So there we were, Monday morning, June the 30th, in buses from Chesterville and Umlazi all headed to DUT Steve Biko Campus. There was excitement, joy and very high expectations from everyone, learners, staff members and tutors. For those who were joining us for the first time, it was a matter of experiencing the most talked about gathering in the calendar of the IkamvaYouth Organization. Yes, it was time for the most exciting 2weeks for all Ikamvanites in the KZN region: Winter School.
tutoring session in the morning
In the morning, Learners had normal tutoring and in the afternoon there were activities. Our very own version of the Amazing Race was amongst those. We had a workshop with learners being encouraged about the importance of working with each other, the importance of listening to one another views amongst other things. While that was running another group of learners were with ASN who conducted some team building activities with the learners and hosted some very educational talks with the learners afterwards about leadership. The activities conducted were really helpful in the sense that the learners really enjoyed working in teams to achieve certain goals.
Rooted Souls in collaboration with Science Spaza performing for the learners
A presentation for the learners about How to save money was done by Capitec. This didn’t just help grow the learners financially but it also made them think a lot about their spending habits, which is always a good start for everyone seeking financial awareness. Experiments, hiphop and live performances got the whole IYKZN team excited and picked up some very fascinating facts about science along with it all thanks to the Science Spaza team. We had graphic Design students, information technology as well as a lot more workshops that were running. Learners also had an opportunity to go to excursions such as Phezulu Safari, Independent Newspapers, UKZN Howard to watch Footloose amongst others.
Learners on an excursion
Health and Wellness Day
The last day of Winter School is the Health and Wellness Day where learners have an opportunity to play games and take part in health related activities. The games that were prepared were sack Race, Netball, Soccer, marbels, uShumpu, Amatshe, Magalobhe and the Relays. Competition was tight. As the games went ABI had music playing and got everyone dancing. The competing teams were red, yellow, orange, green, blue and the purple team. Lunch was served and the winners of the 2014 winter School were the Yellow team.
A lot of running around was being done by the tutors and staff members to ensuring a smooth running throughout winter school and the learners’ response towards that hard work put in was nothing less than well received.
It wouldn’t have been possible without the help of ABI),the Municipality for providing transport for the learners, the tutors, the facilitators such as Science Spaza, love life , DUT IT students, DUT Graphic Design students, Impucuko, Sam Moodley, ASN, Ithembalabantu and Capitec and Joy Olivier. It truly was a pleasure working with everyone.
Lloyd Lungu