If you ever wondered what drives IkamvaYouth branches for the whole year, then you should listen up…
Take a little bit of inspiration, add to that some coaching and a lavish dose of planning, then you have the ultimate recipe to run a branch for the entire year. The 27th of February 2016 was the day Makhaza decided to try out that recipe…..once again!
09:00am sharp, parents, learners and mentors came together to launch the mentoring programme for the 2016 Matric cohort. Highly expectant and excited to meet one another, you could tell they were a bit anxious about the day. Tamara Stelman, Mentoring Coordinator from UCT, started off by thoroughly explaining to the attendees, what the programme was about; what is expected from each party and what she is hoping will be achieved by the end of the mentoring year. She then moved on to pairing the learners with their mentors, you could really see from the faces of the learners and parents, that they were more than impressed with the profiles of their mentors. We were off to a good start, the learners were inspired!
Following that, was a workshop session that included a one-on-one session for further introduction; signing of the mentorship agreement and the sharing of goals,fears and expectations for the year. During the workshop session, Busiswa Dayimani, Branch Coordinator, had a brief meeting with the parents about their expectations for their children, what is required of the parents and the planning that they must do to prepare for the following year. In that meeting a parent, who is a teacher at one of the schools in Makhaza, stood up and voiced what she thought of IkamvaYouth. She said, “I have been watching IkamvaYouth for a period of time now and i want to commend the work that you are doing in this community, you are definitely bringing about a good change in our learners!” Whoop whoop, go team IY! Before you could take it all in, the event came to a halt.
Immediately after that, it was Strategic Planning time! This is where the branch committee, a committee that consists of staff, tutors and learners, gets to set targets for the year, decide on structure that works bests for all members and gets ideas flowing on how to make Makhaza a better branch. The programme for the day kicked off with some really colourful and interesting looking name tags. Yanga Totyi, Branch Assistant, lead this team of Superheroes in discussions in which the team delved into the objectives of the 2016 committee; dissected the responsibilities of each portfolio; set targets for each portfolio and engaged in discussion on the quality of results at the branch and how improvements can be made. All work and no play makes a Branch com dull, hence Lungile Simakade, Branch Intern, shook things up with a few games and icebreakers in between discussions.
Phew! What a day! It is in events like these that the engine of IkamvaYouth branches is oiled and if you would like to get involved in any way…as a mentor or a tutor, please check this LINK out!
Someone once said, “The world is changing, BE ON THE TRANSITION TEAM!”
The Joza branch’s efforts to get Ikamvanites reading is off to a great start thanks to the generosity of the local Bargain Books store. The bookstore responded to our call for a donation of reading materials to use for our Saturday morning reading session and they donated a book hamper worth over R1500.
The hamper includes a selection of novels, writing pads, diaries, K-53 learner’s book, journals, a DVD collection and an audio book. These will be shared at the reading sessions as well as given to the learners who show commitment to the programme. This will improve our reading programme as we didn’t have sufficient new reading material for the learners.
Ikamvanites were excited to receive the books and look forward to winning of some of the goodies in the weekly English writing competition that we have initiated at the branch.
We would like to thank Ashia Nkontsa and Sharon Grant of Bargain Books Grahamstown for their generous contribution.
Ikamva LiseZandleni Zethu- The Future is in our Hands.
IkamvaYouth launched the Community Collaboration Programme (CCP) in 2014, which was established to connect with, train, and support other after-school organisations who share the same goal of enabling young South Africans to pass matric, access post-school opportunities, and secure gainful employment.
Although the CCP has only been in operation for two years, the programme is already reaping the fruits of dedication and hard work from learners, tutors, parents and programme coordinators. In 2015, organisations who were part of the CCP amazed everyone when they collectively achieved an impressive 93% Matric pass rate. Of that, 46% were bachelor passes, 26% Diploma passess, 28% Higher Cerificate and a total 12 distinctions. The organisations included in these results are; Just Grace, Sisaya Phambili, Sozo Foundation,Emagqabini and SALT.
Just Grace, has been receiving training and support over the past 6 months. They have been working with Isilimela Secondary School in Langa, Cape Town, since 2011. The Just Grace team consists of several inspirational staff members and volunteers who have been working diligently to help a cohort of 15 grade 12s achieve the success that they deserve. The support of the school’s management and staff, together with the learners and tutors tireless commitment on Saturday mornings and Friday afternoons has finally paid off. For their first round of matrics Just grace has been able to obtain an 81% matric pass rate. Even more impressively 85% of these learners received a Bachelors pass and a total of 10 distinctions were awarded. 62% of their learners have been accepted to university and over the next few weeks staff will work to ensure that all these learners secure post-school placements and begin the next stage of their bright futures.
Yongama Fayi, Just grace Programme Coordinator said: “2015 was a successful yet challenging year for Just Grace, especially because this was our first year to support the matrics. We didn’t know what to expect, but we are happy with the outcome. We are excited and looking forward to 2016. We are definitely going to do even better!!!”.
Just Grace is yet more proof that with passion, commitment, and hard work anything is possible for the youth that we work with. IkamvaYouth is looking forward to seeing these organisations progress and make a huge impact on the youth of South Africa.
If you would like to find out more about any of the organisations mentioned here or more about the CCP and how you can start, develop or grow a tutoring programme and assist young South African’s to reach their full potential, please get in contact with zoe@ikamvayouth.org or call 0744767965.
The IkamvaYouth Mahikeng branch was officially launched on the 6th of February 2016 at our host school, Danville Secondary. More than 300 people attended the event which was made up of learners from our main feeder schools Danville Secondary, Boitshoko Secondary and Setumo High school among others. Prominent Stakeholders from the Department of Education in the Ngaka Modiri Molema district, Lifeline, Famsa Mahikeng, University Of North West (Mahikeng), Taletso FET College, parents and the community were also amongst the attendees.
The Danville Secondary school hall was filled to capacity as people were eager to learn more about the programme IkamvaYouth had to offer to the learners. Our main funder Amalgamated Beverages Industries (ABI) spoke about their partnerships with different community projects under their Corporate Social Investment department(CSI) and also about continuing to invest in the IkamvaYouth programme. With Mahikeng being the 5th branch funded by ABI, “we are hoping to grow and fund more IkamvaYouth branches” said Nthonyana Kitsa their CSI specialist, “We really saw a gap and a need to grow and reach more learners in the North West” She added. Nthonyana went on to elaborate that “it is not just about the money that we donate but we want to see our country become a better place and groom leaders in partnership with programmes such as IkamvaYouth”
Also amongst the speakers was Mrs Moncho, a mother to an 18 year old Ikamvanite learner. She expressed her gratitude to IkamvaYouth for what it has done and is continuing to do for her child. “IkamvaYouth has really helped my child to improve her marks and to get her off the street. She is now focused and I am glad she is starting to see the possibilities of the future.”
Omphile Mosweusweu, a 15 year old learner in grade 11 thanked IkamvaYouth for giving him the opportunity to enrol in the programme. “I wish to become an Architect and a part-time entrepreneur and IY is helping me reach my goals. I heard about IkamvaYouth when it got introduced to my school and I never thought twice to grasp the opportunity”.
The Mahikeng branch started with tutoring sessions last August at Danville Secondary School whilst renovations for our office and tutoring hall were taking place. The branch started with only one grade (grade 10) of 82 learners. Unfortunately, some learners were removed from the programme due to failure to meet the 75% attendance requirement which left the branch with 59 learners at the end of term 4. With the growth of the branch we will now have grade 10s and 11s for 2016 with a plan to add the grade 9 class as we expand in the upcoming years, our grade 12 cohort will come from the previous years grade 11 class as we do not recruit any new grade 12s. About 200 learners expressed an interest of joining the Mahikeng branch, but the sad reality is that we only have the capacity to admit 80 learners for now. This really shows the level of demand for the programme in the area.
Of course, if government and corporates have keen ears and are interested in making an impact where it matters the most, this is an opportunity to invest financially in IkamvaYouth and increase its capacity to take in more learners; to be a part of a life-changing initiative. IkamvaYouth literally changes the lives and future prospects of learners, they benefit from the knowledge of successful ikamvanites who return to pay-it-forward by becoming tutors.
Having a mentor for a young high school learner can set you up for a life time. The guidance and mentoring that professionals give to high school learners is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted.
GetSmarter and IkamvaYouth (Nyanga Branch) have collaborated in one of IkamvaYouth’s core programmes, mentoring. Where a young professional is partnered up with a high school learner for 12 months and the mentor guides and assists the mentee in their academic walk from matric into tertiary.
IkamvaYouth learners made their way on the 25th of February to the GetSmarter offices in Observatory to meet with their mentee’s and get the ball rolling of the year. The matric learners were very excited to get out of their comfort zone and head to the big city with lights. The session started at 16:00 was intended to end at 18:00 however it was one interesting and fun session that it went slightly over time.
This relationship formed with Getsmarter is one exciting one for IkamvaYouth because the learners get to have quality mentors who are interested in their career and where they will be in the future.
We surely can’t wait for our next visit
Results, Results, Results
We are headed towards the close of term one this means reports will be coming in, results tabled and the robots shall light up.
We are looking forward to tabling the results for the first term.
Lloyd Lungu