Ikamva

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Rob and Bryan have already posted about today but it was such a powerful day that I have to add my voice. We went to the township of Khayelitsha. A few facts, it has a population larger than the state of Vermont, over 1,000,000 people compared to Vermont's 700,000—with 1000 more moving in each month. The area Khayelitsha comprises would be equal to South Burlington or Bristol, Vermont.Unlike Langa, the oldest of the townships which we visited on Monday, many of the people come from the Eastern Cape of South Africa—and even from other nations in Africa. Lately this has caused conflict within the townships. They are looking for work and stability. The photos above are of the township. It is their homes.We met two incredibly inspiring people today, Joy Olivier (Co-Founder) and Luyanda Kota (Director) who create Ikamva Youth http://www.ikamvayouth.org/. It means the "future is in your hands". It is an after school program and more, working with truly motivated teen learners. It is built upon mentorship....much like we hope our project to do. Unfortunately they can only support about 93 students due to lack of funding, spacial constraints, and the need to maintain community. This is a quote from Luyanda on why he does what he does: 

"IkamvaYouth makes a difference in the community....I can see the difference and I want to be a part of the difference." 

We were invited to make a difference today. We worked with the young learners—tutoring in subjects we had long ago been fluent in. We helped with problem solving, knowledge, shared our experiences and listened to theirs. Today we were graciously invited to become part of that community. Thank you Luyanda, thank you Joy, and thank you all the eager learners who taught us today what learning is all about!

Enough said, more pictures so you can join us too.