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!
Two Gauteng Ikamvanites (Nyasha Mutasa & Modjadji-M Selowe) attended the Nalibali Reading for enjoyment initiative (www.nalibali.org) in partnership with University of Johannesburg(UJ) and Avusa Media (www.Avusa.co.za)
This initiative aims to get South African people (children and adults) passionate about telling and reading stories. Nalibali uses the power of stories, both oral and written in different languages, to inspire children to desire to read and write. Through reading, telling stories and writing, both adults and children get to know one another in relaxed and nurturing ways.
Books and stories deepen our thinking by stretching our imaginations and encouraging creative problem solving. IkamvaYouth Gauteng is passionate about literacy development hence we support and encourage learners to read through the Nalibali initiatives.
Let’s read , write, tell our stories and build a literate community
Around 2.30pm on Saturday 20 October, the first parents crossed the library doors to attend the Term 4 Parent’s meeting.
Besides explaining the IkamvaYouth aim, we first communicated the IkamvaYouth vision to the parents: “1,000,000 learners will be passing matric with flying colours in 2030, getting access to post school opportunities and generating a dignified income”. In fact we want to make them dream with us, to make them feel integrated to the process of making a difference.
In order to reach the stars, we need a high commitment from both parents and learners. Therefore we made a point on the attendance process, kick-outs, school report collection and analysis. Simultaneously, the Masi branch needs to have a pool of regular tutors. We invited the parents to come and tutor and/or recommend some of their friends who might be interested. In fact, offering a good tutoring quality comes from the small tutoring groups (1 tutor for 5 learners). At last, parents asked questions around how to get more involved and having more feedback from IkamvaYouth.
Thank you to all the parents who are one of our partners of choice in Education. Let’s take another step together!
On Saturday the 27th October IkamvaYouth Ivory Park Branch hosted the presence of Devendri Pillay of African Bank. Devendri is the African Bank representative assigned to the Ivory Park branch, and is also a mentor to one of our learners at the Ebony Park branch.
Devendri addressed the learners and left our hearts warm and very humbled. She expressed that African Bank invests in the learner’s education because it believes in them and it believes in their potential. She also shared hardships that may occur along the way, those are to be treated as life lessons and learners shouldn’t despair. One day they will look back and appreciate those hardships as building blocks.
What stood out the most was a quote from the African Bank CEO which is as follows: Impossible = I’m possible. This basically translates that if you put an apostrophe between the” I” and the “M” what results is “I-AM-POSSIBLE”. Learners exposed to empowering environments are more likely to be empowered individuals; and Devendri has helped create such an environment for our learners by inspiring them to keep pushing regardless.
The learners, tutors as well as staff are humbled by people that grace us and continue to inspire our spaces. A Big Thank You to African Bank for the dedication and investing in our youth’s education.
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.
Lloyd Lungu