IkamvaYouth has tried, tested and developed an effective model for addressing South Africa’s education crisis, and ‘it is working!’ We are now in five provinces, and receive countless requests from communities across the country to replicate the model. We are now gearing up to respond to these calls, and to do this we need your help.
Reflecting on the great impact IkamvaYouth has had on the lives of South African township youths over the past nine years is a hopeful and inspiring exercise. More and more learners are accessing free tutoring and homework assistance services, and reaping the rewards. Over 77% of Ikamvanites have, since 2005, accessed the post-school opportunities they need to pull themselves and their families out of poverty. And three out of five matriculating learners return to the organisation as volunteer tutors.
IkamvaYouth is on a path to ensure all children in South Africa who enrol in school successfully complete grade 12 or its equivalent, access post-school opportunities, and have a dignified living four years after matriculating. We acknowledge the great role of our partners and funders in making this possible, having learnt the crucial role of parents, communities, companies, other non-profits, government departments, schools and tertiary institutions.
IkamvaYouth’s greatest benefactors are the volunteer tutors and mentors, who in 2013 will provide over 8 million rands’ worth of after-school support. We’re now calling for financial donations from individuals to help us dramatically boost our impact. By investing in today’s learners, you’re also investing in the tutors for the following years’ learners.
IkamvaYouth is participating in the Global Giving Winter Open Challenge 2012, an opportunity that could land us a permanent spot on the Global Giving Website (www.globalgiving.org), an online giving platform for NGOs that will enable us to access donations from all over the world.
The challenge is to raise at least $5000 (about ZAR45, 000), from at least 40 different donors; between 26thNovember and 31st December 2012.
Give a life-changing gift this festive season, and empower the township youths of South Africa through education, replicating the IkamvaYouth model across the country. We can achieve a lot with any amount you can give. You can also make a big difference by sharing the challenge with others.
Click here to donate via creditcard, PayPal or gift card.
To find out more about IkamvaYouth, see www.ikamvayouth.org.
The big number of parents that attended, showed the willingness and dedication these parents have for their children’s education.
At the meeting a number of issues were discussed with some of the more important issues being the role IkamvaYouth plays, attendance, the IY mission and vision, the benefits of being part of IY, report collection and tertiary placements for 2012 grade 12s. The parents also spoke about their experiences of the program, the concerns they have and how all the different projects and tutoring plays a role in shaping the lives of their children. The parents were excited about what their children are doing at Ikamva Youth and also looked forward to reaping the rewards and sharing in the successes of their children.
Also part of the meeting was the tutors who had opportunity to voice their opinions, concerns and successes they had while tutoring this year. One thing that stood out was the willingness of everyone present to make this program a success. One parent noted that this is one of the very few organisations that add value to her child as well as her life. She said that education is key in fighting poverty and finding a way out of township life and thanked IkamvaYouth for accepting her child in the programme. A grade 12 parent noted that money is one of the biggest stumbling blocks that keep their children from going to university and through IkamvaYouth’s involvement and our endeavors in helping students get bursaries, paying the application and registration fees, we are helping to make their dreams a reality.
The success of our programme is directly linked to the involvement of parents and through the interaction at the meeting we realised that the future of this beautiful country is looking bright. There is a willingness of people everywhere to make a difference and once a vision is shared it becomes a reality. Success breeds success and this saying was proved at the meeting. If everyone plays their role, no matter how small and insignificant they might think it is, change is possible.
We received a favourable response from Jabatha Paper and Stationery who have generously donated 4 desks and 2 chairs to the Ivory Park Branch. Their generosity is a meaningful contribution to the smooth running of the branch operations and yes of course, help create those inspiring spaces.
A big Thank You once again to Jabatha!
IkamvaYouth is very lucky that for the past two months 8 lucky ikamvanites has had the opportunity to be part of a film-making course with Reel Lives. The film-making course is being facilitated by Leah Sapin, Director of programs, and Lyle Kane, the Executive Director. Both Leah and Lyle are from New York and they have brought along with them very expensive photography equipment to help our learners tell their stories.
Reel Lives uses media to support education, empowerment and social change. Their approach consists of an integrated set of programming that achieves both depth and breadth of service. Each student learns the skills associated with documentary filmmaking, from cinematography to narrative development and non-linear editing with Final Cut Pro. Each young filmmaker is engaging with their own lives through film. Executive director and former teacher, Lyle Kane said, “Working with these young filmmakers in Cape Town has been amazing both personally and professionally. The power of their stories will have an impact on anyone who sees these films, and the process has proven to us that our model of training is transferable. Our work dovetails so wonderfully with the concept and practice of IkamvaYouth’s work.”
“Reel Lives has been very useful to my life. It supported me on the huge challenge that I use to be afraid of. Now I am at the top of my life. I have accepted and know myself better,” said Kuhle Riti, one of the lucky Ikamvanites. The Reel Lives project has started as an idea to show the world what really happens in South African townships from an insider’s perspective. Most documentaries tell stories from the outside, but by equipping the learners with the skills to make their own documentary, they give the world a personal view of what really happens.
Students are not just taught in a classroom setting, but they are taught how to handle the film-making equipment and shoot their documentaries on their own and in a group. This teaches the students how to work on their own, but also how to look after expensive equipment and will stand them in good stead later on in the lives.
Join us on the 24th of November 2012 for the premiere of the documentaries. More details will follow, so watch this space.
Day 2 has been a day of learning, fun and bonding here at Heath and Soul in Cape Town for the IkamvaYouth Team. It is true that when people put their minds together great things are sure to happen. The day started with a great ice breaker, where IkamvaYouth staff were taught how to breathe in and out whilst becoming one with nature and our surroundings. The NSPW facilitator, Ilana Wetzler, began to challenge the IkamvaYouth staff on how to understand themselves through self-awareness and highlighted the fact that we all should strive to develop our self-awareness so as to become better leaders.
Ilana- Facilitator(Left) and Joy -Co-Founder of IkamvaYouth (Right)
This year’s NSPW is full of experiential learning and we covered areas such as tools of dialogue, intentional misdirection and different types of energy. The IkamvaYouth team has been separated into three groups to complete team tasks. The names of the groups include the Rockets, the Sweet Chilli’s and the Bees.
Interestingly enough, Lungelo Masiza, the Chef preparing all the amazing food during our stay here is a former Ikamvanite. He has successfully started his own catering company called La-Thiswa catering and is a living testimony of how IkamvaYouth is changing and empowering lives.
Watch out for the IkamvaYouth team of avengers, going through an amazing transformation from no fear to complete love!
Who said young people couldn’t create, direct, produce, film and act in their own movie.
About 30 Ikamvanites in Gauteng had the opportunity on Saturday 22nd of September 2012, to go onto a professional movie set in Johanesburg at The Home Movie Factory and create their own master pieces.
The Home Movie Factory is an initiative created by Michael Gondry upon the idea that filmmaker creativity should be cultivated and shared as much as possible. Michael said,“I don’t intend nor have the pretension to teach how to make films. Quite the contrary. I intend to prove that people can enjoy their time without being part of the commercial system and serving it. Ultimately, I am hoping to create a network of creativity and communication that is guaranteed to be free.”
The Ikamvanites arrived to a ready-to-use film set and equipment which made an infinite number of storylines possible. The learners got to work independently and had creative control over all aspects of the movie and this included the genre and title of their film, the script, the acting and actual filming.
After three hours, the learners were able to see a screening of their film and were given DVD copies of the final product.
WOW is all I can say. It was amazing experience! We definately have some very creative young Ikamvanites here in Gauteng.
Lloyd Lungu