IkamvaYouth, a local non-profit organisation, is taking the future of its community seriously by offering to tutor the youth which in turn uplifts them by creating employment opportunities.
Hundreds of communities around South Africa have incredibly bright young minds who are failing to grow because of the lack of opportunities within their communities. A group decided to be the change and set up a non-profit that works to uplift the youth. The work they have been doing has had phenomenal results and is something to be celebrated.
IkamvaYouth provides the youth with volunteer tutors to help guide them through their school work. The volunteers work with over 800 students. Learners involved in the programme have achieved an 84.7% pass rate which is higher than the national average.
The NPO has been running for over 15 years and during that time they have not only helped with the education of the youth but have also helped gain access to employment opportunities and helped further the studies of many matriculants.
“We have a track record of achieving excellent matric results (84.7% this year) and we also ensure that learners are placed. Last year we placed 87% in jobs, university or college after Grade 12. We achieve our excellent results because of our volunteer tutors, the majority of whom are young black South Africans, and many of them are previous beneficiaries of the programme.” – Alex Smith, the organisation’s Business Development Manager
The organisation works with youth from disadvantaged communities by providing them with support, resources, tutoring and other tools to achieve success in education and employment. There are currently branches in 17 townships in five provinces. They are making a widespread impact which is changing the lives of hundreds!
Learners that have worked their way through the programme come back once they have qualified and ‘pay-it-forward’ by becoming the tutors needed in various subjects. The circle, therefore, continues to turn and empower all involved.
“There are really no words that fully express the admiration and appreciation that I have for IkamvaYouth’s tutors, all of whom are volunteers and many of whom are previous learners of the IkamvaYouth programme. It is these inspiring individuals that are not only role modelling active citizenship, and showing our learners what’s possible (many of them are studying at university), but it is thanks to their brilliant talents, hearts and minds that learners enrolled at IkamvaYouth have achieved incredible results.” – Joy Oliver, Co-Founder of IkamvaYouth.
This programme is changing the lives of students across South Africa in the most positive way. They not only tutor the learners, they offer computer literacy courses, take learners on field trips and have educational programmes that prioritise HIV awareness.
People who want to assist the programme to reach more youth can make financial donations to IkamvaYouth. You can donate directly via EFT, their crowdfunding page or through a sponsorship. Visit the IkamvaYouth donation page for more information about the process.
It is also possible for corporates to earn B-BBEE points by investing in IkamvaYouth under the skills development and social economic development aspects of the scorecard. For more information, please contact Alex Smith at alex@ikamvayouth.org.
Woolworths shoppers are also able to link their MySchool cards to IkamvaYouth, making them the beneficiary of donations accrued by using the card.
“IkamvaYouth provides learners with a safe space; a place where they can be themselves. It also provides them with the platform to improve academically by providing them with tutoring that is done by varsity students who share the same background and social challenges as them.” — Wendy Kondlo, IkamvaYouth tutor
Watch the video of some of the learners below, their hopes and dreams are truly inspirational.
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