The vibrant State Street mentors have shown that an essential first step in a successful mentoring program is for both the mentor and mentee to identify, define, and honestly articulate their common and individual goals and motivations. On the afternoon of the 28th of September 2016, the Masiphumelele matriculants attended their closing session with their mentors. The learners were ready and very excited to catch up with their mentors especially since we’re getting closer to the deadline for tertiary applications and exams!
Thato Kola (State Street Mentoring organiser) and Nathan (State Street vice Director) gave some motivational words to learners, before they paired up with their mentors for their final session. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all the State Street mentors and their team for knowledge and wisdom they have imparted upon IY learners. It has been a great help and support throughout the year. I believe success for our matriculants is at least in part due to the sincere support and mentorship provided by State Street.
Max Coyle, a recent Biology graduate from the US, voluntarily came during his holiday time to introduce the foldscope to the Masinites. Max wanted to share his experiences of using the Foldscope with the learners, to feed their minds and make them think and see that the world is much more than what we see with the human eye.
This foldscope is a low-cost optical microscope that can be assembled from simple components, including a sheet of paper; a light-emitting diode; a watch battery that powers the LED and a lens (although natural light of lamp light can easily substitutde for the LED). This tool was developed by a team led by Jim Cybulski and Manu Prakash, an assistant professor in Bioengineering at the Stanford University. For more information you can click here and here.
Max introduced the microscope and its purpose to the learners and further took them through the assembly of the kit and how to operate it. By assembling the foldscope themselves, they got a chance to follow the instructions given by Max and put it together perfectly. The learners placed a small piece of leaf on the lens and what they saw was amazing and interesting, it brought up a lot of exciting questions! The fact that this foldscope is adjustable (can be moved up/down and side-ways) allowed the learners to see the microscopic world clearly and from different angles.
The Foldscope also comes with a feature which permits one to attach a smartphone to it, allowing the learners to take pictures and zoom into what they see. This experience left our learners quite scientific- minded :). They got to keep their foldscopes as well as extra lenses that they got from Max. Experiments like these help boost how people see and think of things. Our learners can now be their own scientists and use their foldscopes to explore what they cannot see with the naked eye!
Thank you to Max for this DIY / Biology workshop and the Masinites that took part!
Watching their delighted faces as they entered the gates of CPUT and UWC brought nothing but joy to my heart. This is a dream coming true and the beginning of greater things for all of them.
Knowing that the future is in their hands, IkamvaYouth learners from Masiphumelele walked bravely to all the faculties’ stalls, showing huge interest; looking for courses that best suit them and asking the exhibitors all the right questions. The learners gathered as much information as they could and went home with an idea of what they would like to study after passing matric this year. From the smiles on their faces, one could tell that they were happy and ready for the next step.
Thank you to CPUT and UWC for being so accommodating, the learners went home with some goodies – handy backpacks and lip balm ?. Our Grade 12 Masinites took the first step and acted on their dreams of pursuing their studies at their desired university. Nothing can hold them back.
With this can-do attitude and enthusiasm towards education, poverty will be bypassed and chances of employment will rise ,together with our rising youngsters.
So go on, DARE to dream BIG!!!
Four Grade 12 learners from Ocean View High School used the opportunity presented to them by a life orientation assignment to share with the Masinites their research on what is known as the silent emotional killer: RAPE.
They were tasked by their school to compile and share the topic with 50 people, and also give them questionnaires to answer based on the information shared with them. They felt compelled to share the information they had with the Masinites in all grades, so they could learn about rape and know that SILENCE DOES NOT MEAN CONSENT!
Nothing was as inspiring as watching them confidently delivering their presentation; Janice (the Masiphumelele English FUNdamentals Tutor) was also thrilled to witness the quality of their delivery. The learners sat quietly, digesting the information passed on to them, listening to their fellow school-mates and when the time came, asking questions; I believe that was the best part, we knew that they were engaging with the information. I can safely say that the learners left there with so much information on rape, thanks to the friendly presenters.
BIG UP MASINITES!!! With that confidence, you will go places!
Speak out!!
Last December (2015), the Masiphumelele community suffered another fire that left many people destitute.
Three months later, the inhabitants are still feeling the effects and are trying to rebuild their lives. You can read more about the after-effects here: http://www.brightcontinent.co.za/2015/12/06/masiphumelele-fire-township-cape-town/
Nicholas Commeignes (Branch Coordinator – Masiphumelele) has been collecting contributions of furniture, clothing and kitchen equipment for the affected learners and organisations such as State Street and Cognia Law have been contributing. Some funds were reserved to assist the learners to acquire school uniform and stationery at the beginning of the year; their living situations still remain difficult though as some have had to rely on family and friends for accomodation which is sometimes far from their schools. One learner gets home from school at 8pm because of the long commute.
If you would like to contribute towards this fire relief initiative, this inludes items along the lines of clothing (including uniform), stationery, furniture or kitchen equipment, please send an email to nicolas@ikamvayouth.org / hetile@ikamvayouth.org for detailed information on the learners current requirements.
We are proud of our Masinites who achieved a 79% pass rate this year.
4% of them got a National Higher Certificate pass, 38% a Diploma pass and 38% a Bachelor pass.
We are wishing them all the best for their development in future.
Lloyd Lungu