Take yourself back to high school, back to a time when you did the barest minimum to get through school, a time when you’d rather be outside running around than buried in your school book after school. Some of the grade 11 learners are bucking this trend, and not only are they committed learners at IkamvaYouth (all with 100% attendance) but they also participate in IkamaYouth’s first official Book Club.
While the Book Club is still in it’s infancy they have already all read ‘One Day’ by David Nicholls. They have also tackled all the books in the ‘Twilight’ series, a popular teenage series. As a reward they were all treated to the opening of the ‘Breaking Dawn’ movie (one of the novels in the series).
Lungile Madela had this to say, “Twilight to me is an amazing story, set apart from the world, filled with wonderful characters and a fantastic plot. I’ve had the pleasure of reading all the books thanks to IkamvaYouth, it was an amazing experience for me. The books are very compelling and incredibly hard to put down, once you’ve started you cannot stop. The idea of bringing the books to life on our screens was a magnificent one.
The movies are as great as the books, the characters are exceptionally cast and so alike to the ones’ on the books it’s surreal to picture them elsewhere. In the fourth book of the series, Stephenie Meyer has truly outdone herself. She’s created a riveting climax to the story and has us at the edge of our seats. Breaking Dawn Part 1 was a delight for Twilight fans everywhere.
I can’t wait for part 2!!!! Fingers’ crossed for part 3..
If you have any books you’d like to donate or have any contacts to run literary workshops with our learners please contact:
Liesel Bakker – Makhaza Branch Coordinator
Tel: 079 633 8155
Email: liesel@ikamvayouth.org
Makhaza Prize giving
Prize giving event is conducted at the end of the academic year as a celebration of the successes of learners, volunteers and staff. It’s great to celebrate the end of the stressful exam period and the imminent summer holidays, so we give it all we’ve got. Makhaza branch had prize giving on the 26/ 11/2011. Due to the larger number of dedicated learners and tutors Makhaza branch issued out 112 certificates. 3 of most dedicated, good marks, leadership role, and best attendance learners were given a computer each. Other prizes that Makhaza learners got were Freshly-ground tickets. 15 of Makhaza branch learners will get the opportunity to watch freshly-ground performing live. The lovely Makhaza choir and hip-hopsters ensured we had good music. Tembela, one of the grade 12s who got 4 certificates plus a computer, couldn’t hide the joy and happiness during the ceremony. Thanks to Patrick for a great motivational speech which inspired most of the learners and tutors, also thanks to Joy for a great speech and background about the organisation.
One of the key things when you’re working with dedicated people is to show them the appreciation of their amazing work. It is indeed a pleasure to recognize and thank all of our tutors for the great year and amazing work they done for Makhaza learners this year. Makhaza branch tutors had their funny party at cool runnings in Tygervalley. Cool runnings is the most popular adventure sport. Ride the 1, 25 kilometre of twisting steel half-pipe and reach up to 40 km per hour. In this driving you control the speed with a hand brake, so you can go as fast or slow as you like. For most of the tutors, it was their first time for this kind of the trip. Then after the ridings tutors had lunch and chatted in the park near Tygervalley.
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Excitement, happiness, joyfulness that was the feeling of the two girls, Lorna Marenene and Thembela Gibson after they found out that they won two tickets each for the Janet Jackson concert in Grand West. Lorna and Thembela were entered on Janet Jackson 20 under 20 years old extraordinary people competition where Janet Jackson planed on meeting, honouring, and recognising up to 20 young people under the age of 20 for their extraordinary contributions to their local communities in each city she visits. Lorna and Thembela were selected to 
be part of this group because of their extraordinary contribution to their school life, IkamvaYouth and their community, Makhaza.
Lorna is a self-motivated and conscientious person and always willing to get involved. She organised, highly motivated to accept responsibility. Lorna joined IkamvaYouth in 2010, since then she has shown extreme commitment to the homework and tutoring sessions, and her academic marks have improved dramatically through this commitment. The commitment that Lorna shows in the organisation, indicate how she love being part of the community development. Besides her academic success, she is learner representative at the Makhaza Branch of IkamvaYouth in 2010 and 2011 and part of the Branch Committee. This involved her in the decision-making processes of IkamvaYouth and fostered her natural leadership skills.
Thembela is someone who always willing to learn get involve and not afraid of the new challenges. She always believes that a change can be done especial when it comes to South African education. Being a leader is what motivates her, because it’s not about leading the group of people but being the role model of that particular group you leading. She has been involved in the IkamvaYouth programme at the beginning of this year. Ever since she joins the programme, her extra ordinary working being part of the program not only motivates the tutors but also the learners of the organisation.
The concert took place at Grandwest arena. The tickets that the girls won also allowed then to meet and greet Janet Jackson at the backstage. The girls got the opportunity to greet and take a photo with Janet Jackson. “For the first time in my life I watched an international singer live on stage” Lorna said. Thembela said if it wasn’t for IkamvaYouth she would never got such an opportunity.
Well done girls!
Khan academy is an online learning tool created by Salman Khan in the United States (www.khanacademy.org). While it provides educational content for a variety of subjects, its primary focus is mathematics. Put simply, when a learner “does” Khan Academy, they work their way through a series of exercise modules, beginning with the simplest problems in math, like 2 + 5, and progressing until the learners are working on algebra, trigonometry, and even calculus problems. The idea behind Khan Academy is that when a learner reaches a module covering material they find difficult or have not encountered before, they can watch a video that teaches them how to do it. In this way, they can effectively self-learn their way through the entire school curriculum.
A couple of months ago, I approached Liesel Bakker – the branch coordinator at Ikamva Youth, Makhaza – to see whether we might pilot Khan Academy with some of their learners. Ikamva Youth, as I rapidly discovered, is a “can-do” kind of place. Within weeks we had a computer lab installed, and today we are five weeks into the pilot.
In keeping with Khan Academy tradition, I have put together a short youtube video to keep our sponsors (and you!) up-to-date with what we are doing:
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A special thanks to Liesel, Zukile, Thembi and Joy for providing the learners, the space, and the necessary support to make this happen; to David and Elaine Potter for your generous sponsorship and encouragement; to the US Embassy for contributing towards the lab upgrade; and last but not least, to the coaches – Unathi, Yanga, Mandise, and Bekho – for your continued commitment to, and enthusiasm for, the project.
And lest I leave out our most important participants, congratulations to our pioneering grade nines who have steadfastly stuck with the program and blown us away with their mathematical ability.
One pencil, one pad of paper, go! Khan Academy in action
Of Mice and Monitors – Installing the new lab
The Masiphumelele Library was a flutter with excitement on Saturday afternoon when it was announced that a very special visitor was coming to see the library and to converse with the organizations working in the library.
Welcome Camilla Parker-Bowles, The Duchess of Cornwall, wife to Prince Charles!
She arrived at 1pm, and was barely visible through the hoard of paparazzi and officials. However, when she did emerge from the crowd, she chose to sit at the table with several hard-working Ikamvanites! With heads down studying diligently for their pending matric examinations the Duchess was obviously impressed with their commitment.
Phindi Buhlungu, Vuyelwa Adonisi, Khanya Gutyana, and Anathi Bekiswa were the lucky ones who had a good chat with Camilla. They spoke about the IkamvaYouth programme, how their exams were going, how often they come to the library, why they come and what they want to do in the future. They were all impressed with her and said she was very friendly and they were proud to speak to her about IkamvaYouth.
We waved the Duchess goodbye but not before we managed to sneak a copy of Flying Colours to her! I am sure it will be viewed by the entire royal family – The Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Camilla all snuggled up on the sofa on a Sunday evening!
Whether or not it does get viewed and whether or not she will remember the learners she spoke to, her visit highlights the importance of the Masiphumelele Library and recognises Susan Alexander’s, Thando, and Veronica’s hard work in making the library a vibrant centre of community activity. IkamvaYouth is proud to partner with the library. A big thank you to the Library Team!
Life is made up of monumental moments. From your first step to your last breath you can identify a series of ‘landmarks’. In the last 2 weeks the Matric Ball has been one of these landmarks for many Ikamvanites. The event marks the end of a long and arduous journey, but it is also the celebration of the next step. The preparation and excitement was overwhelming, and I must admit I was rather bemused at the money and time spent designing, making, and buying all manner of clothing, shoes and accessories.
However, any bemusement and judgement I was harbouring vanished when I saw the smiles and glowing eyes of our grade 12s as they exited the limo that was kindly sponsored by ERM, and took a walk down the red carpet through a rabble of screaming fans – this was a monumental moment!
The very fact that these learners are matriculating is monumental. In a country where only 67.8% people matriculate, and where the majority of learners from previously disadvantaged communities drop-out before the final year – it is astonishing that these learners have made it this far, especially given the obstacles along the way.
Our learners have their own home challenges to face including; teenage pregnancy, alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence etc. In addition there a multitude of community problems that play in to the tangled web of implausibility.
At the Nyanga branch there have been constant gang fights and high crime rates, which have driven many of the learners away from the library, particularly in the winter months when the journey home after tutoring in the dark was treacherous and a number of our learners were victims of theft and muggings. Other mindless crimes that we are battling with are office petrol bombs and internet cables being stolen on a regular basis.
At the Makhaza branch, a number of learners who attend Chris Hani High School were caught up in the protests that resulted following an incident in which a learner was badly beaten following a disagreement with the principal (please see the article about the event). The principal remains in his position and the learners’ fury is simmering. There is daily commotion and an unsettled atmosphere, which is not conducive for a learning environment. There is very little respect left for the principal and when we are looking to teachers to provide positive role models for these young people, these actions are unacceptable.
In this context it is a wonder that these learners have the resolve to even attend school, let alone IkamvaYouth. The schools themselves aren’t making it any easier for the learners and this threatens the results and futures of many of our Grade 12s.
Extra classes have been scheduled for everyday after-school at all Western Cape schools, which has limited the learner’s access to the IkamvaYouth programme. While it is a positive step to increase teaching times at the schools, this has been done in order to complete the curriculum and exam material (that should have been completed in school time) rather than offering any additional support. There is the feeling that these classes are just replicating the model that isn’t working, while limiting access to a tutoring programme that is.
There has also been the demand on learners to attend extra classes throughout the holidays and at weekends. An ‘all work and no play’ method that seems like the only option open to the department of education at this stage.
Despite all the extra hours, many Grade 12s remain severely behind as they haven’t been taught the entire curriculum yet. This is particularly the case where learners have not had a teacher for much of the year; at one school learners were left without a physical science teacher for 11 weeks. The tutoring sessions have thus become impromptu lessons rather than targeted individual tutoring, and tutors are less able to develop the learner’s deep understanding.
At all branches there has been additional tutoring sessions in an attempt to rectify the knowledge gaps. At Makhaza the ‘Matric Success’ project was established, which focuses entirely on mathematics for matric examination success. At Nyanga and Masiphumelele the tutors are in full force and learners are attending the library as much as they can for cramming sessions. One wonders, if at this stage it is too late.
IkamvaYouth doesn’t exist in a vacuum – there are a multitude of societal, economic, political, cultural and educational problems that we are grappling with at every step. 2011 has been a tough year with numerous obstructions, both internally and externally, but there is still an optimism in the air the Ikamvanites can once again perform an unprecedented miracle.
It is in this context that a Matric Ball becomes something far more than just a school dance and instead represents the commitments made so far and the decisive steps that must be taken now to ensure the realisation of a better future; a better South Africa!
Of course it is also about the rare chance to dress up; the hair, make-up, shoes, sunglasses, suits, ties, and dresses…and of course the after party! Thank you to everyone that helped to support the Masiphumelele Grade 12s to attend their Matric ball and make it into a happy memory.
Lloyd Lungu