuneration. Like everyone else they get up early in the morning to go to work. The difference is that they will not be reimbursed for their labour. Can you imagine yourself getting up in the morning, kicking your warm blankets to travel in what is now a very unfriendly Cape weather to a place where you will not be paid? We have decided to visit these extraordinary people to find out why they put themselves through this.

IkamvaYouth is now registered with MySchool. Order your card today and support us while you shop at Woolworths, Engen, ToysRUs, Reggies, Kalahari.net, Waltons, Quicksilver, Spur, Supa Quick and many others...

You can order a card free of charge in under 2 minutes using this online application form. Select Ikamva Lisezandleni Zethu as the school you want to support, and your card will reach you by post in 14-21 days.