Africa Unite and Crystal Horizon Youth Centre hosted a workshop with the 2019 Africa Unite School Clubs cabinet members from Fons Luminis Secondary School and New Gate College. The training was held on Friday 26 April and ended on Saturday 27 April 2019 at the Business Exchange in Sandton.
Throughout the 2 days, the training was conducted by two facilitators: Joseph Eliabson Maniragena and Tebogo Maleke; who are also Africa Unite Peer Educators. Our former president at Fons Luminis Secondary school, Pinkie also assisted on the proceedings throughout the 2 day workshop.
The aim of the workshop was to train and empower the new cabinet, while educating them on their respective roles as cabinet members. Additionally, throughout the workshop, the club members were further capacitated on human rights and the vital role they play in developing their school and community. Henceforth, ensuring that they may subsequently run the clubs with a good understanding of human rights issues and how to best deliver work expected of them.
Specific objectives of the workshop:
- Equip new cabinet members with overall knowledge of the human rights issues;
- Equip them with key skills needed to run successful the school clubs.
- Build learners’ confidence and develop their leadership skills
The workshop kicked off with an introduction of participants so that they get to know each other then followed by the exercise of Human Rights Squares which was so helpful to ignite good discussions on human rights issues.
The introduction by participants was done by participants making an ID card using an A4 page; and that ID had their names; an animal that they feel represent them and their lifetime goal (s). What would they want to be; on career side but also personal. It was amazing to see that a number of cabinet ministers have as their goals to be Human Rights defenders/lawyers to protect others or Politicians to correct the many injustices that are going on.
Fons Luminis Secondary School Cabinet Members discussing Human Rights
The other topics included were the explanation to participants on “What are Human Rights?” and the different categories of Human Rights; Social Cohesion and Leadership. Following this, the club members brainstormed on how they can encourage and support the development of a culture of human rights at their schools and surrounding communities, as well as how they can conduct advocacy Campaign on Human rights issues.
The second day consisted of a planning session; participants were trained to prepare their plan using ALA Business Model Canvas. This model helps to identify the need in the community; basically what are the main challenges that they are trying to solve. Thereafter, the group discussed on who will use the services and try to profile them by age, gender, income if any. As a result, there was a collective discussion on what the club members were proposing to address the social issue. They proposed events such as dialogues relating to social challenges such as violence among teenagers and thereafter identified stakeholders they would approach in order to make the dialogue or campaign a success.
Overall, the 2 day workshop was a success and the school club members left with high spirits and determination to improve their schooling and community environment. These young leaders are determined to eradicate social issues and we are looking forward to seeing them implement all their planned activities accordingly.
We would like to thank the Business Exchange in Sandton for welcoming us into their space, as well as their respective school for inviting Africa Unite to initiate the school club in their schools. The
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