Makhaza Strategic Planning Weekend

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