Finding South Africa’s Steven Spielberg

Finding South Africa’s Steven Spielberg

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 of the IkamvaYouth NSPW 2012

Day 2 of the IkamvaYouth NSPW 2012

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!

 

Lights, Camera and Action!

Lights, Camera and Action!

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. 


Masi learners take part in the Annual International Coastal Cleanup 2012

Masi learners take part in the Annual International Coastal Cleanup 2012

This past Saturday (15 September 2012), ERM (Environmental Resources Management) together with the Masi and Nyanga branches took to Muizenberg’s Sunrise beach for the Annual International Coastal Clean-up.

With the equipment sponsored by Plastics SA, the Ikamvanites and ERM staff picked up waste (i.e. plastic, paper, bottles – anything “unnatural”) on the beach. With just little time to do so, a lot of waste was picked up – Sunrise beach being one the mostly used beaches in the Southern Peninsula by humans. Great thing was that most of the waste was recyclable, so most of the things can be re-used again or something new can be created out of it.

 

Ikamvanites hard at work to keep their environment clean.

 

Learners who picked up the most waste got rewarded with Pick n Pay gift cards – above are those from Masi. From left: Sifiso Jim (Grade 9), Zukile Maweyi (Grade 11) and Robin Fuzile (Grade 11).

 

Team work…that’s how we do it at IY!

 

“Hmm is that plastic?”

Thanks to ERM and those who made the day possible! The learners had a great time and took away valuable lessons. We’re looking forward to more partnerships like this in the near future.

Here are more pictures from the Coastal Cleanup…

Everyone who took part in the coactal cleanup.

Some of the collected waste.

Nyanganites

Masinites

Gauteng Mentors Workshop

Gauteng Mentors Workshop

A mentoring workshop was held at the Ebony Park branch during the weekend, fascilitated by Nomfuzo Ntolosi, a life coach, of The Coaching Centre, with experience in running mentorship workshops. Aspects covered by the the workshop include:

– career mentoring, the responsibilities of a mentor and mentee
– the mentoring approach,  managing expectations, boundaries, relationship building, signing on and smooth dissolution
– looking after (self) the mentor
– communication with Ikamva Youth as well as identifying risks

There are already some Grade 12 learners who have been matched with a mentor. The mentor commits to two hours’ communication every month through various forms of communication networks. The first meeting is facilitated by the IkamvaYouth office, where the mentor will get to meet the mentee, and they will sign a mentorship agreement. Thereafter, the IkamvaYouth office must be informed of any meetings away from the office, to which the mentee’s parent or guardian must consent. Grade 12 learners were part of the participants and this workshop gave them insight on what mentorship is all about.

The current and potential mentors who attended were from African Bank, The Helen Suzman Foundation, MISTRA as well as the tutors from Ivory Park and Ebony Park branches. The turnout for the event was great, regardless of the rainy and chilly weather. The session was interactive which gave participants an opportunity to express their views as well as their experiences throughout the session.

The overall feedback was that it was an informative, very helpful session and was ideal to give a head start for mentoring young people in any given setting. A positive response was received from the evaluations done at the end of the workshop. Thank you to everyone that attended regardless of the weather conditions, your attendance made this workshop a success. The target is to have all grade 12 learners mentored, and thus we look forward to having more mentors coming on board. We are also looking forward to all the fruits that the mentoring will bear in ensuring the learners access tertiary opportunities, and are motivated to achieve in life.

Career Indaba 2012

Career Indaba 2012

This past Friday finally saw months of preparation and planning for our annual Career Indaba come together in a hugely successful day. Over 1800 students, parents, and community members flooded the Zolani Centre hall in Nyanga to explore their post matric choices and job opportunities.

IkamvaYouth’s founding motto is one of future-oriented thinking and pro-activity. The Careers Indaba is a fundamental step in fostering this mind set in the youth of South Africa. It is challenging to dream of a better future and to aspire to goals without knowing the realities of these goals and the opportunities that are available.

The event was open to high school learners from around Khayelitsha, Nyanga, Masiphumelele and surrounds, who came together to think about their futures and really take their lives into their own hands. They were informed not only about their career options, but also attended workshops on financial literacy by Capitec, and CV writing, interview skills and online CV development through Career Planet.

Over 25 Universities, companies, professionals and NPOs from all over Cape Town attended the Indaba as exhibitors. They did not merely provide factual information about careers and studying opportunities, but they also conversed with these young people and delivered a message of hope and possibility. This message is crucial for youth who are the victims of poor education systems and who live in a community plagued by poverty and all its products: IkamvaYouth focuses on changing the mind-set of youth, to think beyond their immediate circumstances and to believe in themselves and the possibilities that their futures hold.

The day was an inspiring success, with many learners and exhibitors commented at how much they had gained from the experience. Axolile, grade 10 from Sizimisle Technical High School said the most important thing he learnt is, ‘to know what you want to be in life and be dedicated, this will for sure get you to be where you want to be. ‘ While Sizalobuhle from Sinako High School said that, ‘ the Career Indaba helped me learn more about my dream career of being a lawyer, where to study and how to get into the best courses and universities. I also found out about how to apply for bursaries, and how to manage my money through the workshops.’

To organize an event of this size we partnered with Equal Education in helping to organize exhibitors and set up the event, and SAEP and the Department of Social Development joined the crew. We are also hugely appreciative to Mxolisi and his team at the Zolani Centre for the use of the hall and surrounding spaces.

 

Lloyd Lungu

031 909 3590
lloyd@ikamvayouth.org
2525 Ngcede Grove, Umlazi AA Library, 4031

Lloyd is a self-disciplined and highly goal-driven Industrial Psychology Honours graduate. He is currently a Master's candidate completing his second year of M.Com in Industrial Psychology at the University of the Free State. Lloyd joined IkamvaYouth as a learner in 2012, after matriculating he came back and volunteered as a tutor for the duration of his undergraduate studies at UKZN. He later worked as an Intern in the Chesterville branch. His passion for youth empowerment and inclusion has grown enormously through his time and experience gained within IkamvaYouth and has inspired him to provide career guidance to young township people. He is currently working at the Umlazi Branch as a Branch Assistant.