Learners from IkamvaYouth Nyanga recently had the opportunity to visit various locations around Cape Town. The first stop was the Iziko Museum where the students viewed and learned about the artwork in the gallery. They then went to the Iziko Annexe where art work created by learners from schools around Cape Town is on display and were given a basic lesson in art. Then using basic materials such as cardboard, markers, crayons, and paint, the learners created their own pieces of art. Many of their creations touched on peace, happiness, and unity. The next destination was Kirstenbosch gardens where the students learned about the ecology and biodiversity of South Africa. Although the rain prevented the learners from experiencing the beautiful gardens, they enjoyed learning about the different South African biomes and the process of photosynthesis. We also viewed and studied several specimens of plants. The last stop was the Two Oceans Aquarium on the Waterfront. The Nyanga learners were able to view a vast array of aquatic life including penguins, frogs, sharks, and the poisonous puffer fish. They all enjoyed learning about each of the animals and watching them in their respective environment. Overall, the learners and the volunteers alike had a wonderful time on these excursions and would like to thank each of the venues for their generous hospitality.
Two Oceans Aquarium: http://www.aquarium.co.za/
Iziko Museum: http://www.iziko.org.za/sam/
Kirstenbosch Gardens: http://www.sanbi.org/frames/kirstfram.htm
On the last day of the Nyanga Winter Programme, the learners had a chance to showcase their many talents. And they did not hold out! The volunteers and tutors were able to watch the 78 learners perform in any which way they wanted! Some read powerful and moving poems that they had written, others danced, a few learners showed off their vocals in songs, a few showed off their creative minds in raps and there was also a play!
playtime
All of the acts were creative, innovative and well thought out. Very impressive!
This year’s winter school was a success! We had 55 Nyanga learners and 23 Ikanyezi learners join us for two weeks at the University of the Western Cape.
Inkanyezi Learners
During the morning sessions, the programme offered learners the chance to get extra tutoring on subjects they were having a difficult time with. We were fortunate to have anywhere from 7 to 15 tutors a day to help all the learners.
After lunch the learners had a great opportunity to participate in a wide variety of workshops that were focused on educating and the learners on different things outside of their school subjects. We had everything from Acting to Team Skills Workshops. Workshops included: Art, Drumming, Acting, Team Skills, South African History, Point of View Improv and Drug Awareness
Learners show us their moves during the drumming workshop
In the Point of View workshop learners had the great opportunity to learn more about sexual health and stigma’s associated with HIV by using innovative activities that engaged the learners and made them more comfortable to share their thoughts.
Molly Blank came in to show the learners her new documentary film all about the xenophobic attacks that happened in South Africa in 2008. The learners watched the film and were able to have a question and answer session with the director herself afterwards. See some of their responses here.
Some learners who showed interest participated in a photography workshop which allowed the learners to take home cameras to take shots of the world cup mania in their area.
Sive Bushla, 11th grade ‘Big Vuvuzela’
New Start was also kind enough to come in to offer testing and counsel any learner or volunteer in the programme who wanted to get tested.
One of the opportunities the learners really enjoyed was the access to the computer labs that were made available to them for the whole of the programme. The learners were able to learn the key elements of Microsoft Word and Excel, how to send attachments in emails and basic computer literacy issues. They were really happy to be able to work on their typing skills as well.
We had a number of sponsors that made planning the programme much easier. PicknPay gave us enough to buy everything we needed for tea and snack breaks while Red Hot Catering & Events provided the lunches for all learners and volunteers at a convenient cost. Fedics sponsored one day’s lunches for all involved in the programme. And of course, UWC offered the space to make all of this possible.
Learners, for the most part, only had good things to say about the programme. There were some ideas that would make next year’s programme better. Mostly, learners wanted to see more tutoring subjects available. We would have loved to see this too, but unfortunately we didn’t have enough tutors comfortable teaching all the subjects. Hopefully next year, that’ll be different!
Lloyd Lungu