Empower youth through education in S.A

As can be seen from the attached Annual Report, 2014 was the year of growth for us: our matric class was 63% bigger than the previous year, we reached over 1,700 learners and we opened our tenth branch. For most of South Africa's children, the only way out of poverty is through education. Ikamvanites (IkamvaYouth learners) continue to prove that anyone and everyone - irrespective of the school one attends and the socio-economic status of one's parents can achieve his dreams and escape poverty.  Please take the time to read our Annual Report, we are sure you will love the infographics, the news from our donors and update from our branches. 

We have just completed this short film, which showcases some of our learners and is for you, our generous supporters. Please feel free to share this video with your friends too. 

We are also wanted to share with you some stories from our Ikamvanites this month:  

"My name is Cherol and I am from a township called Ivory Park where the roses grow on cement and our backgrounds do not determine how far we will go in life. Being raised in a family of eight is not a walk in a park. My parents worked hard to provide us with everything we need, but a taxi driver’s salary and a street vendor’s income was never enough, so I had to learn to appreciate the little they gave me and I worked very hard to achieve my goal. I joined IkamvaYouth because I needed someone to help me understand my studies beyond the classroom and IkamvaYouth made that true for me.  My marks improved and my parents were very happy to see me improve because their only wish was to see me succeed in everything I ever wanted. My matric was challenging because of my illness but with the help of IkamvaYouth I managed to pass with a Bachelor degree and I am currently studying ITE+ and I have come back to pay it forward as a tutor at IkamvaYouth. Next year I want to study Logistics because of my interest on how things operate and how packages travel from country to country, and also manage people. In the next 5 years I want to be a Logistics manager, and one of the sponsors of IkamvaYouth because lessons I have been taught here have made me who I am and indeed if I can dream it I know I can make it."

“My name is Zizipho, I joined IkamvaYouth so that I can improve and get good marks on my school work. I want to accomplish many things and with IkamvaYouth by my side that seems possible. At the end of the day, I want to see myself achieving my goals and IkamvaYouth gives us the opportunities that only few programmes can offer - for instance, I’m able to get my assignments done because at IkamvaYouth we get access to computers and the Internet. Also IkamvaYouth tutors are patient with struggling students like myself. They also help us make wise decisions before exam times, so that we’re ready when it’s time. At IkamvaYouth, we’re not only pushed to do well at school but also they motivate us in many ways - in the beginning of the second term we were introduced to mentors that are now supporting us not only with our studies but with life in general.”

With our financial year of 2015 coming to an end in two weeks, we are fundraising to reach even more learners in 2016 and therefore need your support. Please contact Alex Smith (alex@ikamvayouth.org) at IkamvaYouth if you want to know more or can introduce us to anyone you think might want to support Ikamvanites. 

Thank you

• Annual Report 2014 (PDF)