One of the most exciting things about a new year, is the chance to make or introduce measurable changes into one’s life. One of the ways of doing that, is reflecting on the previous year’s achievements and be inspired to achieve at a higher level.
IkamvaYouth Makhaza held Open Day/Prize Giving on the morning of the 30th January 2016, from 09:30 at Impendulo Primary School. The Branch Coordinator, Busiswa Dayimani and a few volunteers welcomed 60 new learners together with their parentsy, ranging from grade 8 to grade 10. A sense of pride was beaming on all the parents’ faces because their children chose the path of education and are going beyond their school hours to show how committed they are. A few of the learners were anxious and not sure what to expect but…many were excited and ready to delve into the agenda for the day. Busiswa Dayimani explained in depth to the attendees, the 5 IkamvaYouth Values, branch protocols and closed off by saying, “We are one big happy family in Makhaza, not even once, should you be made to feel uncomfortable or unwelcomed in this space, this branch belongs to you and you should take ownership of it .”
Open Day was succeeded by Prize Giving, where the 2015 IkamvaYouth Learners, Volunteers, Partners and Stakeholders were awarded certificates together with prizes for Gold Attendance, Platinum Attendance, Outstanding Academic Achievement, Most Improved, Excellence In English, Participation and Appreciation. Anastasia Koch PhD, from EWHOZA, who hosts film & media workshops centered on TB awareness, handed out certificates to the 2015 participants of whom she mentioned, how pleased she was to have worked with. The Hall was filled with jubilant vibrations of laughter, applause, screams…..it was a celebration! One of the highlights of the day was the key note address given by one of IkamvaYouth’s Superheroes, Phuthang Makhupane, he joined IY in 2011 as a tutor, he is currently a software developer at an international company and he is set on affording disadvantaged learners the opportunities he never had as he highlighted that, there is nothing better than being guided by someone who knows exactly what you’re going through. The event came to an end with Thembakazi Phuza, a matric learner, leading the attendees in song!
What a way to introduce the new learners into the branch and inspire the existing learners to strive for excellence!
IkamvaYouth has been selected to participate in All Star Slot’s #WinTheJackpot Charity Campaign. Our participation could see us winning a share of the $5750 jackpot!
All you have to do is vote for us by visiting https://www.allstarslots.com/competitions/win-the-jackpot and casting your vote between the 8th of February to the 8th of March 2016.
The winners will be announced on the All Star Slot’s website between the 15th and the 19th of March 2016.
All Star Slot’s describe themselves as a “socially conscious company and have a charity fund pool which we build up throughout the year through staff fund raising events as well as from contributions from our generous owner. In 2015 we raised $5,750 for the fund and want to use it to counter the bad reputation which casinos and gambling have by awarding it to a charitable cause.”
Get voting!
The 2015 First Black Girl Code at Wits sponsored by Thought Works
On the 7th of March the Ivory Park Branch was invited to the first Black Girls Code sponsored by one of our partners Thought Works at Wits.
The workshop started with the motivation from the guest of honor by the name of Khulekani, was born and breed in Ivory Park. She is a web designer at Absa and she studied Computer Sciences at the University of Cape Town.
After breakfast the girls were introduced to the world of computer applications. They were paired for the first challenge, figure skating with instructors called Elsa and Anna. The application was divided into stages, from the 1st stage to the 20th stage and at the completion of the last stage the participant was awarded a virtual certification of completion.
13:00 lunch was served; the girls indulged in and enjoyed the served meals. Before they could resume, the girls had to do a mini ice breaker just to get them ready for the next activity. The second activity was very insightful; the people from Thought works were showing the girls how to create their own applications and robots on their own devices using the support of Android.
“The world of computers is a world full of wonders” Buhle Byl IkamvaYouth Ivory Park Grade 11.
At the end of the event, Thought Works glamoured up our girls with the t-shirts and they looked beautiful, they couldn’t stop taking photos.
IkamvaYouth Ivory Park would like to thank Thought Works for the invitation; it was really nice to be part of those who attended.
During last year IkamvaYouth embarked on an exciting and learning filled pilot programme with the Western Cape Government to implement the IY model in 2 high schools in the province with 8 volunteers. It is through the experiences and learnings in this pilot that it has now expanded the reach of the programme to 8 high schools and being implemented with 35 volunteers to deliver high-impact after-school tutoring programmes in secondary schools in the Western Cape while developing the skills and proficiencies of young leaders.
The Year Beyond programme is adding value to the school’s MOD Centres by increasing the range of after-school activities to include an academic arm. The programme, working with grades 8-10 in each school includes IkamvaYouth model tutoring and tech-assisted English and Maths tuition through Fundza and Olico respectively.
The project will attract over 700 learners who are all eager to take their futures into their own hands. They are supported in this after-school space by a fantastic bunch of change makers who come from all walks of life but share a passion for youth and development. These young graduates are paying-it-forward by volunteering their time to serve as role models for these aspiring learners.
These volunteers have just completed 2 weeks of intensive IkamvaYouth training where they received in depth tutor and tech assisted programme training, visited branches, participated in conflict resolution workshops, spent time in their schools and met MOD centre coaches, all while developing their teams, identifying and honing the leadership skills needed to work in their school and with their learners.. They are now recruiting learners and building strong relationships in their schools to ensure the success of the programme through school and parent buy-in.
The involvement of numerous organisations, departments and people has produced an exciting collaborative approach to youth development. IkamvaYouth is a value based organisation and one of the core principles is peer-to-peer support and collaboration. To see this happening on a large scale with governmental involvement is a huge step for IkamvaYouth in reaching its 2030 vision. It is hoped that this form of government – non-government partnership can become a model for operation in order to reach more learners with high-quality after-school programmes across the country.
Vision 2030 was conceived by IkamvaYouth in 2012, which is the vision to see every grade 1 learner who starts school in 2018 to matriculate or the equivalent by 2030, and to access a post-school opportunity of their choice that sets them on the path to earn a dignified living. This is an audacious goal and one that requires many hands and minds.
The Year Beyond project offers an opportunity to engage in true collaboration towards a common goal. It is hoped that this is the first of many partnerships that will open the doors of after-school programmes to young people all across the country.
For more information on the Year Beyond project, IkamvaYouth and how we can work together to enable more learners to achieve their dreams please contact liesel@ikamvayouth.org or zoe@ikamvayouth.org.
During last year IkamvaYouth embarked on an exciting and learning filled pilot programme with the Western Cape Government to implement the IY model in 2 high schools in the province with 8 volunteers. It is through the experiences and learnings in this pilot that it has now expanded the reach of the programme to 8 high schools and being implemented with 35 volunteers to deliver high-impact after-school tutoring programmes in secondary schools in the Western Cape while developing the skills and proficiencies of young leaders.
The Year Beyond programme is adding value to the school’s MOD Centres by increasing the range of after-school activities to include an academic arm. The programme, working with grades 8-10 in each school includes IkamvaYouth model tutoring and tech-assisted English and Maths tuition through Fundza and Olico respectively.
The project will attract over 700 learners who are all eager to take their futures into their own hands. They are supported in this after-school space by a fantastic bunch of change makers who come from all walks of life but share a passion for youth and development. These young graduates are paying-it-forward by volunteering their time to serve as role models for these aspiring learners.
These volunteers have just completed 2 weeks of intensive IkamvaYouth training where they received in depth tutor and tech assisted programme training, visited branches, participated in conflict resolution workshops, spent time in their schools and met MOD centre coaches, all while developing their teams, identifying and honing the leadership skills needed to work in their school and with their learners.. They are now recruiting learners and building strong relationships in their schools to ensure the success of the programme through school and parent buy-in.
The involvement of numerous organisations, departments and people has produced an exciting collaborative approach to youth development. IkamvaYouth is a value based organisation and one of the core principles is peer-to-peer support and collaboration. To see this happening on a large scale with governmental involvement is a huge step for IkamvaYouth in reaching its 2030 vision. It is hoped that this form of government – non-government partnership can become a model for operation in order to reach more learners with high-quality after-school programmes across the country.
Vision 2030 was conceived by IkamvaYouth in 2012, which is the vision to see every grade 1 learner who starts school in 2018 to matriculate or the equivalent by 2030, and to access a post-school opportunity of their choice that sets them on the path to earn a dignified living. This is an audacious goal and one that requires many hands and minds.
The Year Beyond project offers an opportunity to engage in true collaboration towards a common goal. It is hoped that this is the first of many partnerships that will open the doors of after-school programmes to young people all across the country.
For more information on the Year Beyond project, IkamvaYouth and how we can work together to enable more learners to achieve their dreams please contact liesel@ikamvayouth.org or zoe@ikamvayouth.org.
On the 17th May 2014 UKZN had its Open Day at the Westville campus. IkamvaYouth KZN was a part of this very informative occasion with the full assistance and support of ABI. Grade 11 and 12 learners from Umlazi, grade 12 learners from Chesterville as well as a couple of children of ABI employees were bussed to the event from their respective branches.
As early as 7:30 the learners were at the branches reciting the IkamvaYouth war-cry and getting themselves energised for the day ahead. Learners were there in their full school uniforms and they as well as the buses were on time. There were a number of ABI volunteers and staff including Samukelo Nkosi and Nosihle Mthethwa as well as IkamvaYouth volunteers to assist with the managing of learners throughout the day. After the energisers, the learners were then handed their gift bags containing a fruit, a sandwich, an energy bar, water and a cooldrink all sponsored by ABI to give them energy for the day. The learners, volunteers and some staff then got into the buses and we all left to UKZN Westville campus.
Ahead of the event the learners had been asked to choose the field of study which they were interested in and thus a college they would prefer to visit at the Open Day so as to ensure that they get the full benefit of their chosen field. The learners were then given colour-coded identification cards for the respective college that they were visiting and were escourted by volunteers to the venue where the presentations for that college would be held. The presentations and demonstrations varied according to the college of study and the learners even got to visit stalls within those departments to collect information brochures. Those learners whose departments finished early also got an opportunity to visit other colleges and hear more. Learners were very excited and learnt more about their chosen fields in terms of what the requirements are and where they need to improve in order to get into those fields.
The occassion was a very informative one and benefitted those who grabbed the opportunity and asked as many questions as they could think of. The presenters also made mention of the different ways one can access financial aid and also how the application process through CAO works. Learners left the event with more knowledge about UKZN and its courses but also knowing whether they qualify for course at UKZN or not and if not how to make sure that they do.
To end off the day, learners were then brought back to one meeting spot where further energizers were done. A motivational talk by ABI’s Samukelo Nkosi, as well as “thank you’s” by IkamvaYouth staff and learners were done. Lunch was served on the buses on the way back to the branches. It was a day well spent.
Well done Ikamvanites for your good behaviour and once again a very big “THANK YOU” to ABI for making sure that our learners experienced the Open Day in the way that they did, you certainly came through like you always do.
Lloyd Lungu