Categories
2018

4th industrial revolution

If your child is in Grade R this year, they will matriculate in 2030 and be thrust into a world so different to the one we are living in today that unless we prepare them for the future unseen, the current rapid developments in technology will cause economies to slip behind and inequality to widen. We are talking about the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and with the rise of universal broadband access, artificial intelligence and robotics, it’s right on our doorstep. But is the African child being prepared for it?

We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work and relate to one another – across every industry in every country. It will be characterised by the blending of innovations across physical, digital and biological spheres affecting production, management and government.

Minister Rob Davies from the Department of Trade and Industry says: “We are entering an era, and probably are already in it, in which the premium for innovation has become significantly raised. While innovation had always been important, it is now even more important. We need to prepare ourselves as a country. Industry 4.0 will cause disruptive change in manufacturing, not just incremental change.”

Afrika Tikkun’s Early Childhood Development (ECD) expert, Vanessa Mentor, adds: “Afrika Tikkun’s main objective is to develop and uplift young people in underprivileged communities, and we achieve this with education. We believe that every young person deserves the opportunity to be the best that they can be, and how would we achieve this if we, ourselves, are not moving with the times? Thus, it is one of our early childhood development priorities to prepare our children for the fourth industrial revolution. It is absolutely essential that from the earliest age, young people learn ICT skills and are taught to navigate their way through basic coding and all things digital. More than this however is teaching innovation as a value, and a mindset – in that we learn continually to approach our unique and global needs with a perspective that asks, how can we innovate, adapt, invent (and ultimately monetise that invention).”

Including more and more technology to children from the Early Development Stage is important, but Vanessa also emphasises the strides the organisation is making through introducing Lego play into the learning and teacher training programme. Lego teaches creativity, problem solving, and engineering and maths skills. The Lego Foundation is partnering with Afrika Tikkun to re-imagine learning for the fourth industrial revolution.

Afrika Tikkun spoke to Head of Content at Flux Trends, Tumelo Mojapelo, on how the company can ensure children in South African townships are prepared for this new brave world.

“Currently, South Africa is known as a middle-income economy – we are not in the same category as the most developed and wealthy nations of the world,” Mojapelo explains, “but this also means that there is tremendous scope for growth and for innovation. Young people are future-ready, and companies should know that the young people of today already have the skills and social capital needed to embrace the tech revolution and help those who are older than them to do so.”

Essential skills for 2030

According to a report by Accenture, the Industrial Revolution will take over up to 35% of all jobs in South Africa. This change will be seen in the white-collar and blue-collar job tiers. Many routine physical and clerical jobs for humans will be replaced by software or robots. Ultimately, even the jobs of lawyers, surgeons and engineers will be replaced by technology. Accenture further indicated that 75% of activities required by these jobs would be taken over by machines between now and 2026/2030.

The top ten skills that will be required are: complex problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, people management, coordination (team work), emotional intelligence, cognitive flexibility, negotiation and resilience, service orientation, and any other IT skills.

Sought after jobs in 2030

Artificial Intelligence and robots will first replace jobs or functions in industries that require jobs with hard skills first (i.e. clerical work, bookkeeping, cashiers, bank tellers, construction, cooking, mining maintenance etc.); however, jobs that require more soft skills (i.e. etiquette, creativity, spontaneity, courtesy, respect, intuition etc.) might be more difficult to replace. This does not mean that the technology will not eventually get to that point. There is already artificial intelligence that can mimic soft skills and will shift from being narrow to general whereby devices will process and predict what you need by using data collected from biometric technology, apps and your previous activities across the IOT (internet of things).

The jobs that will be sought after will be determined by the current tech industry developments that are taking over (i.e. 3D printing, drones, virtual reality, augmented reality, the Internet of Things, robotics and artificial intelligence etc.). This also means that there will be jobs that are much more sought after to help humans and robots work together, and help humans redefine their role in this new society (i.e. sustainability manager, climate change reversal specialist, body part makers, Nano-medics, GM farmer, elderly wellness consultant, memory augmentation surgeon, science ethicist etc.).

“It will be more valuable for you to be human – the empathetic kind person will be rewarded in a society where the population is aging and where robots cannot fulfil the role of nurturer in society.” says Mojapelo.

“These insights are really just the beginning and more will be revealed as time goes by, but we must always keep our finger on the pulse if we are to do what’s right for our young people and cultivate a future world that works for us all.”, concludes Afrika Tikkun’s ECD expert, Vanessa Mentor.

Categories
2018

Seven habits

Seven habits of a highly effective kitchen supervisor

Julia Kgeledi joined Afrika Tikkun as the Centre Administrator in 2010 and is currently the Kitchen Supervisor. Over the years, she has become more aware of her potential as she was exposed to how she can grow as a person and an employee through training, various work projects, environments and people. Her love for growth and personal development saw her accomplish things she never imagined herself achieving before joining Afrika Tikkun.

This led her to apply for the post of Kitchen Supervisor. At times in the interview process, she felt she was not good enough, but with the moral support of her manager and the knowledge she had acquired from the Emotional Intelligence course, she was able to deal with the doubts in her mind. At the end of it all, she came out feeling empowered and more confident of her abilities to climb even higher mountains.

Julia’s continuous hunger for constant personal and professional growth led her to apply for the Aspiring Leadership Program (ALP). ALP as she put it, “was a boom”. Amongst the many things she learnt from the course was: understanding how organisations work, the hierarchy of Afrika Tikkun, understanding the larger aspect of financial literacy, presentation skills, speaking skills, transfer of knowledge  and so much more.

Julia said the course helped her to help her team understand that one’s duties goes beyond “just doing”, to being very intentional that every action is well thought through. For example, she explained, it’s important to understand the nutritional value of each and every ingredient that is being used in the preparation of food in the kitchen.

One of the topics she loved from the course that she always strives to adapt into to her life is the “7 habits of highly effective people”. This taught her to cultivate the habit of listening and understanding someone in order to be understood. She feels appreciative of the platforms that Afrika Tikkun has given her for continuous growth and development.

Julia is looking forward to growing and doing better in the year 2018.

Categories
2018

Our Take

The NGO sexual exploitation and abuse scandal has exposed a culture of impunity, with one organisation after another starting with Oxfam coming under fire for tolerating and enabling exploitation and abuse of the very people they had pledged to serve – these are some of the most well-respected and trusted organisations globally, working with some of the most vulnerable peoples, including South African children.

In South Africa, numerous NGOs face serious financial and capacity challenges with many already closing down or scaling back their activities. This is despite the country facing increasing developmental challenges in areas including health, education and poverty alleviation.[1] Now facing a cascade of scandals, the entire sector finds itself tarred with the same brush of mistrust, and calls for withdrawal of support. While the sector may feel under the microscope, this is a process that should be welcome and embraced, for greater scrutiny of the sector and more transparency is long overdue.

In 2005, Johns Hopkins University estimated that, if the NGO sector were a country, it would be the fifth largest economy in the world with a global worth of more than $1 trillion a year.  But, to quote Alexander Cooley, a professor of political science at Barnard College in New York, “in many ways, they are the least accountable actors on the global scene”

Since the associational revolution hailed by John Hopkins university in the mid-90s when it started to research the explosion of the non-profit sector (which they predicted would be equal to the rise of the nation-state in the latter nineteenth century), there have been calls for better regulation of the sector. There is in fact no required, actionable accountability or regulation apart from that which the charity organisation chooses for itself, and has to its donor and the laws of the country. Accountability to the donor is therefore of critical importance. But it is not enough.

Helping NGOs to stamp out abuse is essential. Transparency and accountability however needs to be treated as a multi-dimensional set of obligations. The problem in the debate thus far is that accountability is regarded primarily as a vertical, upward accountability measured

Categories
2018

Meet Fashion Activist Chris Megaffin

Founder of “Bow Tie Challenge”, Chris Megaffin is a teacher who is originally from Toronto, Canada. He is a fashion activist who is on a mission to fight for social justice and he is using bow ties to achieve this.

On January 1st, he launched The Bow Tie Challenge. The Bowtie Challenge is a fund-raising initiative that was born as a result of his passion for teaching, interest in fashion and desire to make a difference in his local community. Chris pledged to wear a different bow tie every day for 365 days a year starting January 1st, 2018. “As an international teacher, I have come across educational inequalities in every country where I have taught and I have always wondered what I could do to make difference in the lives of these children”.

South Africa has some of the highest levels of socio-economic inequality in the world, and this is nowhere more apparent than in the educational system across South Africa. In 2016, 3 million black South Africans dropped out of school (15%). Statistics South Africa also show that children from disadvantaged backgrounds spend an average of 3 years less time in school than their privileged counterparts. Also, fewer of these children are put into early childhood development programmes – which we know to be fundamental to a child’s education and development. The situation feeds youth unemployment, and contributes to general instability in the country, as millions of South Africans cannot afford to buy food or access healthcare, decent sanitation and other essentials of a dignified life .

Chris is using the campaign to raise awareness about the importance of education and to raise funds for Afrika Tikkun. Afrika Tikkun is a non-profit organization with a mission to provide children from underprivileged communities in South Africa with high-quality education and development from cradle to career.

Chris is collaborating with some of South Africa’s up and coming designers who will help design the bow ties. He says this is to help support local businesses and give the designers exposure.

Shwezu have designed a bow tie especially for the campaign in the colours of the South African flag. “When approached with the opportunity to design and produce a range of bow ties for this initiative, we didn’t hesitate for a second. Not only is it fun, colourful, creative and inspiring but it also resonates with Shwezu.co.za‘s ultimate aim – to contribute to the growth and prosperity of our nation. For this reason, we only use local materials and producers to create our unique Shwezu Shweshwe bow ties and other products. We strongly believe that by acquiring new skills (e.g. fashion design and sewing) through a good education, the youth of South Africa have the ability to unlock countless opportunities to grow and thrive. ”

 

Shwezu is  an online store for South African inspired fashion, shoes, bags, accessories and gifts all tied together by one common denominator, Shweshwe – the iconically South African fabric.

How to get involved

  • Donate to The Bow Tie Challenge via http://thetravelingeducator.com/2017/09/the-bowtie-challenge/
  • Share the Challenge on social media to raise awareness about the inequalities of education in South Africa
  • Join the challenge, upload a photo of yourself wearing a bow tie to any social media platform #bowtiechallenge
  •  

    Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/thebowtiechallenge/?ref=bookmarks

    Twitter – https://twitter.com/bowtiechallenge

    Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/the.bow.tie.challenge/

Categories
2018

Announcing the launch of Memeza Bazokuzwa

The global NGO industry has been rocked by a series of scandals of the sexual exploitation and abuse of some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

Helping NGOs to stamp out abuse is essential, and it is of critical important that the voices of the most vulnerable are empowered to address abuses, as well as any matter pertaining to governance that impacts them. What does that mean for organisations with children and young people? It means the civic agency of the voice is upheld, celebrated and given a platform as a cultural and organisational practice. It means young people’s leadership is sought, valued, and empowered by those in power — beginning with the staff of Afrika Tikkun, the executive management and the board. It means that young people understand that by the same token, they can hold local, national and international duty-bearers accountable for safeguarding their rights.

Memeza Bazokuzwa is a campaign that empowers and equips young people as well as the adults who are responsible for their care, development and protection to speak out against abuse, and no longer tolerate any form of violence against young people. It will run throughout the year, and be part of ongoing communications. There will also be a number of key community-based events that young people, families, community members and stakeholders are invited to participate in. One of the key aims of the campaign is to ensure the spirit, values and details of the Afrika Tikkun’s Child Protection Policy is upheld at all times. We want to change the culture of tolerance of violence.

The Afrika Tikkun Child Protection Policy is based on international and national principles, articles and laws[1]. These laws provide a comprehensive framework for the protection, care, support and participation of all children and young people, without discrimination, to ensure their well-being to the maximum extent possible. The policy informs personnel, education and training, management structure, behaviour protocols, communication guidelines, reporting and reaction protocols, and it deals with the ramifications of misconduct. The policy requires awareness raising and training, including personnel self-care support, prevention measures, monitoring, evaluation and learning.

The policy also requires Afrika Tikkun check if all existing and potential employees are listed in the National Child Protection Register and the National Register for Sexual Offences. Afrika Tikkun will also require all existing and potential staff have a Police Clearance Certificate.

Accountability and transparency is a shared undertaking informed by a social contract that has its fundamental principle of do no harm. The more this principle is shared and upheld, the brighter the hope for the children and young people we serve.

 

END

 

 

Categories
2018

Film industry welcomes Afrika Tikkun graduates

One of the main mindset changes the Career Development Programme wants to bring is the mind set of doing things for yourself, while contributing to the development of others. Four young people who began their career their journey at Afrika Tikkun received information about a career in the film industry. They went on to pursue their passion and interest in film, and in 2017, registered a production company called SOKAA PRODUCTION. Octavia Sonyawe, Neo Kgola, Samuel Motloung and Zwelibanzi Tshabalala proudly created a production called “When two worlds collide”. Their film was screened on the 9th October 2017 at Midrand Ster Kinekor, and on the 15th October 2017 they won a prize for the “Best Newcomer” at the 48 HOUR FILM PROJECT held in Johannesburg.

On the 20th October 2017 they received a call from the Big Fish School of Digital Filmmaking and were offered a scholarship opportunity to study filming in Cape Town for 2 years. They struggled to raise funds for transport to Cape Town, and approached Afrika Tikkun for assistance. They were awarded 4 bus tickets, and arrived safely. They reported to be settling in well.

“We are thankful for what Afrika Tikkun has done for us, since from the first day, and I hope that they continue helping other young people,” said Octavia Sonyawe.

Categories
2018

Kamohelo

Kamo is a 20 year-old young man from Orange Farm. He joined the CYD programme, after working with Afrika Tikkun as a Peer Educator at his school in 2016. Kamo attends Duzenendlela (LSEN), School in Orange Farm. He describes being a peer educator as the greatest thing to happen in his life, because it has allowed him to speak to his peers about social issues, like sexuality and bullying. “Most of the young people, especially those with learning difficulties are not informed about their sexuality or are not even aware when they are bullied. So the platform has allowed me to teach them and I have also learnt a lot in the process”, Kamo said.

Kamo has grown to be popular in the Centre, since his arrival in 2017. He does not allow his disability to out shine his confidence. His favourite day at the Centre is Tuesday, when they do the “Care for Yourself” pillar, which includes exercising, running and walking. “I learn more about exercises and healthy food to eat, and I know being physically fit will benefit my health” he said.

When Kamo attended the holiday camp in December 2017, he did not hold back on anything. He did the obstacle course (those that he could), played volley ball and did running. He enjoyed himself immensely. He taught the other youth not to judge those who live with disabilities by just being himself and refusing to be limited by any activity and any life situation. He inculcates courage and hope in all youth.

Categories
2018

Sibongile

I am a 17-year old girl who aspires to be the greatest filmmaker in South Africa. I live in Alexandra. I see myself as an extrovert. I work hard for what I want and do my best with what I have. I love talking. I always have something to say, and a question to ask if I don’t understand. My love for talking has led me to write poetry, which always must inspire people who listen to me.

I found out about Afrika Tikkun from a competition called Step up to a Start-up. My friend and I had made it to the finals, where we met Afrika Tikkun CEO Marc Lubner who told us about Phuthaditjaba Centre. We had a 3-year mentorship programme lined up and joined Afrika Tikkun after hearing an inspirational talk. Since the day I signed up, I have never regretted my decision. Afrika Tikkun makes you realise that you are not defined by your situation at home or any challenge but through hard work and determination.

Categories
2018

Nokukhanya

I started attending AT Uthando in 2012. I’m involved in drama classes, book club and debating. I am currently doing a work experience learnership at Uthando. I have come so far as Afrika Tikkuns’ ambassador because of the love, care, support and opportunities that I have received there. Good things come to those who wait, but I believe that the greatest things come to those who strive for a better future and don’t let bad situations bring them down. I have achieved more than what I could have had I not known Afrika Tikkun.

“The love of growth, empowerment and leadership is what has brought me this far. That is why I am here and a step closer to reaching one of my greatest dreams. I am Afrika Tikkun and Afrika Tikkun is me. This is why I believe that this great privilege of travelling as an ambassador of my home, Afrika Tikkun is the greatest opportunity for me.”

Categories
2018

Thembani

Meet Thembani Mavunda, an aspiring 18 year old doing his Grade 12 at Kwa-Bhekilanga secondary School in Alex. Thembani is destined for great things in life. He joined Afrika Tikkun when he was in  Grade 6, and attended most of the Centre programmes on offer. He says he enjoyed computer lessons and painting most of all. Thembani says he was an average student before joining Afrika Tikkun and he now believes that he is an exceller in his school work because of the Centre programmes that helped him improve his marks. He now proudly gets around 80% in Maths and Physical sciences.

In 2017, he became interested in cycling, and was chosen to travel to the USA to participate in the Safelite Triathlon. In February, he won a medal for a triathlon, but, these days, Thembani is known for being more than a sportsman. Above all, he is an entrepreneur who invented noise cancelling headphones and he currently runs his own business. He participated in the National Young Entrepreneurship program called Step-Up to a Start-Up and took the first place.

Thembani wants to see success in his business and one day become a civil engineer. He says Afrika Tikkun has changed his life and has become his second home. He thanks Afrika Tikkun for exposing him to such greatness.