The world is hugged by the faithful arms of volunteers. These volunteers don’t necessarily have the time, but they have the heart. Ikamva Youth values its tutors. What better way of showing our gratitude than taking them to Zoo Lake for team building exercises? Ikamva Youth has made it its culture to appreciate its volunteers throughout the year. This year’s appreciation event was combined between the two GP branches, Ebony and Ivory Park. The idea was to create unity and friendship between volunteers from different backgrounds and walks of life
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“Team building activities are essential for every organization. Some think this is about playing silly games but that is not the case. The team building activities were designed to create unity, develop good relationships between all members, giving them experience of working with different team members and to introduce processes so that they work effectively together. I strongly think we achieved that today”- said the activities instructor Welsh Dube. Participants were required to form teams, elect a leader, create a war cry and complete the challenges set for them. The day was full of laughter, shouting, singing and dancing as tutors were enjoying team building exercises. Both the Ebony Park and Ivory Park staff members handed out certificates to appreciate efforts made and services provided by volunteers to IkamvaYouth.
The categories for certificates were: Outstanding commitment, certificate of appreciation, volunteer of the year and appreciation letters written by IY Director Joy Olivier. Tutors were very happy to receive their certificates. They were shouting, rejoicing as they went to collect their Awards. Ikamva Youth really values their hard work.
As can be seen in our
Annual Report 2014 was the year of growth for us: our matric class was 63% bigger than the previous year, we reached over 1,700 learners and we opened our tenth branch. But let’s not forget why we are here, for most of South Africa’s children, the only way out of poverty is through education. Ikamvanites (IkamvaYouth learners) continue to prove that anyone and everyone – irrespective of the school one attends and the socio-economic status of one’s parents can achieve his dreams and escape poverty.
Please read more in our 2014 annual report about the innovation of our model, why we need more Ikamvanites, hear from the Ikamvanites themselves and why our three largest donors of 2014 (Omidyar Network, Amalgamated Beverage Industries and Capitec Foundation) continue to support us.
It is thanks to these donors and many others that we have been able to achieve the results that we have over the last 12 years. South Africa’s future rests on the success of our children. IkamvaYouth is fundraising to reach even more of South Africa’s children in 2016 and needs your support. Please contact me if you would like to discuss supporting IkamvaYouth or find out more about us.
On the afternoon of the 18th of August, 26 Ikamvanites in grades 9 and 10, made their way to Protea Heights Academy in Brackenfell, to the much anticipated HIP2B2 Innovation Challenge Information Event.
The 26 young innovators arrived at the venue and there was quite a tangible presence of excitement in the atmosphere as they got to mingle with other participants from several other schools before the event commenced. Right when the meet and greet was getting more and more fun, they had to enter the venue and the information event begun.
The young innovators were taken through the history of the innovation challenge, some of the bright ideas that past participants came up with, what it means to take part in the innovation challenge and mostly, how fun it is to be part of something like the innovation challenge. Next, they had to complete 3 challenges in a space of 1 hour and 30 minutes. In the first challenge they had to make a working water distribution system with 3 paper cups, straws, a sponge, an envelope and of course some water. This was quite a tricky and messy challenge for all the participants but there was a brilliant execution of ideas in the room and it just shows that these young minds are not afraid of a challenge.
For the second challenge they had to design a reflector jacket for teenagers that walk during the night, using black bags, tape and several other material. Just as the science was impressive, creativity also took over with some jackets looking like they came straight out of a fashion week runway. Innovation took up its definition in this challenge.
For the third and final challenge, the participants were given a piece of paper with a whole lot of shapes and they had to identify and count all the triangles that appeared on the paper. As we live in a fast paced era, this challenge required a sharp eye coupled with quick thinking and some participants were remarkably faster than others.
With so much energy and focus in the room, the event came to a halt and the young innovators were given entry packs to assist them with the process of entering and everyone seemed to be in high spirits for the challenge. The future is in good hands, these young innovators are truly the beacon of hope for this generation. We look forward to what they will come up with for the challenge to solve real problems that their communities face using maths and science. I believe that Steve Jobs was speaking to this bunch when he said, “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
THE BEST OF LUCK TO THESE YOUNG INNOVATORS!
The Year Beyond programme has just had its very first successful winter school for 300 learners run by a group of 36 highly motivated volunteers. Winter school is a way of introducing our young learners to a wider world of opportunity through targeted career advice and mentoring activities, supplementary tutoring, excursions and workshops, and through career speakers offering advice and support to enable the learners to access tertiary education and employment.
Our winter schools were held at Phoenix, Manyano, ID Mkhize, and Oval North High Schools. We were hosted with warmth and the learners thoroughly enjoyed the experience. With the learners having never been to an established winter school programme, the experience unlocked their eyes and minds to a new sphere of possibilities.
Winter Schools are not like the daily routine of a normal school day, instead it’s about intensive tutoring and different workshops focussed on equipping the students with a sense of independence as well as ensuring that they leave with the confidence and understanding in mind, knowing that it starts with self. The activities and workshops were aligned with the intention of developing our learner’s leadership skills, level of awareness, valuing self and importantly raising awareness of the social issues affecting youth and the preventative actions that are available to them.
Tutoring
The core component of Year Beyond winter school is the academic content. Learners received 2 hour intensive tutoring sessions with a variety of tutoring resources including; past papers, mock exams and Answer Series study guides, English (Fundza) and Math (Olico) Fundamentals.
Workshops
In addition to the academic emphasis, the winter school provided an opportunity for a number of workshops around themes relating to general life-skills, HIV/Aids awareness, filmmaking and personal presentation skills. Learners were also exposed to information helpful to choosing subjects when they start grade 10.
The varied workshops included; Peers in Sexual Health running workshops about teenage pregnancy / STIs/ HIV information and training through experiential games and role plays; UCT Health Faculty who ran TB awareness and movie screening for health awareness; a workshop from Live Magazine on how to build a newsletter and magazine, while Rae Human and partners gave a presentation from the Film and Publication Board covering topics like cyber safety, the film industry and the Board as national regulator that were geared towards enlightening learners to the dangers of the media landscape. Students filmed their own short documentary through crash courses in sound, lighting and directing. UCT Humanities Faculty ran subject choice workshops and requirements to access post school institutions, and many learners went on an excursion to the Jewish Museum which aimed to create an understanding, gain knowledge and an appreciation of religious and cultural diversity within our society, and to respect the dignity, rights and values of people from different religions and cultures.
Combination of Schools
As the old adage goes; two hands are better than one and combining two schools per cluster was the winning idea. Manyano high school combined with Intlanganiso high school at Manyano and Tafelsig combined with Oval North at Oval North High. Additionally, Phoenix combined with Heideveld at Phoenix and ID Mkhize combined with Leiden high at ID Mkhize high school. At this point it’s where we could see the excitement on learners’ face when they were introduced to their peers from different schools. Peer to peer support was the tool that was used by tutors to ensure learners supported one another, but also in building a culture of hard work and being responsible to and for each other.
A huge thanks to all the workshop facilitators, tutors and learners – Your passion, commitment, excitement and leadership shown over this time has started to set a precedent in the schools, instilling a culture of hard work and belief in the possibility of a bright and beautiful future!
Even it was a hot and sunny day during the weekend, 15 Grade 12 learners made it to the Cape Town International Convention Centre by train on Saturday 31 Januay.
They spent 21/2 hours in the different aisles of the exhibition to discover new industries and jobs. Hair dressers, mechatronics engineers, welders, air-conditioning technicians, chefs, plumbers were showcasing their work and welcomed the students to ask questions and experienced their profession.
Simultaneously the students were invited to meet recruitment officers from False Bay College, Northlink College, Damelin and other FET colleges.
They also watched videos dealing with the artisan industry from the Merseta bus here for the event. You can consult their website which is proposing career guidance through tests, articles and videos by clicking here.
Even though it was a hot and sunny day during the weekend, 15 Grade 12 learners made it to the Cape Town International Convention Centre by train on Saturday 31 Januay for the National Skills Show.
They spent 21/2 hours in the different aisles of the exhibition to discover new industries and jobs. Hair dressers, mechatronics engineers, welders, air-conditioning technicians, chefs, plumbers and other were showcasing their work and welcomed the students to ask questions and experienced their profession.
Simultaneously the students were invited to meet recruitment officers from False Bay College, Northlink College, Damelin and other FET colleges.
They also watched videos dealing with the artisan industry from the Merseta bus here for the event. You can consult their website which is proposing career guidance through tests, articles and videos by clicking here.
Lloyd Lungu