The learners, parents, tutors, mentors, staff and partners all came together, on the 1st of February 2014 in Chesterville, with one purpose of sharing and receiving information on the purpose of IkamvaYouth, the main founding principles and the things that have kept IY going thus far. The main aim for the event was to give potential learners a feel and understanding of who IY is and for them to know the expectations that IY has of them and also to remind those who are already Ikamvanites about these same expectations and requirements so that all parties move forward in the year ahead with a clear head and zeal towards making 2014 yet another fruitful and productive year. 
The parents had an opportunity to hear for themselves what their children are a part of and get a sneak on the activities that transpired in the previous year and therefore a picture of what to expect in the current year.
The event began with a warm welcoming of all parties, followed by a brief synopsis of the purpose and the reason as to why there has been such a gathering. Then the Branch Coordinator (Nelisa Luhabe)enthralled the audience with a presentation she had prepared for them, giving them an overview on the major events and activities that took place in the previous year. The presentation also had details on who can become a member of the IY team and how, followed by a showdown on the expectations and requirements directed to all those who do become members, this was a crucial moment as these form the foundation that one requires to make it to the end as an Ikamvanite. It also contained details on the achievements of IY as a whole thus far and also those of the Chesterville branch individually, (included herein were the achievements of the learners i.e. the matrics).This information allowed all to comprehend the major role and significance of IY in our underprivileged communities and how it can continue with its endeavors as more learners commit themselves to the programme that IY offers them.
All persons in their different categories got an opportunity to be represented as individuals shared their own experiences of IY in their respective positions, what IY means to them and how it has helped them to give or receive thus grooming them into the people they are today.
We also had a wonderful talk by our partner representatives, Samukelo Nkosi of ABI and his team, who motivated the learners and gave them hope for the future, encouragement and reinforcement that they (the learners) have not made a mistake by being a part of IY. They also assured them that the work they do is from their hearts and are happy to play a role in the progression of IY in advancing our communities through education. And to make it even more exciting having them that day, one of them couldn’t leave without signing up as a tutor for the Chesterville branch!
Amidst all the information there were some great performances prepared by the learners that really took people to another level. The day ended with a note of thanks from the District Coordinator (Thabisile Seme) who acknowledged and appreciated everyone who forms a part of IY Chesterville, thanking them for their participation, contribution and loyalty to the programme..
By the time the programme ended the learners were looking forward to the New Year and the parents had a clearer picture of the role of IY in their children’s education.
On The 8th of February 2014, IYWC learners went on a scenic hike up Table Mountain, through Kirstenbosch Gardens. The outing was organised by the Pride of Table Mountain and 41 learners from Makhaza, Masi and Nyanga participated. The outing provided a good opportunity for the WC learners from the different branches to meet, mingle and get to know each other in a relaxing atmosphere.
The Pride Projects help to fulfil the need for an environmental education outreach among disadvantaged youth from urban and rural areas. The experience received on the hike helps to instil a sense of pride and responsibility in their natural heritage.
‘If more of us love nature, the environment will take care of itself’
The learners who participated enjoyed themselves immensely, and Mzukisi Gwegwe said the following. ‘I love nature so I enjoyed learning about the different trees; specifically that our indigenous trees are best for our land. I learnt that some exotic trees suck too much water from the ground and this causes our trees to suffer.’ Another participant highlighted that the outing gave her clear insight on the importance of nature, and she also learnt fun facts, such as the fact the protea, South Africa’s national plant can make ink.
A huge thank you to Andrea Sanke, Sharon McCullum and the Pride of Table Mountain team, for making this outing a reality.
IkamvaYouth holds the values of ‘Responsibility for self and others’,‘Integrity’, and ‘Openness’ as central to our work. These values are applied at a learner level but are also woven into the fabric of the organisation. The commitment to these values has instilled a culture that promotes above all else, sharing.
Through open-sourcing the information that IkamvaYouth has spent 10 years testing and gathering, it hopes to enable organisations to strengthen their existing tutoring programmes and to inspire other organisations and individuals to begin tutoring programmes.
The www.ikamvanitezone.org is the platform that holds all of the information you need to know about running a tutoring progamme and its supplementary activities.
The latest addition to this site and our YouTube Channel is a series of ‘How-To’ videos that draw from the expertise of the wider IkamvaYouth team to create easy to use resources.
Check them out and enjoy!
The Makhaza Open day was held on Saturday the 8th of February. A very special day for IkamvaYouth Makhaza as new learners and new parents meet. It was also great opportunity for the new Ikamvanites and their parents to meet and be inspired by our Tutors and returning learners. The day was divided into two sessions the first was for the parents only followed by the session for learners.
The first session was filled with eager parents. Zukile Keswa (Branch Coordinator) hosted the gathering, welcoming everyone and playing the IkamvaYouth video explainer. All the programmes that are offered at Makhaza were explained to parents and they were informed about the role that they have to play to insure the success of the programme. Zukile further explained the importance of being involved in the academics of a child even if a parent is illiterate and how that encourages a child to do more as they have a great support system at home. The reception from the parents was overwhelming as they shared how happy they that their kids’ are part of IY. One parent said “I can sleep better a night knowing that my child is getting the most valuable education in life even after I’m no longer in this world”. All in good time we shared.
The second session was just refreshing as you could feel the excitement of the new learners in the hall. The learners were welcomed and few questions were asked: Why did you apply to IY? Why are you here today? The learners responded with such confidence that convinced all of us that 2014 would indeed be a year of greatness. The tutors introduced themselves to the learners, sharing where they had attended High School which seemed to excite the learners, what they were currently doing and subjects they tutor.
The day was a success, so looking forward to the 15th of February when tutoring starts.
The Education Management Association of South Africa (EMASA) conference and its subsequent projects have embodied exactly what it was attempting to ignite; true collaboration. The event was conceived and brought to fruition by a wide range of partners; Bridge, The Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, UFS, Saville Foundation, and the Centre for Education Innovation (CEI) and many more, who shared the objective of bringing together and showcasing transformative projects and their champions who are driving educational innovation.
IkamvaYouth presented on ‘What Works’ at the conference. Presentation.
IkamvaYouth were just one of many organisations that were recognised and included in CEI’s ever-growing international database of innovative projects in education. CEI does not simply describe such interventions, but they seek to better explain their impact, why they work, and how they could be replicated.
The gathering and communicating of evidence of what is working (or not), why it is working (or not) and how it can work in other contexts, is essential for workable replication and scale. Currently too few educational innovations are able to provide evidence of their impact, and where evidence does exist it is not being widely publicised and learnt from. CEI has tasked itself with, among other things, ‘improving the information flows and promoting linkages among stakeholders’.
Fostering stakeholder relationships and partnerships was reflected in the conference theme ‘From Cradle to Career’, which is the idea to connect organisations in a continuous stream of intervention, all the way through childhood and into adulthood. The importance of partnerships is becoming ever more prevalent, with heightened attention around ’collaboration’ as a vehicle for high-impact and sustainable growth.
Collaboration is a concept that is being applied in various different sectors across the world as a powerful tool to increase productivity, efficiency, and longevity. Yet, as much as collaboration is being hailed as the next step to achieving lasting impact, tried and tested ways of successfully doing it in the non-profit sector, are few.
“We urgently need to find new structures that enable effective collaboration. The old ways have failed us. Taking steps towards real collaboration involves building social capital and trust, understanding the obstacles to collaboration (fear, insecurity, lack of effective structures and so on) and lowering these barriers so that people are freed to work together unconditionally towards a common goal.” François Bonnici, Director of the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Joy Oliver, Eugene Daniels and David Harrison
There is no blueprint of how we can best work together and it will always be subject to change. What we can develop are the structures and mechanisms that facilitate it. EMASA showcased the incredible amount of ‘will’ that exists to make collaboration possible within and across sectors. We need to be committed to trying, testing and recording how we are working together. To collaborate effectively you need take risks, to “recognize, accept and even celebrate failure”, David Harrison of the DG Murray Trust.
Just as we encourage our learners to guess and to be comfortable with their likely failure, we must encourage ourselves to look to partners, to foster relationships (even with our adversaries), to find new ways to learn from each other, and to embrace the possibility of disappointment, “because without the failure that comes with experimentation there could be no learning or progress”, David Harrison.
Check out the emasa_booklet_1.pdf here for details of all the partners and inspiring organisations present.
Lloyd Lungu