This past weekend of the 3rd and 4th March our Makhaza held their 2012 Strategic Planning Weekend. It was an excellent opportunity for volunteers, tutors and leaner reps to participate in core operational planning and goal setting.
The Main goal of our SPW was to elect a branch committee (in charge of roles and portfolios) and for new volunteers (grade12 from last year returning) to take ownership of programme and become part of the management team. It was also a great weekend for the leaner reps and tutors to get to know each other better.
Being a branch committee member isn’t easy, with the prestige comes a huge amount responsibility and high expectations from the rest of the learners and tutors to raise the branch up for the year and provide quality programmes.
We decided to shake things up a little this weekend and work together to provide all the branches with a working document that is the branch com constitution, outlining why it exists, the main aims and goals as well as cementing responsibilities of the various programmes.
Unathi Smile, a volunteer and intern at Makhaza says, ‘the weekend was a great experience for many of us, but speaking for myself it was a brilliant way of putting things in perspective. Saturday afternoon, what I took with me is that, 26 heads are so much better than 1 head, meaning if one person had to sit and think about burning issues at IkamvaYouth Makhaza branch, that would not have been a great experience and I assure that somebody would have taken time in thinking about these and finding solutions at the same time. Sunday morning was just too good to be true, learner reps appointed members of the branch comm. and I am proud to say that I was appointed for two portfolios, namely, Career Guidance and Computer (Khan Academy).
We had to present goals, what needs to be done to reach that particular goal, by when the goals should be reached and by whom. I have no experience of leading a team but it is great to learn and persevere at the same time meeting the needs of the learners and those of the Makhaza IkamavaYouth branch. I have taken away with me memories and have learned that one must not under estimate the ability of others.’
Zesipho Dyonase, Grade 9, says that “I have learnt that you don’t have to hold back any ideas or views that you have, you must voice them out. I have taken away with me the spirit of working together as a team, through that spirit, nothing can bring IkamvaYouth down.”
And our youngest branch comm member, confident and outspoken Grade 8 learner Luxhase Yokwana, head of tutoring says “I had so much fun, and definitely took away a lot of things, one of them being able to work with other learners from different grades. My parents were so proud of me when I told them that I am in the IkamvaYouth Makhaza branch committee, what is left of the Ikamvanites now is to put the plans into action.”
Read the full report here and have a look at our new Branch Comm Constitution
Our new Branch Committee 2012!
Plans become action lists
Puthang running through why we exist and the issues faced at the branch
All of IkamvaYouth’s programmes are delivered ‘for’/’by’ the youth rather than ‘to’ the youth. IkamvaYouth’s methodology is based on a learner-centred model that values democratic decision-making at the branch and national level, paying-it-forward, learner ownership, operational transparency, and peer-to-peer learning.
IkamvaYouth values the need to create a culture of responsibility and works in a way that gives learners responsibility for their peronsal actions but also raises their awareness of the consequences and impact of their actions on others. The SPW is a key mechanism to raise this awareness and create this sense of democracy, transparency, and accountability.
At the SPW the Branch Committee is elected, which maintains this democratic youth-led structure. Each branch’s management committee (branchcom) is voted annually and everyone (including parents, partner organisations, learners, community leaders) is welcome to participate in branchcom meetings held every two weeks. Everyone gets one vote; official branchcom members get two. Everything is discussed openly and transparently (including salaries, performance reviews, budget decisions etc.) and everyone gets a say in how things are done at the branch level.
2011 Timeline
The BranchCom is elected at the beginning of each school year at the Strategic Planning Weekend (SPW). This year at Masiphumelele it was spread across 3 weekends.30 learners attended the 1st session to find out more and then a core group of 15 maintained an interest in participating in the decision-making process. The 3 sessions were great and encouraged learners to think about their needs and wants within the programme and even touched on external concerns that could be addressed through Ikamva.
The 1st BranchCom meeting will be held on the 12th March and the BranchCom will be officially elected. Through this system, learners are really owning their choices and valuing their input into branch decisions. It is truly special to see this and it is what makes IkamvaYouth an innovative and exciting programme.
Please see the SPW report for an overview of what was discussed and how participation was fostered.
On the first day 30 learners arrived to find out how they could get involved
The fifteen people who’re ensuring that hundreds of South African youth pull themselves and others out of poverty through education finally got to work together in person. For an entire week!
Being an IY natcom member isn’t easy. It’s a huge amount of responsibility, with high expectations and the pressure to make every cent stretch further than most people would think possible. One of the ways in which we run a low-cost, high-impact model with national reach is by leveraging technology, and our national team works from townships and cities across the country, connecting via Skype, email, gchat, google docs and the ikamvanitezone. Connectivity challenges at many branches make our online meetings difficult, and we often find ourselves trying to have big conversations and make important decisions with distracting background noise, calls dropping, and participants either unable to hear or be heard.
So the 18th September marked the day that many natcom members got to meet their colleagues in person for the first time. And eish but did we maximise that face-to-face time all week!
Mignon Lotz-Keyser from Peer Power generously volunteered her time, skills and expertise to facilitate our conversations, from vision & values right through to the action-item-to-do list for ensuring that this vision is realised. Key strategic partners Capitec, the Learning Trust and iKapaData joined us at points during the week, and our chairperson Leigh Meinert took leave from her day job as MD of TSiBA to provide valuable input over two days. Dennis Clark, our accountant, joined for the Thursday evening braai and Friday Finance Day, where we spoke about improving our financial tracking and reporting processes and presented the first round of proposed branch budgets for 2012.
We’d parked many big decisions for the week which meant long conversation, dialogue and debate which often stretched late into the evening. The chunky issues we grappled with were themes within this overarching one: “How do we grow, expand our reach, improve our professionalism and operate sustainably without negatively impacting our organisational culture and losing our soul?” We realised that our organisation is at another growth phase, whereby the need for more structures and procedures has presented itself to a group of social entrepreneurs who value democratic decision making, independence and autonomy, and hold views as strong as their performance is high.
Thankfully this small group of people who’re changing the world are smart, committed, and work wonderfully well together. The culmination of beautifully diverse yet unifying views and ideas, expressed in the inspirational setting of Goedgedacht farm, resulted in a strong, thoughtful plan for our next steps and leaps forward.
Read the full report, or simply get an overview of what it’s all building towards from our co-created vision for the next five years:
Our culture of responsibility is creating a ripple effect of thriving individuals and communities. Our intergenerational ikamvanites provide access to quality education in inspirational spaces everywhere. We are an integrated network driving change by paying it forward.
From Left to Right, Back row: Dennis Clark (Accountant), Nombuyiselo Dziba (Nyanga coordinator), Modjadji Selowe (Ivory Park assistant), Liesel Bakker (Makhaza coordinator), Zoe Mann (Natcom project manager & Masi assistant), Phillip Mcelu (Makhaza Supplementary Tutoring Head, MathsYesWeCan project manager and fieldworker for IkamvaYouth Evaluation), Mignon Lotz-Keyser (Facilitator), Joy Olivier (Director)
From Left to Right, Front row: Andrew Barrett’s shadow (Gauteng coordinator), Sbonelo Cele (Cato Manor assistant), Nico Commeignes (Masi coordinator), Asanda Nanise (Nyanga assistant), Joe Manciya (Ivory Park coordinator), Thobile Mthembu (Cato Manor coordinator), Zukile Keswa (Makhaza coordinator) and Zamo Shongwe (National coordinator)
The Nyanga Branch on the 26 March 2011 held its very own independent SPW which was attended by learners and tutors from the Nyanga Branch and visited by Joy and Zoe
This has been a very excitting weekend for the Nyanga Branch as it was two days of planning the year and reflecting on the succeses and acheivements we have had, the memebers took time to know each other better and share reasons why they are part of Ikamva Youth
On the 26th we discussed issues that the branch is facing and reasons for those issues, where we broke into groups and had to come up with solutions and ways to make the Nyanga Branch meet everyones needs as best as possible
As it was our very first SPW as a branch we had the time to really focus on branch specific issues and realise that all IY branches have common and individual issues facing each branch,the day was dedicated to addressing themes that came up in our group discussions
The following day we dedicated the day to planning and putting dates for all actions to be taken, we spent the last day of the weekend setting realistic goals and deadlines so that this year we meet our goals, seeing that we have more capacity than any other years
To find the spw report press here:
The weekend has been a very fruitful weekend and has left the Nyanganites ready to take this year by STORM!!!
The Ivory Park branch of IkamvaYouth held our very first (inaugural) Strategic Planning Weekend (SPW) recently with a view to getting to know each other better and planning the rest of the year ahead. The weekend was an excellent opportunity for volunteers, tutors and learner representatives to explore a little deeper what it means to be an Ikamvanite and how to make sure that the values we say we represent spill over into our actions.
Download the full report here.
For many the weekend was an excellent opportunity to dig deeper into the IkamvaYouth goals and the core mission to use the opportunuties created by education to help township school learners help themselves and others out of poverty. The co-founder of IkamvaYouth, Joy Olivier, came up from Cape Town to lead a number of the workshops around how we make sure we maintain the low cost high impact model of IkamvaYouth.
The two biggest highlights of the weekend included the election of the Ivory Park Branch Committee for 2011 and this was capped off with a visit from the Minister of Basic Education Ms. Angie Motshekga.
More photos of the weekend are up on our facebook page, you can visit www.facebook.com/IkamvaYouthGauteng.
Please do LIKE us on our facebook page if you haven’t done so already.
On the weekend of the 5th and 6th of March IYKZN hosted it`s first SPW. This was an honour especially due to the presence of Joy Olivier. The two days were very productive. Team spirit was high and energy was immense.
Over the two days the KZN Team of IkamvaNites discussed everything that the organization is planning for the learners in 2011. From new Branches to Branch comm members. The weekend started out as a normal tutoring Saturday, but after the lessons, than the really fun stuff began. First we discussed the fundamental issues to be covered in the SPW. Things like getting all the volunteers to fully understand what IY is and what it`s values are, what it stands for and it`s glorious and sometimes challenging history.
We went on to discuss the various Branch comm codes(a minor change was made) and elect Commitee members. Many great ideas were brought up in this beautiful meeting. Ideas for the winter school programme, to improve productivity and boost creativity.
All In all,strategic_planning_weekend.pdf the weekend was amazing, the list of things we achieved was just overwhelming. The most interesting bit was when one of the learner reps confessed to believing that the tutors are heartless monsters, (lol) now she understands that they are very nice people who just want to help her. (lol too cute if you ask me :*) )
In conclusion, i would like to declare that IYKZN this year is aiming very high ( especially since we are opening a new branch with a 20-computer computer lab in Chesterville , in the words of Khona WHOOP WHOOP LOL ) and if the energy of the SPW is consistent we will achieve loads.
IkamvaYouth KZN : LIFT AS YOU RISE . . .
SPW Minutes spw_kzn.pdf_.pdf
Lloyd Lungu