On the 6th and 7th of April 2014 the staff, tutors and learner representatives of IkamvaYouth Chesterville branch gathered together to review the purpose of IkamvaYouth as an Organisation, the highlights that IY has seen as it continues to grow from strength to strength and what the branch can do to make sure it (the branch) carries through the vision of the Organisation. Everyone came prepared for what lay ahead as all sat together to voice out what each person expected during the course and the outcomes that they are looking forward to, moving forward, arising from this very significant event. Each person was also given, from the start, an opportunity to contribute to the ground rules that would govern the conduct and relations as the weekend progresses also keeping into account that many of these could be applied in our daily working relations in Chesterville.
This event was especially marked by a collaborative effort to find what each person believed and the ideas they held about IY as a whole. For each segment of the meeting people were divided into smaller groups to discuss certain areas or fields that formed the greater picture of that which being discussed. This allowed for each person as an individual to have a voice and for the bigger group to come up with a united understanding of what was being discussed.
Critical matters which make or break the structure of IY were placed on the table and were under discussion such as the aim of IY, the successes and failures it has encountered, the successes and failures of the branch, the core values of IY, the challenges faced by the branch and how these can be overcome, the portfolios within IY what these have managed to achieve in the previous year and what they have not and what can be done to pursue further success in each portfolio in the current year. This was a highly beneficial process as it allowed people to get answers to questions; to add what they think would assist towards growth and understand what was/is expected of them in their roles.
The programme ended with the election of new Portfolio Heads who with their team had an opportunity to look closely on the plans previously made and also to draw a new plan for the year ahead to guide its function and try to achieve better results contributing to the solidifying of the structure of IY and implementation in and therefore the successes of Chesterville as a branch.
Everyone left with renewed energy ready to take on the year ahead Superhero style!!!
Spw 2014 Umlazi
Saturday and Sunday the 29th and 30th of March saw Umlazi host it’s second ever Strategic planning weekend. The Branch staff was joined by the District coordinator, 4 learner reps and 20 volunteers for the weekend.
Volunteers and Learners reps at SPW
Saturday kicked off with a fun ice-breaker to get everyones blood and minds going. Straight from there we went into the expectations and ground rules for the weekend for everyone to follow.
It was not long before we had covered the timeline of the organisation and got into the more strategic work we had set out to do on the weekend.
Volunteers and learners in groups during Values discussion
The team broke off into 5 groups and each group discussed one of the 5 values of IkamvaYouth. Time was spent in the group to discuss and following that, we then discussed the values as a big group. Once we all finished the values discussion we moved on to reflect on the previous year.
We looked at some of the successes that the branch celebrated and some the challenges that we faced as a branch in the year 2013.
Group discussion
What followed was an introduction to each of the 5 portfolios that IkamvaYouth offers to learners. During the time the groups discussed what the aim of each portfolio is, what were the challenges and successes in 2013 and also the roles of branch com at the branch. After that we had a presentation from each group on what they had discussed. The last part of the day were nominations for the portfolio heads voting to take place on day 2.
Circle of trust
Day 2 began with the branch coordinator giving feedback on portfolio activities from 2013. What the targets were and which were met which were not, also why some of the targets were not met. A brief budget talk was also on the cards before the team split into groups once again to do planning for 2014 targets. Once the targets were done, the groups then presented to us what each portfolio had come up with for the year.
Phumla Nyaba (Head of Life Skills and health)
This was the last part of the day. The day came to a close after we had all agreed to discuss any further matters at the next branch com meeting to be held at the branch. A big thank you to everyone who was able to attend the SPW.
An amazing and inspiring weekend Makhaza branch had. It was an excellent opportunity for volunteers, tutors and learner reps to participate in core operational planning and goal setting for the year 2014. . Present were more than 30 participants from different grades and tutors and they all had a chance to discuss the decision making, planning and electing the branch committee.
On Friday we looked back from the year 2013. The morning started off with an introduction and the group explaining what their expectations of the weekend are, we then discussed what happened in 2013 and then we ended with looking at what Makhaza branch is doing well, what challenges we are facing, what IkamvaYouth Makhaza branch is offering learners and the community and what we can do to improve the programme.
On Saturday the election took place and everyone had a chance to vote for the different nominees. The nomination and election process were very democratic and the nominees had to explain to the group why they were best suited for the different portfolios. The different portfolios were Tutoring, Volunteer Coordination, Career Guidance, Media, Image and Expression, Khan Academy and Computer Literacy, Health and Life Skills, Mentoring and Alumni. Read more about it: makhaza_strategic_planning_2014.pdf
All the head of different portfolio had the chance to discuss the key issues and solutions for each portfolio. An action plan was drafted for each portfolio and when the goals should be reached and by whom. Mandisi Gladile, a tutor who is serving for the second time in Makhaza branch committee says, “The weekend was really informative and made me realise the value IkamvaYouth adds not only to the learners but also the community and I feel really inspired for the things that we have planned for 2014.”
Athandile, a grade 9 learner, says that “I have learnt that you don’t have to hold back any ideas or views that you have, you must voice them out. I have taken away with me the spirit of working together as a team, through that spirit, nothing can bring IkamvaYouth down.”
On the 15th and 16th March 2014, Masi hosted its annual SPW. Duing this weekend 20 learners, tutors and staff members came together to plan the year ahead taking into consideration all that has happened at the branch and all the hurdles that we must still overcome. Shuvai Finos (Nyanga Branch Coordinator) and Siphelele Madabula (Nyanga Branch Assistant) facilitated and ran the SPW.
The first part of the weekend was to trace the steps of the branch via a timeline that was done by the learners in collaboration with the tutors. Thereafter, the various challenges and burning issues of the branch were tabled out with the sole purpose of finding the more sustainable and realistic solutions going forward. After a very enlightening day of brain power and fun, the first day of SPW was done.
Day two began with was became the highlight of the weekend, the election of a new Branch Comm. It was interesting to see just how much potential in vested within each Masinite as they all stood and offered themselves to serve the Branch and be a beackon of hope in the community. After the excitement, it was back to work for us all. At this point, the Masinites had to lay out the year plan for the branch, ensuring that it was realistic and speacific. After a very tiring two days, SPW was done and all the attendees agreed that although they realised that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done, they were all very excited to see the branch grow. In the masi_spwreport_2014.pdf a more detailed report of all that happened during the weekend and all the great work that is to be done at the branch is provided. Please take some time to read through it and then watch this space. To infinity and beyond!
It was David and Goliath, except for the differences in the endings of the stories, the Afrobot competition organised by SciFest Africa between Ikamvanites, Galaxy – an independent engineering team, Magnete from Graeme College(former private school) and Ntsika High School lived up to the biblical metaphor. Little did we know, that Magnete and Galaxy have had 3 and 4 years respectively to prepare and practice for this taurnament while Ikamvanites had only 3 days to prepare.
The preparation stages were shaky, as expected under the circumstances. On Day 2 of preparation, Ikamvanites demonstrated tremendously high spirit and unity of purpose as they put together their robots. A spirit of team work inspired by IY’s values of “teamwork and peer-to-peer support” became the useful tool as frustration due to pressure grew in other teams.
By 5pm on Friday, Ikamvanites were testing their robots and helping each other in preparation for the next morning’s show down. The teams had to build remote controlled robots to pick up or push 6 cans from one place to a designated spot in a space of 90 seconds.
Both Ikamvanites’ teams demolished Ntsika High School, added Graeme College among the casualties and went on to meet in the finals of their category.
Exhilarating as the finals of the pushers were, the fact that both teams were Ikamavanites added a bit of sourness to it. The winning team in the Pushers final went on to meet the winning team in the Lifters category, Galaxy. Though Galaxy took 4 years to build their robot, they were certainly given a run for their money by Ikamvanites which saw them winning by a small margin of just 2 points.
The creativity, courage, determination and commitment shown by Ikamvanites through the preparation stages of the taurnament and the tremendous discipline demonstrated during the actual competition saw us earning an early invitation to the taurnament due to take place in March 2015. Indeed, Ikamva Lisezandleni Zethu!
Lloyd Lungu