Finding a proper venue for the Ivory Park branch with an office, computer lab and tutoring space has been a greater challenge for the past 2 years. For the past 9 months tutoring has been happening at a local stadium, with learners crowded in a single room where they could not access learning materials research, printing and photocopying facilities.
Securing a proper venue in a township that is very populated and political like Ivory Park has been a very challenging task which took team work, commitment and dedication by the Ivory Park superheroes to accomplish. The branch has successfully signed a 3 year venue MOU with Kaalfontein Secondary School.
We give much credit to the principal of Kaalfontein Secondary Mr KG Maduma and the school SGB for accommodating IkamvaYouth in such a time of need. On Saturday the 18th smiles erupted on every learner’s face as they walked their way into the new tutoring space.
This year the WITS Psychology honours students came to celebrate heritage day with IkamvaYouth Gauteng branches namely, Ebony Park and Ivory Park. The partnership that IkamvaYouth Gauteng has with Wits Psychology students started last year when Professor Jude Clark and Professor Jill Bradbury came to celebrate freedom day by organizing an Identity workshop to talk to learners about issues surrounding their identity and how it connects with Freedom Day. Same as last year, the team brought food and games for learners to play. A total number of 120 learners from both branches attended the self-awareness workshop on the 24th of September (Heritage Day) that started from 9am and ended at 16:30pm.
The day started with introductions from the team and some fun getting to know each other games where learners were told to form a circle and throw a piece of their belonging inside the circle, then everyone had to rush in the circle and pick any object that doesn’t belong to them and find the owner of the object to start a conversation with. Learners were grouped and given a facilitator to tackle certain topics. A number of groups were in place and included the following;
The group was mainly dealing with different cultures that are found in Africa, how they differ to each other and what does it mean as a person to be African. Here the team organized a modelling contest where learners had to wear different cultural clothing to showcase and embrace their culture during presentations.
- Nature’s Beauty “Bontle Ba Naga”
This group was called “Bontle ba naga”, meaning nature’s beauty. The group was mainly focusing on the things that are natural to the world and how people use this to their advantage as one learner mentioned a Mopane tree that produces Mopane worms which are regarded as food by many individuals.
This group celebrate heritage by learning different languages that are spoken and the way people sing and dance. They also touched on how a person forgets their culture and adopt other cultures or implements their own culture like that of “skhothanes” where young individuals wear expensive clothes to express their identity.
The group also discussed the negative and positive impacts of heritage where they mentioned initiation schools as a negative impact because some people open initiation schools for business without the necessary skills needed. The second negative impact was that of beliefs. The group mentioned that often people confuse ancestors with God. They clearly state that it is a negative because it courses conflict between cultures or people. The positive impact was based on respect, where the group was comparing the modern individuals to the individuals who lived in the olden days. They argued that the modern individuals lack respect compared to those of the past. “Back then children used to cook like their mothers, but now they drink like their fathers” said a grade 10 learner Moraka Dlamini. They mentioned that girls back then used to keep their virginity before marriage or for longer compared to the modern ones.
Here the group talked about initiation schools and marriages where different marriage rules are analysed and compared with other cultures. They gave an example of when a woman hasn’t been initiated will be regarded as a child by other woman who went to initiation schools.
During presentations learners were asked what they thought of heritage day. Thabo Nkgweng said “heritage day tells us about the important things that our ancestors and elders left for us to inherit”.
Throughout the day learners learned that Heritage day is not only celebrated in South Africa but throughout the world. Also they learned that heritage day reminds people where they came from and who they are.
IkamvaYouth Gauteng branches, Ebony and Ivory Park, attended the University of Johannesburg Open Day sponsored by ABI on the 30th of July. On the day, ABI organized luxury busses and breakfast to start the day. Both branches decided to gather at Ebony Park to embark on a journey to the University of Johannesburg. A total number of 90 learners and ABI representatives all came to support the event.
Upon arrival, Ikamvanites were given a pack of goodies that included a booklet, map, mineral water and a name tag. All the schools who came for the event were taken in groups for a campus tour to familiarise themselves with the institution. Learners were advised to visit each and every exhibitor that included the sport department, arts and culture, community engagement, language unit, library, PsyCaD, student finance, residences and the student enrolment centre. Exhibition opened at 1pm and schools were welcomed into the auditorium at 2:30pm for a motivational talk from Mr Van Reinsburg. During the motivational talk, learners were told about the importance of getting good results in grade 11 and 12 final exams. Every learner who attended the open day went to the photo boxes to take photos with their friends and the PsyCaD assessment where they had to take an online career assessment that assists them with career analysis and direction. The exhibitors gave learners the necessary information and answers they needed to hear about the programs they wish to pursue with the institution in future. On the day, learners went to the student enrolment centre to apply online for free and also to check their admission statuses if they applied earlier.
The University also mentioned that learners must not obtain 40-49% as their highest mark, rather have 40 to 46 points which will include a 50 and 100% discount on their study fees respectively. The day was filled with encouragements from lectures and fellow students to the learners about the importance of doing well in their studies.
Later, learners were taken out to have lunch provided by ABI. The excitement of being part of an open day was an awesome opportunity to the learners who had never attended one. A young lady by the name of Nomthandazo Nembe from Ebony Park had this to say “this is the best experience I’ve ever had, now I know what I need to do and be also part of this beautiful institution and that is to work hard on my studies. Thanks to IkamvaYouth and ABI for organizing this day, I will forever cherish this moment”.
The day ended with learners taking photos with ABI representatives before they returned to the branch were they met the founder and director of IkamvaYouth Miss Joy Olivier, who advised them to work hard on their studies to have a brighter future.
IkamvaYouth would like to thank its sponsor ABI for making this day a memorable one.
It wasn’t too long ago that women were barred from political, legal and economic rights. Thankfully, many positive strides have been made to empower women and African women have become an economic force to be reckoned with.
Joy Olivier, the founder and director of IkamvaYouth, was nominated as a finalist in The Most Influential Woman in Business and Government award. There were 9000 nominations from 31 African countries showing how popular this award is throughout Africa. Recently, she was eventually handed the award of the Most influential Woman in South Africa and the SADC region in the category of Welfare and Civil Society Organisations.
The whole event organised by CEO Communications recognises Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government and aims to sustainably celebrate and uplift women who are making a contribution to their communities and economies across the African continent. These awards were seeking someone who is not just doing their job but also someone who is a role model. Their initiatives have evolved into the Most Influential Women in Business and Government programme, which has been recognised over the course of several years as the pre-eminent recognition platform for women.
We applaud Joy for such an amazing achievement. Keep up the great work Joy! IkamvaYouth and Africa celebrates with you!
Each year, Mail and Guardian selects 200 young South African leaders that they identify as playing an important role on South Africa’s future. The Mail & Guardian, through its 200 Young South Africans project, paints a picture of where South Africa is going as a country. The people selected each year come from across all sections of society and epitomize the best that South Africa has to offer.
Nyasha Zvomuya has been identified as one of these 200 Young South African’s for 2014 under the category of Education for her work in the education revolution in South Africa. We are proud to have our very own Ikamvanite being showcased for impacting education through the work they are doing at IkamvaYouth.
This shows us all that vision 2030 can truly be a reality and that through hard work, we can surely reach the stars!
Congratulations Nyasha!
The Ebony Park Branch hosted one of the best winter schools ever this year! With a cohort of 190 learners, the branch was a hub of excitement right from the first day. Our tutors did not disappoint as they came through with such motivation and determination to usher in the education revolution that our communities are in real need of.
On the first day, the 30th of June, we were proud to have one of our greatest role models, Khetha Dlamini as our guest speaker. All learners with 100% attendance in term 2 were awarded with special prizes and tutoring went underway straight after the opening ceremony. Tutoring was done differently this year as we decided to map out a programme of subjects that will be done throughout the 10 days. This was in an effort to make sure the learners cover all their subjects.
The branch partnered with organisations such as LoveLife and Extreme arts and these organisation took over the afternoon sessions until 4pm. LoveLife equipped the learners with HIV/AIDS knowledge whilst Extreme Arts helped the learners explore their artistic talents. There was also a debate club led by our committed volunteers that helped learners with knowledge on what debate is and how they can be good debaters.
The Foundation for Professional Development came through to conduct HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis testing on the 2nd of July and this gave the learners an opportunity to be responsible for their own health. The week got better and better, with Tzu Chi Foundation, coming through to donate rice and stationery to our learners.
On the 11th of July,our last day of tutoring, ABI hosted all our learners at their plant in Clayville. The learners enjoyed this excursion so much that they did not want to leave the ABI premises. Many young minds were inspired and many dreams took a giant leap towards their fulfillment. The most exciting thing is that our winter school can now be seen on a youtube channel (here) created by our media team.
Thanks to everyone who supported us!
Lloyd Lungu