On Friday the 11th of April, University of Witswatersrand opened its doors to aspiring high school learners. 35, Ebony Park Grade 12’s came together to see what university life looks like as well as to decide on their tertiary options. With the help of our very committed volunteer Hlengiwe Radebe, the learners were divided into 3 specific groups upon arrival. The humanities groups was led by Nyasha Zvomuya, the Ebony Park Branch Coordinator. The commercials group was led by Michael Thema, the Ebony Park Branch Assistant, and the last group of aspiring scientists was led by Hlengiwe Radebe.
The open day was very organised with 30 minute seminars being hosted by different faculties in different lecture rooms. The facilitators explained what programmes were offered in their faculties, what the minimum admission requirements were and what career opportunities students could look forward to after completing their studies. The learners’ then had ample time to ask questions and meet the lecturers who teach in those faculties. It was a very exciting experience for our learners and has given them an even added push to do well in their final exams.
“I now know what is required for me to follow my dream to be a doctor, if I get accepted at Wits,” said Quintress Sefala, one of the Grade 12 learners. Another learner, Virginia Sibanda, could not express how grateful she was to get the opportunity to attend such a spectacular open day. She said, “Thanks to IkamvaYouth, we know that all things are possible”
On the 15th and 16th March 2014, Masi hosted its annual SPW. Duing this weekend 20 learners, tutors and staff members came together to plan the year ahead taking into consideration all that has happened at the branch and all the hurdles that we must still overcome. Shuvai Finos (Nyanga Branch Coordinator) and Siphelele Madabula (Nyanga Branch Assistant) facilitated and ran the SPW.
The first part of the weekend was to trace the steps of the branch via a timeline that was done by the learners in collaboration with the tutors. Thereafter, the various challenges and burning issues of the branch were tabled out with the sole purpose of finding the more sustainable and realistic solutions going forward. After a very enlightening day of brain power and fun, the first day of SPW was done.
Day two began with was became the highlight of the weekend, the election of a new Branch Comm. It was interesting to see just how much potential in vested within each Masinite as they all stood and offered themselves to serve the Branch and be a beackon of hope in the community. After the excitement, it was back to work for us all. At this point, the Masinites had to lay out the year plan for the branch, ensuring that it was realistic and speacific. After a very tiring two days, SPW was done and all the attendees agreed that although they realised that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done, they were all very excited to see the branch grow. In the masi_spwreport_2014.pdf a more detailed report of all that happened during the weekend and all the great work that is to be done at the branch is provided. Please take some time to read through it and then watch this space. To infinity and beyond!
The sky is not the limit for Khayelitsha astrophysicists
The matric class of 2013 was IkamvaYouth’s 9th and by far our largest ever, with over 150 Ikamvanites. These dedicated young men and women come from 7 different townships in 3 provinces, and they have overcome extraordinary adversity to reach and pass matric. From extreme poverty to gang violence, disintegrating families to drug and alcohol abuse, townships like Nyanga and Umlazi, the places the Ikamvanites call home, struggle with terrible social problems.
Despite those problems, the Ikamvanites of 2013 not only achieved an 89% matric pass rate, but 73% of have already gone on to access the post-school opportunities they need to set them on the path to earning a dignified living.
Even more impressively, 46% of the matriculants accessed either Universities or Universities of Technology – proving that where you come from is no barrier to where you can get to in life. Ikamvanites are entering fields of study from Chemical Engineering to Law, Accounting to Education, Information Technology to Nursing. A record 10 Ikamvanites began their first year at the prestigious University of Cape Town this year, including top Makhaza students Sipho Ngqayimbana and Abongile Jojozi, who are both studying Astrophysics. Perhaps the next Stephen Hawking will be from Khayelitsha!
Overall, 63% of the Ikamvanites who passed matric in 2013 accessed some form of tertiary studies, including at FETs and private colleges. A further 8% accessed learnerships, and 10% have returned to school to supplement or upgrade their matric marks. We will continue to work with those Ikamvanites who have not yet found a post-school opportunity, and help set them, too, on the path to a dignified living.
IkamvaYouth wishes to thank our committed partners and sponsors for all the support they’ve given us and the brilliant Ikamvanites of 2013.
We would also like to call on any other interested organisations or individuals who can partner with us to help place the class of 2014, and work towards our Vision 2030 for South Africa. We would especially like to hear from bursary providers and organisations able to provide learnerships, internships and apprenticeships.
The beginning of the year is always an exciting time for IY branches as we usher the previous year’s Matrics into post-school opportunities, welcome new learners and tutors and together decide on the goals and outcomes of the new year. On the 8th and 9th of March 2014, Nyanga branch held its annual Strategic Planning Weekend (SPW). Staff members, learners and volunteers came together for 2 days to discuss the year ahead and what nyanganites should do to make 2014 a success.
This year’s SPW was different from previous ones because the majority of learners who attended are new to IY Nyanga, having started at the beginning of the year. Furthermore, the weekend was facilitated by our Makhaza Branch Coordinator, Zukile, in line with IY’s value of collaboration and peer-to-peer support.
Over the 2 days, nyanganites worked in small groups to identify challenges faced by the branch, and come up with solutions to these challenges. On the second day, the team elected the 2014 branch committee who shall work together with the rest of the branch to make sure the branch accomplishes all things outlined at the SPW. Please find the full SPW on the following link: nyanga_spw_report_2014.pdf
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.
On the 22nd of February 2014, the Nyanga branch held an Induction Day for new parents and learners, which doubled up as the first parents’ meeting of the year. The event, held at Zolani Centre was attended by more than 100 parents and learners.
The purpose of our Induction Day was to formally introduce IY to new Nyanganites and their parents, and to facilitate the meeting and exchanging of knowledge between old and new parents, learners and volunteers.
There were two components to the Induction day, namely the parents’ meeting and the learner session, which ran concurrently, after the initial welcome and introductions. Siphelele, the Branch Assistant, and our volunteers facilitated the parents’ meeting. This session covered a range of topics, including 2013 results, the IY model, what parents can expect from the branch, and what the branch expects from parents and learners.
Shuvai, the Branch Coordinator, facilitated the learner induction, in partnership with the Branch Committee and volunteers. This session covered topics such as learner conduct, attendance, expectations and the IY values. The branch committee spoke to their peers about their function and answered the different questions fellow learners had about being an ikamvanite. The learners later got into groups to investigate, discuss and debate the meaning of each IY value and present their findings to the larger group.
The day was a huge success, garnering positive feedback, from parents especially. Two parents indicated their interest in representing other parents on the branch committee, and both are looking forward to being actively involved at the branch.
Thank you to all the parents who attended, and to all our volunteers who showed up as true superheroes on the day. 2014 will be our best year yet!
Lloyd Lungu