The past three months have seen a few of the Nyanga and Makhaza learners turn into local short film documentary film makers – learning valuable industry skills, while grappling with real issues they face in their lives. Partnering with a US based organisation,
Reel Lives, who use
filmaking media to support education, empowerment and social change.
Each of our learners in the program shot and edited an individual, non-fiction film related to a personal human rights issue in their own lives. Through the process of making these films, they were supported in engaging with their own lives in a unique way, and in experiencing the catharsis of an informal, but powerful, art therapy structure.
Have a look at their teasers, as well as read about the process and what they’ve got up to over the past three months here.
And now please join us in supporting our learners for the premiere of their films!
Saturday November 24th, 11:30am (doors open @ 11am. Please arrive early, limited seating)
Labia Theatre, 68 Orange Street, Gardens, Cape Town
FREE entry, Donations appreciated.
We look forward to seeing you there, please feel free to bring along partners / friends / family
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.
“Drum Beats……” And the Winner of a New Samsung Phone is Mary Makgamatha who is joined by her colleague Nompumelelo Nkosi in celebrating her achievement. Mary’s poster won in an IkamvaYouth Democracy competition announced in a joint session between Ebony and Ivory Park Branches. The awarding of these prizes took place on Saturday the 14th of April 2012 just after the tutorial session. The competition was open to both tutors and learners.
Mary could not contain her happiness when Modjadji handed over the Samsung phone in a box and expressed her gratitude to her colleagues that have encouraged and supported her when she was engaging her creative juices, to produce a story-telling, winning poster. Well done, Mary!
IkamvaYouth Gauteng had an extra-ordinary Saturday Tutoring Session on the 14th of April as we took the last hour of the tutoring session to celebrate IkamvaYouth being the first South African (and African) organisation to make it onto the WorldBlu-accredited list of the “World’s most Democratic Organisations”. The two branches in Gauteng (Ebony Park and Ivory Park) came together making the venue full to capacity with over 250 learners and over 50 tutors. The celebration was attended by our Guest Speaker Phumza Makanya-Ojowuro, the Director of Employee Relations and Wellness at UNISA who spoke to everyone who was present about what Democracy is and how important it is to South Africa and the world. She also expressed how proud she was of IkamvaYouth and how this is an important announcement to the whole country.
To mark the occasion, the IkamvaYouth branches in Gauteng were running a competition for learners and volunteers to submit a response to the question, “What does democracy mean to me.” Learners wrote essays and employed their creative means to answer this question. This day was filled with loads of fun as the winners who entered our competition were announced after Phumza’s Makanya- Ojowuro’s speech. Five learners walked away with airtime vouchers and two learners walked away with a cellular phone voucher each. Our funders African Bank and ABI attended the function with ABI bringing drinks to hand out to everyone who was present at the celebrations. The Tzu Chi Foundation, who have been great IkamvaYouth Gauteng supporters, were also present and brought along their boxes full of apples for all the learners and volunteers.
The learners were especially inspired as one of the learners Shaun Theko said, “She’s glad she is living in a democratic South Africa and even more glad that IkamvaYouth has continued to be such a good example to everyone.”
We continue to reiterate the words spoken by Joy Olivier Co-founder and Director of IkamvaYouth, “democracy is not just something we do at IkamvaYouth, it is who we are.”
IkamvaYouth Ivory Park held their Awards Ceremony at which learners were required to vote (per grade) for the iKamvanite that they believe bests excelled in a specific category. With the Motto for the day being: The Future is in your hands, Grab it!”
The categories were:
- Leadership,
- Commitment to Ikamva,
- Confidence,
- Creativity,
- Most Improved and
- Intelligence.
Each category was playfully represented by famous cartoon characters such as Shrek and Boondocks and iKamvanite Shelton Chadya cleaned house with prizes and awards, accepting them with inspirational words filled with gratitude, humility and memoirs into the journey he travelled with IkamvaYouth Ivory Park.
Then it was the tutors’ turn! The tutors were also given a spot in the limelight as they were acknowledged for the self-less work they put into the organization. The learners had their say in three fun categories:
- Strictest tutor,
- Friendliest tutor
- Coolest/funniest tutor”.
The tutor awards were in collaboration with the cartoon characters theme for the day who epitomized a category value. The tutoring department also handed out awards in recognition of the individual efforts made by tutors at Ikamva. Those awards were “Soul Provider” to volunteers Samuel Suttner and Nthabiseng Mokoena, who have dedicated their efforts to starting up an Ikamva library with book and shelving donations. Kihisha Suleman was recognized for her hard work in co-ordinating the Career guidance and mentoring efforts and was also awarded the “Die-Hard” award for being the longest-standing tutor to date. Other awards handed out were for Most dedicated tutor and Stamp of approval.
In addition, the University of the Witwatersrand commended all volunteers from the university for being part of the Wits Volunteers’ Programme (WVP). The learners and tutors were commended with amazing prizes.
A BIG shout out to those who sponsored prizes: Jetline Wits, Ninos, Spur, Linobe Productions, 7-Eleven, Albeit, Wits Stationers and Wits Cellulars. Together with great entertainment from our very own idols and poets, the event left everyone inspired with a complete sense of achievement and ready to grab the future!
Written by: Talent Mzili and Kihisha Suleman
Editors note: A big shout out also to Kihisha and Talent who organised the event including the prizes, certificates and the presentations. Awesome day well spent and an excellent way to bring an end to a busy year.
On the 3rd of December 2011 the Nyanga Branch celebrated Prize Giving and Year End with our learners, tutors, parents, partners and colleagues from KZN, Makhaza and the Gauteng Branch.
Nombuyiselo, Branch Coordinator, openend the event with a speech about her experiences with IkamvaYouth, in particular the Nyanga Branch, and mentioned different people who have assisted the Nyanga Branch to be where it is today, regardless of the challenges it has faced.
After that, our Director Joy spoke about IkamvaYouth, how it was founded and her experience with the Nyanga Branch, where she also motivated the learners of the Nyanga Branch and encouraged the grade 12s to become volunteer tutors next year.
The speeches where followed by giving Awards and Prizes to different kids: Most improved learners, learners with the highest attendance, Learner of the Year and Tutor of the Year. This was accompanied by prizes from Capitec and support from the Nyanga Library.
Yonelisa and Modjadji (from Gauteng-Branch) entertained us with self-written poems and we finished this nice event with some music and refreshments!
Thanks a lot to everyone who helped to make the day a success! And: Learners and Tutors, you guys worked so hard; we are proud of you!!!
Lloyd Lungu