If you ever wondered what drives IkamvaYouth branches for the whole year, then you should listen up…
Take a little bit of inspiration, add to that some coaching and a lavish dose of planning, then you have the ultimate recipe to run a branch for the entire year. The 27th of February 2016 was the day Makhaza decided to try out that recipe…..once again!
09:00am sharp, parents, learners and mentors came together to launch the mentoring programme for the 2016 Matric cohort. Highly expectant and excited to meet one another, you could tell they were a bit anxious about the day. Tamara Stelman, Mentoring Coordinator from UCT, started off by thoroughly explaining to the attendees, what the programme was about; what is expected from each party and what she is hoping will be achieved by the end of the mentoring year. She then moved on to pairing the learners with their mentors, you could really see from the faces of the learners and parents, that they were more than impressed with the profiles of their mentors. We were off to a good start, the learners were inspired!
Following that, was a workshop session that included a one-on-one session for further introduction; signing of the mentorship agreement and the sharing of goals,fears and expectations for the year. During the workshop session, Busiswa Dayimani, Branch Coordinator, had a brief meeting with the parents about their expectations for their children, what is required of the parents and the planning that they must do to prepare for the following year. In that meeting a parent, who is a teacher at one of the schools in Makhaza, stood up and voiced what she thought of IkamvaYouth. She said, “I have been watching IkamvaYouth for a period of time now and i want to commend the work that you are doing in this community, you are definitely bringing about a good change in our learners!” Whoop whoop, go team IY! Before you could take it all in, the event came to a halt.
Immediately after that, it was Strategic Planning time! This is where the branch committee, a committee that consists of staff, tutors and learners, gets to set targets for the year, decide on structure that works bests for all members and gets ideas flowing on how to make Makhaza a better branch. The programme for the day kicked off with some really colourful and interesting looking name tags. Yanga Totyi, Branch Assistant, lead this team of Superheroes in discussions in which the team delved into the objectives of the 2016 committee; dissected the responsibilities of each portfolio; set targets for each portfolio and engaged in discussion on the quality of results at the branch and how improvements can be made. All work and no play makes a Branch com dull, hence Lungile Simakade, Branch Intern, shook things up with a few games and icebreakers in between discussions.
Phew! What a day! It is in events like these that the engine of IkamvaYouth branches is oiled and if you would like to get involved in any way…as a mentor or a tutor, please check this LINK out!
Someone once said, “The world is changing, BE ON THE TRANSITION TEAM!”
Lloyd Lungu