Press release
06 December 2021
On the 4th of December 2021, the Africa Unite school club hosted 70 attendees in its Annual Recognition and Capacitation event for all nine participating school clubs in the Western Cape. This event was to acknowledge the work of our young leaders and give them an opportunity to inspire each other to be more invested in community development and further grow. This event took place at Norval Foundation Museum in Tokai and was started off by a learner Art therapy painting session facilitated by Lindsay Hendriks. This session was important to improve the concentration and communication of the learners and help reduce common feelings of isolation that learners from disadvantaged backgrounds experience.
This activity was followed by the African History tour around the Norval Foundation Museum. The learners found this tour very insightful as they got to know where most African artefacts came from and what storyline started them.
The learners then shared with their peers, their presentation on their schools’ achievements for the year 2021. They shared their challenges and how they overcame them and it was a teachable moment for everyone.
The event came to its pivotal point when the Africa Unite School members were awarded for their efforts for the year of 2021. The awards acknowledged the most improved school club, and that was awarded to Salt River high school, the most active school club member throughout the schools and that was awarded to Farayi Nyahuye the most innovative school club and that awarded to Nelson Mandela High school, etc. Portland high school took home the Africa Unite school of the year for 2021, this was due to their governance, their activities and their consistency throughout the year. The event was then closed off by a motivational piece on the importance of youth leadership and activism from Meshak Hobwane from UNHCR and Lelethu Nogwavu, an Africa Unite peer educator, and a Master’s Candidate in Constitutional and Administrative Law from UWC.
Comment by Lona Siyo from Gardens Commercial high school: ‘’ The function was very very well organized and very accommodating. The venue was immaculate! stunning! The venue was absolutely stunning and thank you for taking us to an extraordinary place, instead of common places we were really were given the opportunity to a high class. I for one was not familiar with art galleries and to me, it was such an honour to visit an art gallery. Hence I thank you guys for giving me that opportunity. The guest speakers were out of this world. Sis Lelethu really inspired me since I also aspire to be an advocate. She also gave us a clear insight into how the club could help us be bigger things in life. The presentations were so mind-opening that I was inspired by what the different schools were doing, and the change they were making, not only in advance of the club but for everyone. I gained a lot of knowledge and bagged a lot of ideas as to how we’ll make our year next year a success’’
The year 2021 is one that was greeted with COVID regulations restrictions and a new norm, and in the midst of all of that, the learners from the Africa Unite school clubs persevered and still carried out their activities and reached their goals. We say well done to our young leaders as we look forward to a more prosperous 2022.
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