© 2017 South Africa - The Good News
Mandela Day – Making Stumbling Blocks into Stepping Stones!
by Steuart Pennington
I live in Nottingham Road, a small farming hamlet 50kms North- West of Pietermaritzburg
Last week I was asked to be a “Dragon” at a local fund-raiser to celebrate Mandela Day and kick-off Mandela Month. Like ‘what’s that?’
Below is the story, another untold story, of the energy dedicated by many (not all) of the committed individuals to making a difference to this small farming community.
I am constantly amazed at the social energy South Africans have.
One by one we are changing stumbling blocks into stepping stones.
Introduction:
Georgina Marques mrqgeo001@gmail.com, and Olivia March, associated with the Nelson Mandela Capture Site in Howick, organised a fun evening, first to celebrate Mandela Day and second, to raise money for six local Midlands NGO’s (Non-governmental Organisations). Based on the Dragon Den television series the idea was to invite the NGO’s to present their credentials and win a prize.
Four “Dragons’ were to ask probing questions of each NGO as they presented their case to receive the R13050 raised on a ‘Winner takes All’ basis.
The event, at the Notties Hotel, was attended by some 60 ‘donors’, who collectively contributed the R13050, and who would ‘vote’ for the most deserving case. The four local ‘Dragons’ were: Kim McNally, Steuart Pennington, Keith Govender and Chris Till.
Below is the summary of the six presentations
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Inyathelo secures R11 million grant to boost education institutions’ capacity
Kresge Foundation and Inyathelo leaders celebrate the US$857 734 million (about R11,1 million) grant. They are (from left) Caroline Altman Smith (deputy director Kresge Foundation), William Moses (MD Education, Kresge Foundation), Jessica Rees-Jones (Executive Director, Inyathelo), Cynthia Kresge (trustee and great-granddaughter of founder), Nazli Abrahams (Inyathelo Programme Director) and Rip Rapson (President and CEO of Kresge Foundation).
18 July 2017
In an effort to help eliminate economic inequality through improved education, The Kresge Foundation has awarded a grant of US$857 734 (about R11,1 million) to Inyathelo, the South African Institute for Advancement, for the Kresge-Inyathelo Advancement Initiative (KIAI).
The Kresge Foundation is a US philanthropic private foundation that has funded Inyathelo to build South African advancement capacity since 2005.
Jessica Rees-Jones, Executive Director of Inyathelo, says, “We’re thrilled to accept this grant as it could not come at a more appropriate time, with unprecedented pressures on education. We cherish our long and meaningful history with the Kresge Foundation and this grant reaffirms their confidence in us.
“Smart collaborations have always been our approach and will continue to be the bedrock of success as we take bold steps into the future.”
The grant comes from Kresge’s Education Program, which aims to help increase US and South African post-secondary education attainment to advance social mobility, address economic inequality and strengthen urban communities.
...[read more]
Madiba month:
July commemorates former president Nelson Mandela and the legacies he left for us.
One of the things he valued most was education, and educating the youth of the country.
Just how much progress have we made to fulfil his wishes for an educated South Africa 20 plus years into the country’s democracy?
These are some of the latest statistics on the state of youth education in South Africa:
- The Department of Basic Education’s country progress report shows that although 86% of 16-to 18-year-olds are in school, only 5% complete grade 12 by age 18, the expected age of completion.
- Additional research shows that students completing grade 10 face only a 52% chance of employment.
- Further education and training (Fet) colleges—schools that should provide vocational and practical-skills training-enroll about 200,000 students a year, but this is far from sufficient to compensate for current dropout rates, the report states.
- The youth unemployment rate rose by 1.6 percentage points to 38.6%‚ with 58% of unemployed people aged between 15 and 34 in June 2017.
- The same studies shows that of the people who did not have work‚ 9.3-million wanted work in the first quarter; while those who wanted work but did not look for work increased by 391‚000 people.
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THIS WEEK'S FAST FACT
Giving back:
Total CSI expenditure in South Africa was estimated to be worth R8.6 billion in 2016. Education received the most support (48% of total CSI spend in 2016), followed by community development (15%) and health (9%).Source (www.Eighty20.co.za)
