Saturday the 21st of September 2013 was a very exciting day for the Ikamvanites. Despite waking up to very cold weather, Ikamvanites from both the Ebony Park and Ivory Park branches came together at the Ebony Park branch to receive special gifts from the Tzu Chi Foundation.
Dean Teng, a Tzu Chi Foundation representative said that the young Ikamvanites have always helped and supported The Tzu Chi Foundation when they were conducting their Winter Relief Community Outreach Programmes over previous months. Dean said it was now the Ikamvanites’ turn to receive from Tzu Chi. A truck full of bags of 5kg rice as well as stationery packs parked on the IkamvaYouth premises and each Ikamvanite was handed the gifts from Tzu Chi. The learners were so thankful and appreciated having such support from people coming from very far away. The young ladies, especially, had to grow some muscles to carry everything they had been given back to their homes because it was really heavy.
The Tzu Chi Foundation has been working together with IkamvaYouth for 3 years. They bring fruits to the learners every Saturday morning and have also given some of our Grade 12s bursaries to continue with their tertiary education.
Thank you Tzu Chi for your continued support to all the Ikamvanites!!!
We are entering an exciting stage of our development as we enter the 10th year of delivering tutoring and mentoring services to South Africa’s youth. We developed Vision 2030 at the end of 2012, which is to see the one million learners who start Grade 1 in 2018 matriculating and accessing employment by 2030. For this to happen we need to work together.
We issued a call for potential community partners in July 2013. Applications came from all over South Africa and we have had the pleasure of meeting a number of these organisations and individuals. The selflessness that we have seen, the extra jobs people are taking just to pay tutors transport costs, to buy learning resources and to build extra tutoring rooms, has truly inspired us. The realisation that there are so many people who are unshakably committed to a better future for South Africa’s youth has led us to widen and deepen our call for partners. We want to involve as many people as we can in the collaboration project so that these superheroes are recognised for, and supported in the work that they do.
At the beginning of this year IkamvaYouth was proud to have supported over 3,000 students through grades 8-12. The majority of whom have gone on to study at universities and colleges, and secure themselves competitive job placements. This group of inspirational students, along with the volunteers and staff that have tutored and mentored them, are part of the ever-growing Ikamvanite family.
The IkamvaYouth model offers a solution to the education challenges facing South Africa. Bill Clinton once said “Nearly every problem has been solved by someone, somewhere. The challenge of the 21st century is to find out what works and scale it up.” We have a solution and through collaboration and collective learning we hope to scale this solution by enabling other actors to replicate these results.
We have spent 10 years making mistakes, learning from them and developing a high-impact tutoring and mentoring model based on these lessons. What has been produced is a model that can be easily replicated while allowing for adjustment to specific contexts. The key principles and success is based on starting early, maintaining commitment, tutoring not teaching, and assisting with post-school placements.
This sounds too simple to be true, but IkamvaYouth has proven that a solution to the education crisis does not have to be a complicated and costly project but can be a simple beneficiary-led programme driven by a passionate community. There are hundreds of organisations across the country working for the same ends, so why not work together?
We are now calling to everyone to scour the Western Cape for those movers and shakers, those individuals and organisations that inspire you, those who are going above and beyond to deliver education programmes for South Africa’s youth. We want to meet them, share with them, enable them and support them in the implementation of tutoring programmes that by 2030 will have supported every learner to reach Grade 12.
It is time for this family to get bigger! There are various levels of involvement from online access to resources to formal partnership.
Please contact zoe@ikamvayouth.org or call 0744767965 for more details about working together.
August is a special month for all women in South Africa as we all celebrate Women’s Day on the 9th of August of every year. ABI together with Joan Madibeng, a South African business woman and media personality, invited 10 of their mentee’s from IkamvaYouth Ebony Park to attend a very special occasion to celebrate all women on the 24th of August 2013. This event was titled, ” Women – The Real Architects of Society, ” and was aimed at providing attendees with some insights into the world and also provide guidance for them as they mature into women-hood.
The event was packed with inspiring speakers, incredible performers, amazing food, spot prizes and fabulous goodie bags. There were many special guest speakers and these included Herman Mashaba, Thabiso Sikwane, Edith Venter, Dr. Michael Mol and Azania Mosaka. The learners really appreciated being given the opportunity to attend this event largely because ABI paid R10 000 for all the Ikamvanites to get a seat and enjoy the day.
Joan said, “It is key that women be given the tools for their upliftment and be given access to information relevant to all areas of their dynamic lifestyles. It was a wonderful privilege to host fellow Women, and inspire them in a small way”
The learners have pegged this to be a day that they will live to remember for the rest of their lives!
Thank you Joan and ABI!!!
Matrics in the Western Cape have taken Winter School to a whole new level by being the first group to participate in a Matric camp. An innovative part of IY’s annual Winter School holiday program, the Matric camp was launched in 2013 by the Western Cape team and has seen 62 Matrics from Makhaza, Masiphumelele and Nyanga get together for a week getaway at the Rotary Glencairn camp site, for 5 days of intensive tutoring, academic workshops and exam practice.
The first day saw all the learners arriving at the site and immediately getting into energetic team-building exercises led by Masi Branch Coordinator, Johnlyn. The exercises proved a worthy ice-breaker as learners started interacting more freely across the branches, and working collectively to earn points for their various teams, comprised of Matrics and volunteers from each branch.
Johnlyn led the group in a workshop on vision and goal-setting, where she spoke frankly about being in Grade 12, the imminence of exams and what it takes to reach goals and achieve desired results. The session was an inspiring one for many learners, and Yonela Jongilanga from Nyanga branch had the following to say: ‘This is different from the other camps I have attended. I like it because the focus is about being serious.’ Tutoring started in earnest and learners spent the rest of the afternoon working on their schoolwork.
Makhaza Coordinator, Zukile took the learners through a valuable workshop on how to calculate their aggregates and types of passes they are currently receiving in their school reports, for the purposes of tertiary studies. The session also covered the National Benchmarking Tests and their importance for accessing studies at certain universities in South Africa. The workshop ushered in a very sombre mood amongst the group, as learners realised the amount of work required of them, in order to access university. Nyanga Branch Assistant, Siphelele, then led the group into an energetic slogan, where learners re-stated their confidence in their ability to achieve their dreams. The evening wound down on an emotional note, as the group openly shared individual experiences and challenges individuals have experienced.
As the Matric camp continues, the learners have all managed to do take part in a variety of activities aimed at preparing them for their final exams and tertiary studies. On day 3 of the camp, the Matrics’ mentors joined the group for an afternoon session of tertiary applications and each learner applied to 5 tertiary institutions for study in 2014. Afikile Nkonyana said the following: ‘’I am glad I had people to help me with my applications. My first option for study is Chemical Engineering and I applied to Stellenbosch, NMMU, CPUT, Wits and TSiBA and I hope I will get a place at one of them for next year.’’ Later that evening, the learners went on a trust hike up the mountain, which is one of the activities that has enriched the learners’ overall experience whilst on the camp. Luyanda Jaranda from Makhaza branch said the following: ‘As we have bonded, it has become quite easy to be tutored together and we have become so relaxed and free during the sessions.’
On the last full day of camp, the learners started the day with a workshop on writing amazing applications. For young people who are on the verge of exiting the school system and entering tertiary education and employment, this workshop came at the right time. Many of the learners are interested in accessing bursaries and other sponsorship for their studies and were very enthusiastic about a workshop that addresses writing to potential funders and employers.
One of our Masi volunteers, Janna, ran a workshop on study guidelines, schedules and time-keeping, which is essential since the Matric exams are a month away. The group also got to enjoy a refreshing walk to the beach, where they had a fun afternoon playing games, swimming, chatting, doing photo-shoots and having lunch at the beach. After walking back, the learners were exhausted, but had enough energy to get ready for a Maths workshop, facilitated by SAAO.
True to ikamvanite culture, the learners got into a rigorous tutoring session after the day’s many activities and spent a number of hours getting assistance in their school subjects from their tutors, who as usual were more than up to the task. Lindiwe Grootboom, a volunteer said the following: ‘I have found the camp very inspiring. I hear the stories from the learners and tutors and I am amazed by what they go through every day, and yet they are here, studying and working to make their lives better.’
Matric Camp has been a success so far, and Kuhle Riti from Makhaza said the following: ‘The camp is a success because we have got a chance to focus on our studies and help each other as Matrics from (the Western Cape). ‘’ This strongly echoes IY’s value of peer-to-peer sharing and IY is excited to witness the fruit of the Matric camp as the learners write their mock exams in September and final exams in November.
A very special thank you to Pick’n Pay Fish Hoek, for generously supplying camp catering, and ensuring that all our learners, volunteers and staff are well fed every day of the camp, as well as Rotary for the accomodation.
Matrics 2013 Yes we can!!!
After the wonderful first week of Masiphumelele Winter School, both learners and tutors were expecting more from our colorful workshops for the second week. We have had some new workshops this week covering interesting topics as Environmental Protection, Sexual Violence, Academic Writing, Debate, and more. On Thursday, learners wowed the tutors with their ability to craft intelligent arguments in a short amount of time during the Debate workshop. In Academic Writing, we learned about Plagiarism and how to correctly cite sources in our writing.
We were lucky to have Black Sash, an organization works to advance equality, social justice and human rights to give a special workshop on some key social problems. Wire Works with Frederick gave learners an opportunity to use wires and beads to create works of art. Other learners went to Fish Hoek beach to clean and recycle garbage.
Beyond these sessions, learners also participated in some workshops more focused on their own future. CPUT Engineering Department and Stellenbosch University came to our Winter School to introduce their academic programs and encourage some learners to apply. Capitec Bank held a whole-morning session on Tuesday to give career guidance, CV skills and financial knowledge to our young learners. And on Wednesday, Inspired Inc gave a very passionate speech on having a vision and dream for one’s life. Learners tried to project their vision and their plan to reach that vision. We love these sessions, because Winter School is not only about academic progress, but also about equipping our learners for the future and empowering them to reach their dreams.
Learners also concluded the week by taking time to write thank you notes to those who have helped make this week possible, including Pick n Pay (who provided our lunches!) and False Bay College (who provided the venue for our Winter School!). As we look forward to our Talent Show with the other Ikamva Youth branches tomorrow, we are grateful and happy for a great two weeks of learning and growing alongside one another. One of our tutors, Lauren, put it well when she said,
“Winter School is designed not only to inspire the kids but also to inspire tutors to continue our work to put them on a path towards a better life. If one of these students can succeed in that task, I’ll know that I’ve done my job.”
Lloyd Lungu