IkamvaYouth branches in Chesterville and Umlazi need tutors, mentors, workshop facilitators, and administrative interns. This is a great opportunity to gain experience working with youth and community projects, build your skills, and help the youth of today.
Find out how on our volunteer_invite.doc.
This past Saturday (4th August) Umlazi had it’s very first parent’s meeting. It was a bit disapponting to see just 10 parents at the meeting. Most parents called and sms’d saying they can’t make it. This raises the question of weather parents show enough interest in their child’s education. Are they really showing their child that they as parents are there for them.
The meeting was intimate and we got a chance to talk to the willing parents about their children and how much they, as parents, participate in the learners school experience. It seemed to me as though most parents do not really kno whow to help learners feel more confidence and motivation towards school. The big debate is, is it the parents duty to ensure the child is performing well at school or is the sole responsibility of the learner.
Some parents feel that their children are not giving school enough energy and dedication. They see the issue, but are clueless as to how to fix it. They feel that the children need to up their concentration levels and general love for learning. Some parents are commending the work we do though, they see improvements in the childrens academic perfomance already. With only 1 term behind us, it is very fulfilling to know that we already made a difference in some learners lives.
Something must be done to motivate learners. There has to be a way that we as IkamvaYouth can work hand-in-hand with parents to do something about this issue.
I have always loved giving back and helping out wherever and whenever I can, so when I saw the opportunity to give back on Mandela day via “Cheesekids for humanity” (An NGO founded by the philanthropist – Shaka Sisulu) I immediately got excited and registered on their website.
I wasn’t alone in this as I was accompanied by my dear friend and Umlazi tutor Zandile “Dizzy” Dlamini. The giving back was initially scheduled for the 15th of July and due to weather conditions in Johannesburg and Cape Town at that time it couldn’t happen, (of course Durban was sunny and bright as usual). The date was then postponed to the 29th of July with hope that the weather would not be as gloomy as it was for the past two weeks. The 29th of July came and sadly the turn out wasn’t that great as we all had anticipated, assumingly everyone was “over” the Mandela day spirit however that didn’t stop us from our mission to make a change.
Each cheeesekid would be allocated to one of the surrounding townships of Durban which were (Marianhill, KwaMashu, and KwaNyuswa). We found ourselves in Marianhill at the Jabulani Self-Help Centre. The Jabulani Self-Help Centre provides help through self-help projects and support for disadvantaged women and their children. The centre was founded in 1988 by Sister Macro Gneis with help from the missionaries in the surrounding areas. Our task for the day was painting and brightening up the recreational rooms, halls and activity rooms the kids use at the centre.
Interestingly enough Marianhill is the place I grew up in for most of my childhood and were Zandile’s family grew up in and this was very humbling which reaffirms that nothing happens by chance. It was a really gratifying experience and hope that everyone doesn’t wait for days such as Mandela day to give back, making that small difference in just ones person’s life is a huge difference itself. And at IY we do that all day and every day.
Cheryl Nzama
I’m a Cheesekid, have been for the past year. I joined Cheesekids last year in July just before Nelson Mandela Day, soon after encouraged my friends to join in too. Being a Volunteer means a lot to me because it means I am able to make a difference in someones life which is something rare these days, a lot of people are only concerned about themselves and how they will benefit and are less caring about the needy and less fortunate. I believe in giving without expecting anything back and taking with appreciation.
This year Cheesekids has had a few charity events, the latest one being the Nelson Mandela Day Revolution which I took part in and had fun, although there were a lot of disappointments with attendence from my usual Cheesekids crowd, it was lovely experiencing something new with new people. Painting the buildings at Jabulani Self-Help Centre was rewarding for me and those who use the centre because I had fun while giving back to a community my family grew up in and those who use the centre get to have a welcoming place that adds colour and hope into their lives .
Zandile ‘Dizzy’ Dlamini
Some day we may be mining our landfills for the resources we’ve buried. A scary fact presented to the learners of IY’s Chesterville on their Operation Clean Up which was
held on the morning of Thursday, 28 June.
This was a new initiative piloting in Winter School in an aide to get our learners to give
back to the community that they’ve grown up in ( majority if our learners either attend
school within the Chesterville area and/or live within the area – or surroundings )
Durban Solid Waste and Ethekwini Municipality’s Parks and Recreation played a
major role in making this day possible. Thursdays activities started with the learners
taking a walk through the Education & Waste Minimisation Mobile Training Centre –
a bus which travels around various schools and communities within the municipalities
educating society about waste management and recycling through joint collaborations
between the municipality, Engen and the Association of Waste Management.
Mr Njebo, who is in KwaZulu Natal’s head office of Waste Management delivered a talk
about recycling and gave learners ideas on household waste they can recycle.
After all this, learners and tutors were separated into various groups and it was time to
walk around Chesterville to help clean up the community. DSW kindly sponsored gloves
as well as plastic bags which we would use to collect all the waste we found along our
way.
Our first stop was the local hospice where learners cleaned outside the premises, the yard
and gardens. Thereafter we took a walk down towards the St Anthony’s Church’s mission amidst
the support and cheers of local community members.
Arriving at the mission, we were greeted by a Parks and Recreation truck which was
there to deliver the tools sponsored by the department which would be used to clean up
the yard.
Once again learners were separated into groups and cleaned around the yard of the
mission as well as clearing the yard of weeds.
Learners enjoyed clearing up the garden and we are looking forward to hopefully return
to plant a few vegetables for the abused and abandoned women and children which this
mission houses.
After our Operation Clean Up, Chesterville learners returned to DUT for academic
tutoring. At this time, Umlazi learners, who had started the morning in the classroom,
began their Operation Clean Up with a presentation from Zanele, from the DSW
education department. The presentation focused on various aspects such as awareness of
pollution, waste management, different disposal areas in KZN and what effect waste has
on the environment.
Zanele futher empasised the importance of “the 3 Rs” (Reduce, Re-use, Re-cycle), in
combating the negative impact waste has on the environment.
Another important aspect which they touched on was the illegal dumping of waste
especially by our households when they miss the scheduled time of the municipal truck
picking up waste in the neighborhood.
After the insightful presentation, learners were taken to the beach, not to swim, but to
give back to their environment, by cleaning up the litter in the area.
Having Joy Olivier ( co-founder of IkamvaYouth ) and Zamo Shongwe ( IY’s National Coordinator ) join
The clean-up was an added treat for the learners. The amount of litter collected in the
few minutes that the learners were there (just under 30 minutes) was a real eye opener.
Learners really got to see just how bad the issue of pollution on our beaches actually is.
We hope that this is the start of a great initiative and that learners will be able to use all
the knowledge that they gained about taking care of their environment, within their daily
lives.
The hallway was buzzing and excitement filled the air as learners from Umlazi and Chesterville branches gathered outside Durban University of Technology’s ( DUT) passages of the library basements.
It was a mixture of old and new learners as well as old and new tutors all waiting in anticipation for the official start of Winter School. With the first half of the day dedicated to academic/tutoring activies and the latter to activities, fun and learning were definitely on the cards for the week.
This was the perfect opportunity to introduce our Reading Corner initiative, the brainchild of our Branch Assistant Cheryl Nzama. Having collected books from friends as well as a generous loan by the Umlazi AA Library ( where IY Umlazi is based ) we had a large box of books to spread amongst all learners from both branches. The aim of our book corner is not only to get learners interested in reading but also to enhance their English reading and writing skills.
Tuesday saw the arrival of the Answer Series books which IY learners over the years have used during Homework and Saturday Sessions as well as for preparation for exams. All this is possible through the kind sponsorship of The Answer , who provide these study guides for all our learners across the grades.
A lot of Grade 11 IY learners count Wednesday as their favourite day week 1. This is because Durban University of Technology‘s Chemistry lab ( through the assistance of senior Lecturer and Lab Assistant Mr Roy Nursagh donated half of the morning ( and some of their staff members ) towards doing various Chemistry practicals with learners – a great fete as most learners are in schools who are not equipped with Chemistry labs and only depend on their textbooks to study. Learners had the chance to do four different experiments as well as watch a presentation by Mr Roy for two other experiments.
The two branches went their separate ways on Thursday for Operation Clean Up, an initiative aimed at encouraging environmental awareness and offering the learners an opportunity to back to their environment . Early in the morning Chesterville learners met up at the Vuyani Nkosi Memorial Centre where IY Chesterville is based and cleaned up the Chesterville Hospice, the main road ( Mahlathi Road ) as well as the St Anthony’s Church’s Mission which houses old aged as well as abused women and children.
Through the assistance of Chesterville’s Area Based Management ( ABM ), Durban Solid Waste ( DSW ) donated plastics, gloves as well as an Environmental Bus and guest speaker for the event was Mr Njeba while Ethekwini Municipality’s Parks, Recreation and Culture donated tools used to clean up the yard. Both companies were also kind enough to sponsor 2 trucks and 4 municipal workers that picked up the litter collected by learners as well as the rubble from the mission.
Friday, learners were combined and then separated into 4 groups : Yellow, Green, Blue and Red which were The Peacemakers, Ingqungqulu, Blue Bullz and Umlilo respectively.
This was for our set to be annual event : Sports Day, an idea brought about by our Umlazi Branch Coordinator S’bonelo Cele.
Various games such as Soccer, Netball as well as 100m, 400m and 400m Relay races and indigenous games such as Hopscotch, Amagende, Sprite and uShumpu were played and saw The Peacemakers ( Yellow ) walk away as the official winners of the event having collected the most points. ABI were the proud sponsors of this event which they also dubbed their CSI Day. Read more about the day here.
Funding from major corporate companies is always welcomed by organizations such as ours, as it means we can continue serving the communities we work in, in the best way we can. It is however so humbling and indeed encouraging when the employees of that company demonstrate a genuine interest and willingness to participate actively in their company’s social investment initiatives. ABI, is such a company, as demonstrated in the past few weeks.
On the 28th of June, ABI hosted a media launch, formally opening the doors of the new branch in Umlazi, which began operations in April this year. We were invited as honored guests at the event, which was quite exciting as we got to meet with various members of the mangement team, and had an opportunity to learn a little more about this amazing company.
ABI’s involvement in our winter school cannot go unnoticed. The day after the launch, ABI employees joined learners for their sports day, eagerly participating in all the events and getting to know the learners. ABI also got involved in our careers day, aimed at introducing learners to various career possibilities. The CSI team have been amazing, providing refreshments at these events, sponsoring t-shirts and water bottles for all the learners, as well as providing sound and sports equipment for the sports day.
As Tumi (Corporate Affairs Manager at ABI), said in her speech at the launch, “ABI does not just talk the talk, they indeed walk the walk”. ABI’s involvement in these few weeks is testimony to that. IkamvaYouth kzn is indeed privileged and honored to be partnering with not just a major company, but a team of individuals dedicated to the upliftmet of others!
Samkelo Nkosi speaking at the Careers Day
The ABI truck that provided entertainment and refreshments throught the day on Sports Day.
Lloyd Lungu031 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.