“Be the change you want to see”

On the 29th of June 2015 Ikamvayouth held their winter school programs across all branches nationwide and Ikamvayouth KZN was honoured to have the co-founder snd director of Ikamvayouth Joy Olivier in their presence. The learners work hard from the beginning of the year to make sure they attend sessions regularly in order to be legible to attend winter school. Previously the two KZN branches held a combined winter school but this year things have changed. The Umlazi branch and the Chesterville branch had their winter school separately, although they were in the same building, they were separated by sections. The Durban University of Technology, Steve Biko campus was generous enough to allow us to use their space for the whole two weeks of winter school.

 The first day of winter school had everyone in mixed emotions, not knowing what to expect and wondering if everything will go well due to the changes that had been made. Although most were not so happy about the separation, by midday everyone had gotten used to the new arrangement which led to the success of day 1 of winter school. The rest of the week was also a success despite the transport issues due to a bus strike. It became difficult to transport learners to and from the venue, but because our branches were well equipped to hold winter school, each branch remained at their respective venues for the duration of bus strike which also proved to work in their favor because the time that would’ve been spent traveling was used constructively.

On day 4 of winter school workshop sessions commenced, speakers and visitors from different organizations and walks of life were invited to share their knowledge and expertise with the learners. To name a few, the learners were spoilt with a life skills workshop by World changers academy, team building by Mr Nkosikhona Mpungose from Youth Inter-Active, bursary workshop with Nedbank, An entrepreneurial skills workshop for the matrics with Sbo, KC from lovelife (self development workshop), a photography workshop by King Nzumbi photography as well as a Financial Literacy Training workshop Capitec bank.

Week 2 of winter school was much more exciting because the bus strike was over and that meant we could go back to DUT. The learners found it exciting and refreshing attending winter school in a different environment which was also good for their productivity. By Day 6 sessions were running smoothly, tutor and learner attendance was excellent and a lot of learning was happening. Lunch time was always exciting because everyone got a chance to enjoy the delicious meals prepared by our caterer Shino Mashinini from Shino’s Kitchen, while mingling and making and getting to know the other learners better

Whilst half of the day was dedicated to tutoring, the other half consisted of workshops and excursions. On day 8 the KZN winter school was visited by Varsity college for a career guidance workshop, a tertiary applications workshop for the matrics with Philile Dlamini, and a business start up with SD Media. The following day started off with excursions all around. Our tutors got a chance to go on a trip alone without the learners to NPC the cement company, they got to learn about the in’s and out’s of what goes into making cement. The learners and staff members visited the sugar terminal near the Durban Harbor, while others went to ABI and explored how beverages are made and end up in stores. 

Finally the most anticipated yet saddest day of winter school came, day 10. Although it was the last day, it was also the day everyone got to let down their hair, participate in sports and other activities under health and life skills. The learners separated into  four teams which were going to compete against each other during the sports day. The event was sponsored by ABI who generously supplied us with a variety of drinks and delicious food made by their caterers as well an awesome entertainment truck and DJ. Ikamvayouth KZN also partnered with Thembalabantu Clinic who provided us with free HIV testing and counseling as well as an educational talk about HIV/Aids awareness

The different teams competed in their sporting activities very well but there could only be one overall winner. Team Danger, otherwise known as the red team took first place. The day could not end without a but of entertainment from Sambrosa Salsa who taught everyone how to dance the Salsa, as well as a few songs from one of the Umlazi branch Tutors Brandon Leo

We thank All Ikamvayouth Sponsors, learners, staff, dedicated tutors and workshop hosts/partners for making the 2015 winter school a success