A big thank you to Service SETA for such a great opportunity, our leaders are excited and ready to develop and learn.
The 11th of June 2015 marked the official launch of not just a great achievement but a dream that most young people are currently fighting for, a prayer that is a response to a number of youths future. As an organization for the youth by the youth we would love to take this opportunity and thank the Skills Education Training Authorities for giving us an opportunity to enroll 97 of our youth from Kliptown in learnerships doing Business administration with a monthly allowance.
Here’s to an opportunity that will build our brothers and sisters, an opportunity that will allow them to develop and have a skill that they can use as a tool when they search for job opportunities. As they embark on this journey we would love to congratulate them. A thumbs up to Change.. When we see the fruits of great work, we are HAPPY.
Excellence.
Hulani is an incredible KYP member. He loves learning and is amazingly consistent in his commitment to excellence. We are so proud of his accomplishments, and look forward to seeing him thrive next year in high school!
I am a 12 year old boy named Hlulani Austin Mashele, raised by a single parent, which is my grandmother. I live in a family of four in a small township called Kliptown. My favourite sport is soccer and I love chess as well.
My dream is to become a medical doctor. It is very hard to see a person suffer in pain and not receive medical attention, whereas if there are doctors in the building they can help. It also worries me that clinics run out of medication when there are lots patients expecting medicine.
There are lots of great things that have happened in my life, and I am very proud of them. I am very proud of myself because of the awards I got this year. It was unbelievable but a dream came true. This is not my first year but my fifth year at Kliptown Primary School being the overall best overall learner, and I wish to go further.
I am grateful to KYP for all the support and guidance. Their service is superb. They were my guiding light throughout the year and helped my grandmother with all my educational needs. They really played a huge role in my life, and I am really grateful.
I would also love to encourage other learners to do what I have done, because it is not where you come from but where you’re going to.
Resilience
We are so proud to introduce you to Ndiwanga Luvhimbe, an incredible girl who is celebrating being named top of all the Grade 7s in her school at the end of what has been a very difficult year for her. When we offered her the chance to write to all of you about what this accomplishment means to her, this is what she wanted you to know…
My name is Ndiwanga Luvhimbe, and I am 13 year old girl who lives in Kliptown. I don’t know where to start telling about myself but let me say this year has been a very difficult year for me. I lost my mother this year who was and still is one of my best friends. She passed away on the 27th of June this year.
Coming out top of all my school mates in 7th grade was what I did for my mother. I needed her to know that, yes I am in pain because I have lost her, but I needed to assure her that I will make my family, my mentors at KYP, and her proud, and that I will be okay. What’s more amazing is that I’m the first child to ever receive a certificate in my family. To top all the grade 7’s made my family truly proud of me.
KYP has been a great support towards my life, especially educationally. I get helped with my homeworks, I receive a full school uniform every year, and my school fees are taken care of by KYP. My mother always encouraged me to go to KYP, and now I see the difference it makes in my life.
My mother will always be a part of me, but with the great path I have taken I aim to achieve even more than this. I hope my mom is looking down on me proudly.
Ndiwanga inspires all of us at KYP for everything she has accomplished this most challenging year of her life, and we thank all of you who have supported both her and us this year. Your investment in KYP allows us to do an enormous amount for our over 400 members, each of whom faces his or her own challenges on a daily basis. The 8 hours of schoolwork assistance every week, the school uniforms, the school fees paid in full, the access to computers, the 2 meals every day, the guidance and support of the KYP leaders, and the safe place to be – none of it would be able to happen without your support.
On behalf of all of us at KYP, THANK YOU and best wishes for a happy, healthy 2016!
We sat down with Minenhle Nxasana to learn more about what we can do to be successful in our lives.
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My name is Minenhle Nxasana, I am 9 years old, and I am doing grade 4 at Florida Avenue Primary School. I live with my Mom, Dad, and little sister here in Kliptown. I am also a proud member at Kliptown Youth Program.
When I grow up I would love to be a Doctor and help those who are sick, especially those in my community. My favourite subjects are maths and English. I am a very hard worker, and I always aim to achieve good marks at school.
Here are my tips for how you can be successful in your life…
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To be successful, you must have trust in yourself that you are able to do anything.
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Work hard and you will receive the rewards you work hard for.
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Always ask for help if you are struggling with something. There is nothing wrong with being helped.
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Keep learning.
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If you do good, you will achieve good.
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Never lie. Lies will catch up with you some day.
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Forgive and never return the bad that was done to you.
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Be forever thankful for every little thing you receive.
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Don’t think about what others have that you don’t have. Focus on what you want to achieve.
- Believe in yourself. Always tell yourself it is possible.
Why should you believe in Kamogelo? Here are 8 reasons we learned about in our recent interview with her…
- Kamogelo Phalo is a 7 year-old member who is just finishing Grade 1. She lives in Kliptown with her Mom, siblings, uncle and grandfather. She attends Cavendish Primary School, and when she grows up she wants to become a Doctor.
- Kamogelo is a new member of our organization. She has already succeeded in one of her “life-long goals”: to grow up to become a KYP member. She remembers when she used to come back home from kindergarten, she would see the children at KYP playing and going to after-school classes. She said to herself, “One day that will be me.”
- Kamogelo is very aware of what is happening around her community. She understands that not everybody lives in an informal settlement and that there are people living a better life than her family. One of the reasons why she joined KYP is that she wants to take a step in ensuring that her family moves from the standard of life they are living in now to a better one.
- “I am very thankful to KYP, for every life that they have changed in my community.” Many of Kamogelo’s older siblings and cousins are KYP members. “I now have brothers and sisters in Universities and Colleges doing what they love.”
- Kamogelo attends KYP every day and is involved in every activity available to her at the center. She is always helpful, always in her classes, and is doing well at school. She says she has learned a lot from KYP about values that will help her reach her goals and find ways to help others reach theirs.
- Since joining KYP, she has become very helpful to her mom at home. Instead of running home to play with her friends after school, she offers to help her mom with washing dishes, cleaning clothes, and the other tasks that need to be done on a daily basis. Her mom is her most important role model because she does everything she can to provide everything Kamogelo needs and to give her a happy life.
- She loves sharing what she has with her friends. When she is at school, she shares her lunch with friends who don’t have any. If she has two Rand, she likes to give one to a friend.
- When asked what she would say to KYP’s friends and supporters, she said, “I want people to believe in me.” When she knows someone believes in her, she feels encouraged and able to do anything.
I am Teboho Thomas, nineteen years of age. I am currently a first year student at University of Johannesburg, studying for a BA degree in Sport Communication. I am a highly self-motivated, focused, enthusiastic, down to earth and respectful person. I have a superb work ethic and I am driven by excellence and integrity. I have good interpersonal skills, I am friendly and I always put in an extra effort in everything I do.
Being part of Kliptown Youth Program has helped me a lot personally and academically. Being part of the after school educational programme helped me pass my matric. The organisation has given me the opportunity to pursue my studies at higher education. I was also a grade five tutor for a year, which also played a prominent role in empowering myself by helping me to develop leadership skills.
There are so many challenges that we as youth are facing. There is high rate of unemployment, poverty, crime, teenage pregnancy, HIV & AIDS and substance abuse. I think we can decrease the spread of HIV and AIDS by starting support groups, where we will educate one another about the disease, the impact it brings to our lives and community as a whole. Youth should work hand in hand with the department of health and help distribute condoms to taverns and spaza shops around the community. Infected people should be encouraged to live positively and take anti retroviral treatment (ARVs) and counselling must be provided. It is really important to do HIV & AIDS tests to know our status and abstain from sexual intercourse. Remember, prevention is better than a cure.
We as a youth we can alleviate poverty by working hard at school and getting high marks as this increases our chances of getting bursaries to help us further our studies at higher institutions. Youth can empower themselves by attending educational workshops like the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), which offers training for those who are interested in becoming entrepreneurs. It also offers job preparedness workshops, which increases the chance of becoming employed. The Sectoral Education and Training Authority (SETA) also offers learnerships through the skills development act. Youth can make a living using their God given talents.
Counselling and rehabilitation should be provided to those who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. The community must work together with the police and help by identifying drug dealers so that they can be arrested and be removed to the community. We can also help the community by being patrollers and create a crime free community and live peacefully. We should also make our education a priority. Nelson Mandela said that education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world. Those who were not able to finish their grade twelve can be encouraged to go to FET colleges as they take learners from grade nine. They also offer free bursaries. Some can attend adult school.
We can encourage those who still have age on their side to go back to public school and finish their grade twelve. There should be a career guidance centre in the community that will help us make wise decisions about our careers. Career research will help us choose good careers and subjects in grade ten. It will provide us with information about the higher institutions which offer courses which we intend to do, application procedures, and how and where we can get financial assistance, such as scholarships, bursaries, and loans (National Student Financial Aid Scheme, ‘‘NSFAS’’). There should also be a library in the community because this will increase our chances to excel in our studies. We can do our research and study there peacefully without any disturbance.
It is clearly visible that there are so many challenges that the youth face, but each and every problem has a solution. We can all unite and work together to improve our standard of living. It is very important to take our studies seriously. Life is all about choices, so it is important to make good decisions and take full responsibility about the choices we make. Remember, the decisions you make today determine the future you create for yourself tomorrow. So choose wisely.
It’s quiet impressive to see the youth getting involved in activities that show how progressive we are as a community. If our youth can show a meaningful contribution in activities of the community, that is going to encourage our younger brothers and sisters to strive for achieving excellence in different spheres of life.
I believe that support is the building block of this nation, so if the youth can be well supported then the community is going to be in a position to produce authentic leaders that can come up with innovative ideas, which they can use to help reduce the level of unemployment and illiteracy in the community.
My name is Ntandazo Ntsasa. I grew up in Kliptown where I was raised by a single woman, my grandmother. I completed my matric in 2011 at Nghunghunyani Secondary school, and my dream is to see myself completing my studies and beginning to give back by helping people from my community with different dramatic situations including academic and financial matters.
I am currently studying towards a National Diploma in Accountancy at the University of Johannesburg. KYP have made it possible by helping me to achieve one of the vital goals that are going to transform my life. Without KYP I wouldn’t be at university. We will always value KYP’s contribution into our community.
What a great way to spend our 67 minutes commemoration to the life Mr. Nelson Mandela lived, as the KYP centre was full with different individuals, companies and organization gathered together in making this day a success. Everyone got their hands dirty by painting houses around the community and making our tutoring classes look clean and beautiful again by painting them and cleaning them. Many also helped by teaching our children how to be economy savers and contribute to the economy of the country. This initiative would not be possible without the help of everyone who openly volunteered to give out their hands in making this day a great success. Mostly importantly, we would love to thank the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at University of Johannesburg (UJ), the UJ Accountancy group, Alexander Forbes and the P&G Company for contributing their efforts in making this day possible.
As we are celebrating with the world the 20 years of FREEDOM in our beloved country South Africa, it is a rather an emotional day for us here at Kliptown Youth Program. This is due to the fact that some of the responses that we get when we shout “Happy Freedom Day” to everyone we come across are truly disheartening. Some people say that there is nothing to celebrate on Freedom Day because 20 years later nothing has changed in this community.
Yes, we do acknowledge that at times one cannot be blamed for questioning such excitement on this day when the government is widely accused of being corrupt and having done very little for the people of this country especially the poor. However, what we wish people from Kliptown and all over the world to take note of is that we might still be poor but we are not oppressed! Thus, today no man can declare himself to be superior to the other, especially because of the colour of their skin, race, gender or religion, and make comments like PW Botha made to his Cabinet in 1985 when he said “Blacks look like human beings and act like human beings do not necessarily make them sensible human beings. They are good in nothing else but making noise, dancing, marrying many wives and indulging in sex. Let us all accept that the Black man is the symbol of poverty, mental inferiority, laziness and emotional incompetence.” – without fear or favour be called what he truly is Racist and get punished by the law!
To us Freedom Day is all about embracing the fact that today we are living in a world were everyman is the master of his own fate. This simply means that having the ability to live freely, peacefully without any doubts that someone can take that freedom away from you. We have rights, thus, we are respected in our societies regardless of the colour of skin, race or gender.
Again, HAPPY FREEDOM DAY SOUTH AFRICA!!!