IkamvaYouth is proud to announce the publication of our 2009 Annual Report.
As usual, it has been a fully-volunteered, collaborative endeavour, and we would like especially to thank the following special ikamvanites:
- Felix Seuffert for layout and design
- James Krolikowski for compiling all the information
- Marie Sutherland-Lawless for desigining the front page
There are many others (too many to mention), who helped with writing, editing and getting content, and we applaud each of you for your contributions!
IIkamvaYouth‘s sixth year was a big, busy one. We grew (expanded our team and our reach) and most importantly we once again, against all odds, achieved our mission: an 87% matric pass rate (54% Bachelor passes and 31% Diploma passes, required for access into tertiary study). Our learners far surpassed the national and provincial matric results; compared with those of the districts in which we operate, they are astounding. These results (together with mentoring and career guidance) enable our learners to matriculate from township schools, walk through the doors of higher education and realise their dreams.
It is wonderfully fulfilling to be delivering on our mission in a way that far exceeds any realistic expectations. There are Ikamvanites in fields including Biochemistry, Information Technology, Business Administration, Psychology, Engineering, Education, Nursing and Law. Some are traveling the world, others have enriching jobs, or even running their own small businesses. Many ex-learners are still spending every Saturday morning at Ikamva as volunteers. Anna Telford‘s documentary, IkamvaYouth Flying Colours (2009) captures some of these stories. Watch it now!
We were joined by some incredible new friends in 2009. The libraries, tertiary institutions, schools, organisations and companies we work with enable us to do what
we do, and in 2009 they helped us to be bigger, better and in new places. Read all about these exciting new developments in the branch directors‘ reports.
Sharing resources, expertise, and lessons learned is key for the success and replication of our model. Read about IkamvaYouth- in-a-Box and our plans for 2010 and beyond to find out about where we plan to go from here.
Reflecting back on last year gives us the much-needed space and time to sit back and appreciate what we‘ve achieved and how lucky we are to be working with such
inspiring and talented people. Ikamvanites rock! 🙂
I‘m inviting all readers of our 2009 Annual Report to join the learning revolution. Bring your time, talents, skills, cash or resources and invest in our future. Viva, ikamvanites, viva!
This year, IkamvaYouth will be running FIVE holiday programmes from June 14 – 26th.
In the Western Cape:
- For 120 learners from Nyanga at the University of the Western Cape
- For 120 learners from Khayelitsha at TSiBA
- For 50 learners from Masiphumelele at the Masi library
In Kwa-Zulu Natal:
- For 120 learners from Cato Crest at the Durban University of Technology
In Gauteng:
- For 80 learners from Ebony and Ivory Park at the Siyakhula Centre
Morning tutoring sessions will start at 9h00 and run until 17h00, with an hour lunch break in between sessions. There will also be two shorter tea breaks throughout the day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Learners will be organized in groups by their subject streams and grade. All our programs offered free of charge to learners in grades 9 through 12. We work with the same learners for two to four years to ensure that they get the grades and the support needed to access tertiary education.
To improve the educational outcomes, we ensure that learners work on school studies for a minimum of two hours (often four hours) daily on school materials, working through past papers, or having key concepts and processes re-explained to them by our volunteers. Most of the tutoring is conducted by ex-learners who have returned to IkamvaYouth as volunteers while they pursue their tertiary studies. Last year, science-stream learners were able to witness their science experiments at St. George Grammar School, while other learners went for excursions such as visiting the National Gallery and Two Oceans Aquarium a week after the holiday programme. Career Planet also brought an online Mobile Kiosk with twenty computers to TSiBA to help our learners with ways of accessing online careers.
Due the lab accessibility, learners gain valuable computer literacy skills. Computer literacy is a critical skill for entering tertiary studies, learnerships, or the job market as society has become technology oriented. Most of our learners have not had any formal computer literacy classes at their schools, so these lessons are the only opportunity the learners have in acquiring such skills. Learners are engaged in discussion covering a plethora of topics from peer-to-peer relationships to waste management, creating art journals to HIV/AIDS. These discussions provided lively debate, and not only taught learners how to voice their opinions but built their confidence in speaking English.
The Media, Image and Expression programme was formally initiated during this programme. Learners were taught basic recording and filming skills and briefed to interview each other about issues that are important to them. These interviews spanned a range of topics.
Learners were also taught basic digital photography skills and given digital cameras for 2-3 days. The photographs were of an amazing standard and have already been exhibited at the Nazeema Isaacs library when IkamvaYouth had its Talent Show. The photographs provided a valuable source of revenue to continue this project, as well as, fund learner registration and application fees for their tertiary studies.
Joschka Thilo will be travelling by bicycle, from Zurich, Switzerland to Cape Town, South Africa. He will be travelling for about 6 months, covering 10,000km (6,200 miles). He will travel without a support vehicle which means he will be transporting all his equipment, food and water with him on his bicycle! He’s generously chosen IkamvaYouth to be the recipient of ALL the funds he’ll be raising through this trip (he isn’t even keeping any to cover his costs!). Josch writes on his site, NomadsOn2Wheels, that ” I hope to inspire the people following this journey to follow their dreams and escape from the everyday rat race. I strongly believe that there is more to life than the urban lifestyles largely based on materialistic and monetary values that so many people aspire to.”
Support his amazing courage (and IkamvaYouth!) by donating via PayPal on his website
.
Lloyd Lungu