ENKE LEADERSHIP CAMP CONTRIBUTORS: SIBONGISENI JONAS ZIZO MDINGI SINENJONGO NGXAMELENI NCEBAKAZI NGCABA ZIZIPHO NGXOLA SINOVUYO QABA Attending the Enke Forum Class of 2013 was a great experience! It was incredibly fun and worth the long journey from Masiphumelele to Wellington. On our first day we had to introduce ourselves to the other trailblazers who hailed from various provinces within our country. One of the memorable things about the camp was that every games and/or activity held a lesson which was incredible. We learned lifelong lessons about leadership skills and gained increased knowledge, compared to what we knew about the subject before. We now have the task of applying the knowledge which was imparted. Even more, we have an opportunity to impact our communities and as the youth, we are eager to change the world in order to be a better place. On 7 July, the CEO of MXIT gave a profound speech and one of our Masinites, Sibongiseni Jonas thanked him on behalf of all the learners.We were each given an opportunity to choose a project which will uplift our community. The Enke leadership made us realise that the future lies in our hands and we can change the world. In order to bring about change, we need to think positively about ourselves and allow nothing to stand in our way. Coupled with strength and courage, we shall succeed in our projects and carry on our leadership skills. Various towns and countries were represented and this added to the diversity of the camp. It was compulsory to speak English and this also improved our language proficiency. Another highlight was when we watched a video of a girl and her boyfriend. The couple was in love and in a trusting relationship. The girl cheated on her boyfriend and she wanted to shift the blame. The moral of the story was, “Love someone as if it is the last day of your life.” Despite the story relating to a romantic relationship, it also showed us how we should treat each other. Lastly, it is important that we relate one of the lessons on leadership that we were taught at the Enke Forum. We did a visualising exercise in which we had to project where we thought we would be 15 years from now; the need for respect and how to break free from our comfort zone. A wonderful, life changing experience that we shall never forget!
The Grade 9 learners at the Makhaza Ikamva Youth branch take part in a Numeric Khan Academy programme every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. They practice various maths concepts on an online platform called Khan Academy. This programme enables learners to practice maths at their own pace and to build up foundational maths topics. Led by coach, Yanga Zukelwa, this year’s Grade 9s have mastered more maths concepts than in previous years. The Grade 9s work hard and look forward to attending these sessions.
As a way of rewarding learners for their effort and recognising the achievements of the group, Numeric held an Awards Ceremony for the learners on 31 August at the Ikamva Youth Office in Makhaza. Certificates were presented to learners based on the number of topics that they had mastered using the Khan Academy platform. In order to attain mastery in these topics, learners must get at least 10 maths sums correct in a row. In doing this, learners often have to complete more than 20 maths sums to achieve mastery in a topic, which means to earn the first certificate learners would have had to complete at least 500 maths sums on Khan Academy. Certificates were given out for 25 Mastered topics (Red Diamond Certificate), 50 Mastered Topics (Orange Diamond Certificate), and 75 Mastered Topics (Purple Diamond Certificate).
These learners should be very proud of themselves and their hard work because every learner earned a Red Diamond Certificate for Mastering at least 25 topics.
There were also some special awards for Most Committed Learner, Most Helpful Learner, Most Improved Learner, and a Drill Master Award for the learner who did best on arithmetic speed tests.
The event was a fun celebration of hard work and success! Well done to the Grade 9s at the Ikamva Youth Branch in Makhaza!
August is a special month for all women in South Africa as we all celebrate Women’s Day on the 9th of August of every year. ABI together with Joan Madibeng, a South African business woman and media personality, invited 10 of their mentee’s from IkamvaYouth Ebony Park to attend a very special occasion to celebrate all women on the 24th of August 2013. This event was titled, ” Women – The Real Architects of Society, ” and was aimed at providing attendees with some insights into the world and also provide guidance for them as they mature into women-hood.
The event was packed with inspiring speakers, incredible performers, amazing food, spot prizes and fabulous goodie bags. There were many special guest speakers and these included Herman Mashaba, Thabiso Sikwane, Edith Venter, Dr. Michael Mol and Azania Mosaka. The learners really appreciated being given the opportunity to attend this event largely because ABI paid R10 000 for all the Ikamvanites to get a seat and enjoy the day.
Joan said, “It is key that women be given the tools for their upliftment and be given access to information relevant to all areas of their dynamic lifestyles. It was a wonderful privilege to host fellow Women, and inspire them in a small way”
The learners have pegged this to be a day that they will live to remember for the rest of their lives!
Thank you Joan and ABI!!!
On Monday 25th June 2013, IkamvaYouth Ebony Park Branch established a way for learners to make well-versed choices with their academics in a program called FUN MATHS. This programme aims at preparing Grade 9 learners to have a solid background in mathematics. IkamvaYouth has been working closely with its feeder schools, in and around the area . The FUN MATHS program took place at one of the feeder schools’ called Tsosolotso Ya Africa High School. The program “FUN MATHS” had learners coming from different schools including Ponelopele Oracle Secondary School and Kaalfontein Secondary.
The program started with 30 learners and went on for two weeks during Winter School starting at 9am till 12pm. Tsosolotso Ya Afrika school’s Principal Miss Ntebo Phahlane said that “The program has good intentions in developing our learners and getting them ready for Mathematics that is generally approached with a negative attitude. I personally think it will install positive attitude towards the subject, I fully support the program”.
One learner- Siphosethu Moyo said , “The program will be a huge help to all the learners from all the schools that are involved and I think generally this will help improve the school’s pass rate in mathematics.” IkamvaYouth is looking forward to continue with the program and influence the pass rates in mathematics in all the neighboring schools by getting more learners to join the FUN MATHS.
With the Matric preparatory exams just under two weeks away, the Ikamva Youth Gauteng team decided to host a Matric Day for all of our super star grade 12 learners for a chance to catch up with their mentors and for a much needed motivational talk on Saturday the 17th. Leaners from both Ivory Park and Ebony Park gathered at the Lord Khanyile Youth centre for a discussion and pep talk with each other about their journey so far and some of the nerves that may be kicking in as they set out to do well in the upcoming prelims.
We also had UMUZI Photo Club come in and do a presentation about their Photography School Academy for our grade 12’s, a first for many matrics who had never previously been exposed to such opportunities. Learners have also been rushing around getting applications ready for further study next year, and as expected were eager for the help and feedback from their mentors. Learners were then treated to a great talk by some of our mentors, fruit from our partner Tzu Chi Foundation as well as yummy refreshments afterwards. To all our Ikamvanites across the country who are embarking on their grade 12 Exam season, Goodluck and remember that IY is rooting for you!
Lloyd Lungu