A collection of reflections, experiences and thoughts. The NYRI Ambassadors present to you an overview of the network thus far. May this bring you joy, provoke thoughtful thinking and excitement for all that is still to come!
Youth Month Edition: Activities and Reflections
Read all about what our ambassadors were up to during June 2021
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
OUR EDITORS:
- Fatima Hoosain
- Elzaan Julius
- Thandokazi Maguga
- Palesa Ramonyalioa
- Matome Aphane
Our writers: the ambassadors & our sponsors
Youth development and the municipality
By Matome Aphane, Mpumalanga Blessing Sibande from Mpumalanga hosted Youth In Business to celebrate youth month 2021, let’s read what were the objectives of the session and who was part of the session.
Youth, Stakeholder, Session Entrepreneurs, Development, Skills, Information, Crime
On the 19 June 2021, The NYRI Mpumalanga based Ambassador Blessing Sibande formed part of the local organizing committee which conducted a Youth Business Session under the theme “Commemorating 2021 Youth Day” aims to develop and groom young in business. The event form part of Youth Month 2021 Activities despite the pandemic, ambassador together with other stakeholders such as Gert Sibande District Municipality as a host, NYDA, SEDA, SAPS and Gert Sibande TVET College Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator shared information and services offered by them in developing youth in business and how to sustain business during and post the pandemic.
During the event, Identified Youth in business received business starter packs to run their businesses properly. In his address, NYRI Ambassador Blessings encouraged young people to be in the forefront of building the local economy and establishing innovative businesses that will create job opportunities. He continued, saying, the youth of 1976 fought for future youth to have free education and economic freedom that will enable them to access information and opportunities within government.
AMBASSADORS CORNER
With everything that has happened since 2020. I am pretty sure most of us are exhausted in every sense of the word. Having to navigate our current so-called “new normal” has not been easy. However, in the midst of any hardship, there is always a little light wanting to shine through and make life a little better, this is exactly what being part of the NYRI Ambassador Network feels like.
Regardless of the mishaps we have faced, I am honoured to be part of a Network with such amazing leaders, who are not only passionate about bringing change in their communities but bringing change in South Africa as a whole. Most of us know, this change can only be brought forward by us, the youth of South Africa. At times this commitment can be difficult to uphold due to various reasons for all of us, but when those moments do make an appearance, I think it is important to remind yourself how you felt when you were shortlisted, interviewed and accepted to be part of this Network.
In the last few weeks, I had to re-evaluate my commitment to the Network and I made a choice to push and work harder, even when I feel exhausted from life in general. I continuously remind myself that I am in fact resilient and I have to hold myself accountable more than anything. In closing, being part of this Network is not only connecting me to a community of people with a similar vision and hope for the future as me, it is also helping me with my personal development. I have grown so much in so many ways since being part of the Network.
Yours Sincerely,
From an Exhausted but Committed and Resilient Leader Elzaan Julius, Western Cape
I have enjoyed being part of the NYRI virtual workshops so much as I have grown so much. I have learned a lot from our facilitators and fellow ambassadors. I was also able to see what other young people are doing to better their communities. I was also able to see that even though we are from different places with different backgrounds but we are facing the same kind of problems… we are all different, yes. But our vision(to be resilient and persistent) unifies us. During the month of June.
As a member of Pienaar Youth Movement, we had a Youth Day Commemoration Walk with various stakeholders including the local Municipality, the National Youth Development Agency, Department of Labor and SANCO. We were engaging in social economic issues like job\business opportunities, drug and substance abuse and the issue of gender based violence. We concluded the day with netball and soccer games, as we are young people.
I also had an opportunity to do radio interviews on the phone with Radio 786 and Ligwalagwala FM mainly to promote and excite young people to come in numbers! We hope to host this event annually going forward!
Innocantia Nontando Magagula, Mpumalanga
Active Youth Month
By Hlubikazi Sanqela, Eastern Cape
‘’she who feeds who feeds you today keeps you hungry for tomorrow But she who empowers you today keeps you full for a lifetime’’
Hlubikazi Sanqela is a true epitome of the words echoed above, she is a young person Who has dedicated her life and gifts to better the lives of others, through spoken- word,education and sports. Read more on what she got up to during Youth month. Education, Empowerment, Inspiration.
June 5 – Mazoyi Netball League play-offs – The Mazoyi League is a league we created as the Alice Netball Club to keep our players active throughout the year. We are supported by Mazoyi Mixtures which is a company led by Lwazi Marawu who was born & bred in Alice.
June 10- SAPS Junior Commissioners Project The Junior National Commissioner Project is one of the SAPS’ Youth Crime Prevention Project that seeks to provide the youth of South Africa an opportunity to contribute and play a meaningful role in ensuring a safe and conducive learning environment in schools. The competitions take place for High Schools where the learners (Grade 9,10 & 11)gather to debate on current social ills facing them in communities and come up with solutions to these problems. The topic here was What is Gender based violence and how can we stop it in our communities or environment. The winning schools will serve as District Junior Commissioners serving under the following portfolios: -Station commander – VISPOL Commander – Operational Commander – Detective Commander – Support head – FCS Head They job shadow these portfolios at SAPS stations and learn more about what kind of work they do at SAPS. They debate many topics and do community projects at their schools to build leadership skills, confidence and preaching crime prevention messages to increase school safety.
June 11 -Mxhelo School update: Invited as guest speaker for the day to motivate learners at the school. My main focus was on “Children obey and respect your parents”. By parents it means the older person within the community is your parent. The gardener at school, the kitchen ladies, the teachers and parents within the community on the streets. Once you are able to respect older people,there are blessings that come your way in life. We presented the gifts as a way to ensure that learners don’t give up at school just because they come from poor backgrounds that cannot afford it. To encourage them to not look down upon themselves as they can be anything they want to be in life.
June 16 – Netball Tournament As the Deputy Secretary at Alice Netball Club, we hosted a June 16 Tournament as our 1st event to host as the association. The aim of the tournament was to highlight the importance of playing sport for fun, for career development and what are the benefits. The community of Alice showed great support for us and we appreciate the support as it propels us forward
I remember browsing through the WhatsApp group of “Activate change drivers” and one of the facilitators had shared the link of the NYRI Google forms,absentmindedly so I clicked the link and applied for the sake of applying…After a week or two activators were now talking about this NYRI ambassadorship on Facebook and that’s when I realized that this is actually serious. I started googling about WESSA and stakeholders that are involved,wanted to know what does a youth ambassador do..As a young person who is believes in youth development,I now had to take myself more serious should I be called and fortunately I got the email that I had been selected for a telephonic interview.
After scheduling for an interview I was now anxious about the outcome of the interview,I can’t even remember what I said during the interview. It was a lot and now finally it was one afternoon when I checked my emails I couldn’t believe that I was actually accepted in the programme. It felt like a dream and a good one at that I screamed,danced a little bit and the cherry on top of it all was knowing that I am going to be out there representing my community and province,be a voice for the voiceless young people and also take this programme as a learning experience.
To be honest I don’t even regret clicking on that link that was shared when I absentmindedly applied because through that I’ve learned a lot,have met young people who are resilient,change drivers in their communities and are intelligent too. If I had to apply again I would do it in a blink of an eye,so far the journey of being an ambassador is amazing.
Neliswa Valentia Nabani, Free State
Youth parliament and the virtual world
By Palesa Ramonyalioa, Free State
Free State Province Youth Virtual Parliament The NYRI Free State Province Ambassadors has done the first of its kind during youth month under the theme “The role of youth in shaping future generations”. Let’s read to know more about the theme aims and more!
Youth, Stakeholders, session, future, skills, knowledge, development
On 27th June 2021 the Free State National Youth Resilience hosted the first of its kind, a Youth Virtual Parliament under the theme: THE ROLE OF YOUTH IN SHAPING FUTURE GENERATIONS. The main aim was to gather youth from different walks of life to come together and pave a way forward by establishing their role as the youth in shaping future generations, strategies to achieve this and what is the youth currently doing in their respective communities to drive this positive and long term impact on future generations.
During the session critical questions were asked: What is it that we want to shape future generations on? What skills and knowledge are relevant to implement this? Who are we already connected to in our communities that can be a reliable partner in achieving this? We have to understand that it is not only the responsibility of the government to ensure emancipation of the youth, it is a collective responsibility – the youth have to be at the forefront of its future.
Gone are those days when we solely relied on the Government for improvement and changes in our communities. What value do we hope to bring for future generations? How do we capacitate the youth to take up and step up to their role? Are we doing enough to drive this change? This was amongst the many questions we delved deeper in the session. We had participants from different municipal youth desks, our fellow National Youth Resilience Initiative Network and youth in community development.
Vuka Muntomusha, It’s time!
By Matome Aphane
“You can blend it or befunky!” was the theme for the Fun Walk Event organized by Innocentia Magagula from Mpumalanga during youth month.She partnered with different organizations to conduct this event.
Youth, Organizations, Sports, Information, Development, Skills
They say walk the talk but Pienaar Youth Movement together with NYRI Mpumalanga Ambassador Innocentia Magagula says walk for Economic Freedom in commemoration of June 16, Youth Day. On the 16 June 2021, Pienaar Youth Movement parade and took a long walk in the street of Pienaar under the theme “You can blend it or be funky” and the walk ended by sport activities which includes football and netball.
Innocentia played a role of marketing in building up to the event as she has lined interviews in local radio including SABC Radio Legwalagwala FM and Radio 786, In her radio interviews she encouraged youth to join them on the event as it will equip them with information and be active in sports within communities. The event was all about fun with a lot of motivations and presentations by different stakeholders such as Pienaar Youth Movement as a host, Mbombela Local Municipality Youth Unit, NYDA, Department of Labour and SANCO. The stakeholders and youth engaged on socio-economic issues that affect youth such Gender Based Violence, Job and Business Opportunities.
The Study of resilience by the centre for study of resilience university of pretoria
By Lungisile Kweyama, Western Cape
’’The country cannot develop if its citizens are not educated’’ Lungisile Kweyama’s Personal Reflection on the PRA Activities facilitated by the study of Resilience by the center For the study of Resilience.
Education, Innovation, Leadership
During our onboarding process, The centre for study of resilience gave a brief overview of what they focus on, However they did not go in-depth as to how ambassadors fit into the bigger picture. My first thought or impression of the entire presentation was “mm this is interesting, dedicate your time, resources to study resilience” and when I’m interested in something I want to know more about It. I did browse through the University of Pretoria website just to get more information about the centre and their objectives.
Fast forward to when we were invited to participate in the study, to say I was excited will be an understatement. I was also excited to meet other ambassadors from the Western Cape whom I have interacted with virtually and already they shared so much about the work they do in their respective communities. I went into that session with just one question: “ Why study resilience?” and my question was answered. What stood out for me was how as young people have been resilient without realising it, our environments, socialization forced us to be resilient, we had no other choice and we continue to be resilient. This study is paramount because it will be a framework that will assist young people in navigating life better.
Never before in my life had I met anyone who had gone on exchange to another program, yet alone other provinces. I only ever imagined it as something I would hear about on television. The fact of me joining the National Youth Resilience Initiatives Ambassadors Program (WESSA and ACTIVATE, for the FIRST time never came to me until the moment I have been honored or taking an oath being an Ambassador. I was a whirlpool full of emotions: nervous, anxious, and excited!” “I was definitely out of my comfort zone, which is a GOOD thing! It FORCES you to adapt.
I am no longer as anxious about meeting new people; I have developed a decent set of interpersonal skills as a result of being forced out of my comfort zone.” “Greater awareness of my own cultural identity and to not be so ignorant of my heritage, People from different Provinces and backgrounds are interested to find out more about where I am from. That opened my eyes a bit that I need to make an effort to get to know as much as possible about my diverse South Africa.” “Able to think of things from a much broader perspective, Now that I have been introduced to WESSA and ACTIVATE programs, my horizons of thinking have been broadened. I would term myself as being more enlightened as a whole.
As a member of the National Youth Resilience Initiative Ambassador- WESSA and ACTIVATE- I have managed to implement the following activities. On the 5th July I met the MEC of Health Doctor Ramathuba assisting on Vaccine registration and also engaging on how youth should be involved by assisting government on this difficult time.
Macdonald Mperekeng Louw, Limpopo
GIZ virtual conference: safer spaces
After attending Virtual GIZ Conference, Keletso Kgalema shares knowledge and skills obtained during the conference which was held during youth month 2021.
Youth, Stakeholders, Challenges, Parenting, Violence, Discipline, Guidance
When Saferspaces are available to young people where nothing is candy coated it is then when we realise that young leaders are who they believe to be. The Giz Conference on growing up in South Africa was exactly that, A safe haven availed to a young adult whom had experienced most of the challenges that a young black african woman raised in rural community faces on daily basis.A very thought provoking session with like-minded people from various institutions above all I have realized that good parenting can change a lot in South Africa.
It is said that children who grow up in warm and attentive families have a much better chance of completing school and developing the required working skills thereafter. The conference was hosted in a Youth month which made it appropriate for young people to not only be leaders who are admired out there but to also build families which will scrap out statistics of single parenting or absent fathers or mothers.
The GIZ Conference was very mind blowing and going forward I will acknowledge a child’s background in order to be able to identify his or her challenges which may be contributing factors to their academic performance.It is through programmes like the National Youth Resilience Initiative where we as young people realize that above all we are human we need each other as a network from all our respective communities together our country will be a better and safer space for everyone living in it.
A clean up day was organised by a community leader in our area Bloemendal, a community in the northern areas of Port Elizabeth.
The plight from the concerned community members that live near the dumping site as well as the motorist using the street as well as the conditions which lead to health issues which is very bad during the current pandemic as people dump dead animals and rubble at the site were the main reason for the clean up.
Through the Ward Councillor office ,the waste management department of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality came to do the rubble removal . Two weeks after the clean up the community members young and old take sleeves and under the leadership of the community leader ,we do the cleaning of the papers and rubbles that still laying near the fence of the school which couldn’t be removed and the grasses on the verges were cleaned.
This is how we as a community stand together in every situation. The community took the initiative to keep the site clean and said “Enough is enough.” No more dumping will take place again. We stand together for a “SAFE AND HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT”
Community Clean-up
By Abdullatief Ebrahim, Eastern Cape
’’Be The Change You Want To See’’
These Words Are A True Reflection Of A Community Leader In Bloemendal, Northern P.E Who Organized A Community Clean-up To Restore The Dignity And Healthy Environment In The Area.
Health, Safety, Life style
Dear Leaders,
I hope this culmination of hard work, inspiration and teamwork brings you courage to take charge of your community and be a changemaker. The National Youth Resilience Initiative proves itself through its members; Ambassadors and Facilitators alike. Each individual has contributed to this experience and has provided a lesson learnt as future leaders. I am honoured and in awe of my peers and can’t wait to see the South Africa we build together through our diverse walks of life. South Africa is often referred to as a Rainbow Nation, before joining this network I struggled to view the country in that light but getting to know and learn from the ambassadors, I have begun to see a new perspective for our country. I trust that this initiative and its members will bring hope, laughter and a bright future to the people of South Africa. As Malik El Shabaz (Malcom X) once said, “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today”
Your fellow NYRI ambassador
Fatima Hoosain
