Saturday the 15th of September will remain a memorable day in the history of the Nyanga branch as we held our first ever alumni meeting .
The purpose of the meeting was to launch the IkamvaYouth alumni program, aimed at connecting our alumni at tertiary institutions and finding ways of supporting them so as to ensure higher levels of throughput at university. The alumni program is being piloted at the Nyanga branch and will be rolled out to other branches and the rest of the country where IY has branches.
Mr Richard Wells facilitated the meeting, workshop-style with a group of alumni and current volunteers. The group shared personal experiences about learning to adjust to tertiary education, highlighting the need and importance of an IY alumni program. Melikhaya Tshitshiba of the class of 2008 noted that an alumni group would be invaluable to Ikamvanites in tertiary since there were still many hurdles to scale at university, once Ikamvanites made it there.
A very warm thank you to Mr Richard Wells, our alumni and volunteers who made the meeting possible.
On Saturday the 8th of September, Nyanga held its termly parents’ meeting at Zolani Centre. The meeting was well attended, with 41 of our 69 learners represented by parents, guardians and other family members.
The meeting was three-fold, aiming at explaining, informing and understanding all matters pertaining to IY and the learners we work with. Many of our parents do not know what IY does and the meeting was a good platform for them to come, meet staff members and some of the volunteers and engage with them. The parents had many questions ranging from kick out policies, lateness policies and how to instill discipline in their children. There was also a lot of praise and acknowledgment of IY’s positive contribution in the lives of the learners.
One of the parents, Mrs Gwegwe said, ‘I thank IkamvaYouth for what they have done for my family. I never expected to see a computer in my home but my child was given a computer. Continue the good work Ikamva.’
Thank you to all our parents who attended and sent delegates on their behalf, and a huge thank you to Nyanganites for making this meeting a success.
Saturday 15th September dawned a bright and sunny day, which was fitting for Nyanganites who were participating in the coastal cleanup day at Monwabisi beach near Khayelitsha.
IYWC was invited to take part in the coastal cleanup by Andreas Stoll of ERM and Nyanganites were up for the challenge. Armed with gloves and black bags, the learners walked along the beach, picking up litter and having a good time.
One Nyanganite, Lubabalo Dwabayo said, ‘I enjoyed doing the cleanup because we made the beach clean and got to swim in the ocean’.
Well done to Nyanganites for being environmentally conscious!
On Tuesday 18 September , IY attended the UCT careers expo. The expo was aimed at showcasing NPOs in the Western Cape to UCT students. The whole day was a flurry of activity with students coming in, asking about IY and signing up to volunteer, interns, or get more information about the work we do.
Shuvai and Siya of the Nyanga branch explained IY’s work to the students and got many to sign up for our Gauteng, Western Cape and KZN branches. One student, Xolile Zondi had the following to say: ‘I’m from Umlazi but I didn’t know there was such a program in my community. I would like to get involved back home.’
It was a tiring but definitely worthwhile experience, as more young people are now aware of IkamvaYouth and the work we are doing to raise a nation!
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.
Inspired by the National Planning Commission’s story of Thandi, which Trevor Manuel told as a way to depict the key challenges facing the country, IkamvaYouth has launched Funeka’s Story, which explains IkamvaYouth model and its impact, and sends out a call for volunteers and supporters.
[video:http://youtu.be/NEFflXglk28 align:center]
A BIG UP THANK YOU to:
* Funeka, for sharing your story and being such a professional voice-over artist!
* Capitec for availing Funeka during work hours to go to the sound studio
* Dan Eppel who recorded and mixed the sound
* Freshly Ground for donating the tunes
* the staff and interns who helped behind the scenes,
and especially to:
* Lynne Stuart (@ideainaforest) for applying her design talents to explain what we do so concisely and beautifully!
Lloyd Lungu