Yet another successful development opportunity stroked the Potchefstroom community when IkamvaYouth brought a Career Expo to Ikageng Township. The event which took place on the 2nd of May 2014, received impressive by-in from different institutions, companies and organizations was also freely inviting to learners from all schools around the community and was hosted at Thembalidanisi Primary School, which is IkamvaYouth’s first tutoring venue in the North West Province.
Different Career opportunities and options were presented to learners, bringing career counseling and awareness, and to most an adventure as this was the first experience and contact with many tertiary service providers in one place. In attendance also was the Ikageng Branch team of learners, tutors and staff. High level of discipline was maintained and satisfaction met from all parties. All institutions had a chance to present their offers to learners in the IkamvaYouth tutoring hall before everyone moved out to the exhibiting stands.
A Among the exibitors in attendance were institutions like TUT, UNISA, Potchefstroom Agiculture College, Excelsius Nursing College, NWU School of Nursing Science, NWU School of Social Sciences, Eskom, SAPS, WITS University, Department of Health and Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM). IkamvaYouth also took opportunity spreading wings, getting repute and joing up with new partners in fostering education. Prospective learners were also given application forms and a chance to apply being part of IkamvaYouth.
Great fun and exploring dominated the event with learning taking lead, the dawn of a new era for IkamvaYouth Ikageng with the event being the first in the history of the branch. The presentations and exhibits were fairly balanced, covering a number of career options and choices. The event, in evaluation brought an exclusive drive and push for an even better Career event the next time the branch hosts another, a remarkable learning curve for all.
Warm-hearted applause to all stakeholders, institutions and partners who took their precious time reaching out to the knowledge hungry community of Ikageng.
On the 17th May 2014 UKZN had its Open Day at the Westville campus. IkamvaYouth KZN was a part of this very informative occasion with the full assistance and support of ABI. Grade 11 and 12 learners from Umlazi as well as grade 12 learners from Chesterville were bused to the event from their respective branches.
As early as 7:30 the learners were at the branches reciting the IkamvaYouth war-cry and getting themselves energised for the day ahead. Learners were there in their full school uniforms and they as well as the buses were on time. There were a number of ABI volunteers and staff including Samukelo Nkosi and Nosihle Mthethwa as well as IkamvaYouth volunteers to assist with the managing of learners throughout the day. After the energisers, the learners were then handed their gift bags containing a fruit, a sandwich, an energy bar, water and a cooldrink all sponsored by ABI to give them energy for the day. The learners, volunteers and some staff then got into the buses and we all left to UKZN Westville campus.
Ahead of the event the learners had been asked to choose the field of study which they were interested in and thus a college they would prefer to visit at the Open Day so as to ensure that they get the full benefit of their chosen field. The learners were then given colour-coded identification cards for the respective college that they were visiting and were escourted by volunteers to the venue where the presentations for that college would be held. The presentations and demonstrations varied according to the college of study and the learners even got to visit stalls within those departments to collect information brochures. Those learners whose departments finished early also got an opportunity to visit other colleges and hear more. Learners were very excited and learnt more about their chosen fields in terms of what the requirements are and where they need to improve in order to get into those fields.
The occassion was a very informative one and benefitted those who grabbed the opportunity and asked as many questions as they could think of. The presenters also made mention of the different ways one can access financial aid and also how the application process through CAO works. Learners left the event with more knowledge about UKZN and its courses but also knowing whether they qualify for course at UKZN or not and if not how to make sure that they do.
To end off the day, learners were then brought back to one meeting spot where further energizers were done. A motivational talk by ABI’s Samukelo Nkosi, as well as “thank you’s” by IkamvaYouth staff and learners were done. Lunch was served on the buses on the way back to the branches. It was a day well spent.
Well done Ikamvanites for your good behaviour and once again a very big “THANK YOU” to ABI for making sure that our learners experienced the Open Day in the way that they did, you certainly came through like you always do.
IkamvaYouth KZN Careers Indaba 2014
On the 25th of April 2014 IkamvaYouth KZN hosted their second Annual Careers Indaba. The event, which saw learners and members of the public walk through the doors throughout the day, was hosted in the Chesterville community hall.
Learners from Umlazi arriving
The vision of the Careers Indaba was to open up new opportunities for youth, providing them with information regarding the various programs, resources and support structures that are available to them. By educating people about the choices that are available to them, we sought to empower them, allowing them to make informed decisions about their futures.
This year’s list of exhibitors included eThekwini Municipality, ABI, CAO, Department of Labour, DUT, Training Force, Servest Group, Piece of Cake Events, Container, Career Planet and Libraries, ASN Teambuilding
There were also a number of interactive workshops on offer on the day, covering topics such as Entrepreneurial Skills, Career Decision-making, Leadership, as well as career choices available at institutions such as UKZN and DUT. These workshops were offered by UKZN, DUT and Gugu, who is a drug counsellor in Chesterville also gave the learners a career motivation workshop.
Learners also had the opportunity to hear from a number of guest speakers throughout the day, who all offered valuable advice about making career, as well as general life choices. Among these speakers, were the local councillor Mam Jabu Jabu Mbongwa, social development manager of the Cator Manor Area Based Management Khanyi Msweli and Brandon Hiemand from Career Planet.
DUT representative Mduduzi giving the Careers workshop
The day ended off with some excitement, as prizes, including t-shirts donated by Varsity College and delicious cup-cakes donated by Piece of Cake Events were awarded. Container, a small, youth-run business created quite a stir with a contest they ran, where volunteers were invited to devour a giant burger in 2 minute! This lead to them being recognised by Nosihle Mthethwa, from ABI, pledged an amazing R10 000 worth of support to see this business continue to grow. IkamvaYouth held a raffle draw for an MTN Stepper Android cellphone, which was won by Tanya Chiyambiro From the Chesterville branch.
Cellphone winner Tanya pictured with IkamvaYouth Staff member Thandazo
Learners at the Container stand
Learners felt that the day was informative, a lot of them reporting that they learnt things that they were not aware of before. Here is what a few learners had to say:
“… learnt that if we work together as isizwe sabamnyama (the black nation) we can make big things ezi valuable and special for izizukulwane ezizayo this was unexpected for real” – Zama Mpanza from Mzwamandla high school
“I Learned that you can apply for whatever you like, it’s just that you will have to do it on time because there are so many young people out there who want to study so have to do it on time ngayalezeli ,imbila yaswela usmila ngakho lokho” (Zulu proverb – meaning even the Hyrax did not get a tail due to procrastination) – Lindo Mbili
Volunteers and exhibitors also felt the day went well. With some exhibitors saying they had not anticipated the number of learners coming through the doors on the day.
“The day was okay. The thing here is the choice is from the individual, it’s their call to make. We can all do as much to inform them about what is available for them and how they are going to benefit we can only hope that they take advice and take advantage of the services we offer them” – Nokuthula from Harambe
Learners getting application advice from CAO rep
We would like to thank the Cator Manor ABM, our main sponsors for this event, for their support (financially and in-kind) in ensuring the success of this event. A special thanks goes to all the exhibitors, guest speakers, and workshop facilitators, as well as learners (as well as principals who allowed them to attend the event), who participated enthusiastically throughout the day. We would also like to thank our in-kind sponsors of this event, include the Playhouse Company (who donated production tickets for our volunteers), Unilever (who donated the gifts for our exhibitors & workshop facilitators), as well as ABI, who provided drinks on the day. Last, but not least, we would like to thank all the volunteers, some of whom were organised by the local counsillor’s office, for all their hard work throughout the day. It was a truly great event and we are looking to hosting a bigger and better event in the future.
On the 12th of April 2014 all 21 of our grade 12 learners, accompanied by 4 of our tutors, attended an Open Day that was hosted by UCT at the Upper Campus of the University. The purpose of the day was to expose grade 12 learners to the various career opportunities available at the institution, the requirements for each and what one must do in order to access such opportunities.
Upon arrival out Masinites were out and about siezing the moment and opportunity. An interesting part of the day was seeing how the matrics were hungry for knowledge and insight about UCT and all the available opportunities. From stall to stall they moved asking questions and collecting support materials that were available at each faculty booth.
The Open Day was a great opportunity for the learners to equip themselves for the rest of their matric year and for their upcoming application process. Going through the various faculty booths the learners appeared to be having fun and also appeared to be gaining a lot of knowledge about all the opportunities available at UCT. It also became clear how benefitial such events are in creating a sence of onness and morale amongst the learners.
On Friday the 14th of March 2014, our grade 10, 11 and 12 learners of the Masi branch attended a Career Fair that was held in Rondebosch. This was a very special day for the learners as they got the opportunity to explore an unfamiliar environment while also gaining valuable knowledge of the various opportunities available to them. Attendance from the learners was extremely impressive and the general attitude amongst the learners was that of willingness to learn and determination to pursue available opportunities.
The Career fair was a great opportunity for the Masi learners to get exposed to the many careers that exist, learn more things and interact with learners and tutors from the other IY branches who also attended the Career Fair. Given the distance between the branch and the venue, by the time the learners arrived, many of the other schools and attendees were already on their way out, giving our Masi learners a greater opportunity to obtain as much information as possible.
Going through the career exhibition the learners appeard to be having fun while also getting all the information they needed and more about all the different career choices available to them and the enterance requirements for each. It was a great pleasure seeing how being in an unfamiliar environment can assist with building an excitment to learn and grow.
A report from the learners concluced that more of such events are wanted and needed for the learners in order to obtian more information about more opportunities.
As application season draws closer for our grade 12s, choosing the right courses to jump start ones career can be difficult and even more so when you don’t know who you are and where your strengths lie. This last Saturday, 15th of March our grade 11s and 12s were treated to a career planning workshop that went to the heart of knowing who you are so you can get to where you want to go. As a necessary component of academic readiness, career guidance is a vital step needed in making sure that learners are guided into suitable and realistic tertiary paths where their strengths can best shine through. These decisions, we all know can impact their future careers and even life choices, and at IY we recognise the need to expose them to the best career decision making tools out there.
The introductory workshop by the renowned youth career coach Khanya-on-the-job did just the trick as our Ivory Park learners were treated to one of these motivating and awareness building exercises to help them get in touch with themselves and their true career paths. The message was simple and potent, find out and work hard to know what you love so you can do it. As the saying goes, “do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.” – Here’s to all the ikamvanites making the right decisions in 2014.
Lloyd Lungu