Ubuntu Youth Empowerment Project Project Plan

Mission Statement

The Ubuntu Youth Empowerment Project seeks to strengthen communities and create local leaders in rural Africa.

Introduction

The Ubuntu Youth Empowerment Project (Ubuntu Youth) will utilize a low-resource, education-based approach to fighting HIV/AIDS and other escalating issues in rural South Africa by working with communities, employing local staff, and conducting lessons, activities, and skills development training in classrooms after school.

In a country that expects to have 5.7 million orphans of AIDS by 2015, Ubuntu Youth will use daily contact with high school students to support these children on an immediate basis, while empowering them to overcome the long-term challenges they face as a result of high HIV/AIDS infection rates, crime and poverty.

With such snowballing rates of both orphan population and HIV/AIDS, it is crucial that South Africa’s next generation is capable of taking a stand. Local leaders need to be fostered, and opportunities need to be made available for this next generation to overcome such impending obstacles in the very near future of this rainbow nation.

The Need

Every December, twelfth grade students are required to take the national matriculation examination, more commonly known as matric. This government-required exam is similar to taking a high school exit exam, but also takes on qualities of the SAT or ACT in that it determines which kinds of higher education a student can or cannot pursue after high school. National pass rates are not high to begin with (in 2010, for instance, just over 60% of students passed the test), and the results in the rural areas are far worse. These students are not only facing incredible personal challenges, but are also trying to navigate an education system that still hasn’t fully recovered from many of apartheid’s discriminating institutions. For example, although most students in KwaZulu-Natal townships speak Zulu as their primary language, they are expected to take the matric exam in English and therefore must be close to fluent in order to succeed. Students are supposed to start learning English (one of South Africa’s 11 official languages) in fourth grade, but many of them can barely speak or understand the language by the time they get to high school due to lack of quality public schooling. These factors, compounded with so many other personal and educational obstacles, make it incredibly challenging for these students to believe in themselves.

Opportunities are not necessarily boundless for these students, either – no matter how well they do on their exams. Most cannot afford to attend university (if they even qualify for it) or vocational school, and job prospects are dismal for all recent grads in a country where less than half of the population is actually employed. Ubuntu Youth’s programs will teach these students how to respect themselves, plan for their futures, seek out opportunities, and pursue their career interests.

Project Summary

Ubuntu Youth will work in conjunction with two neighboring high schools, Hlakaniphani High School and Zithume High School, in the township of Mtunzini, located on the coast of Zululand in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Mtunzini, which means “a place in the shade”, is tucked away in the rolling hills of sugar cane, just 15 minutes inland from the Indian Ocean. Mtunzini is one of the few rural communities in the region that has not yet been hit with HIV/AIDS, therefore making the implementation of Ubuntu Youth crucial to the prevention of this sweeping pandemic.

Once the regular school day has ended, students will remain in their classrooms for a nutritious meal, homework help, and various activities that cultivate critical thinking and problem solving skills under the guidance and supervision of Ubuntu Youth mentors.

Ubuntu Youth mentors will consist of local community members who have recently graduated from high school. They will offer homework help and tutoring in the subjects they excelled in, while also provide hands-on educational experiences that will enhance their daily in-class learning and open the door for future opportunities and careers.

Initially, mentors will come to the project headquarters and sign up for a tutoring slot a week in advance. Upon successful completion of a two-hour tutoring session, they will be paid a small stipend for their contribution. After several months of this probationary period, committed and successful mentors will be hired as Ubuntu Youth staff and will be paid a monthly salary.

Regular tutoring will be available to high school students in the community in addition to four key programs offered by Ubuntu Youth. Students will enroll for one calendar year in either the agriculture, music, technology or sports program. These programs will be taught by trained Ubuntu Youth staff, allowing students to foster a positive relationship with a mentor as well as learning leadership skills through program-specific projects and activities.

Project Programs

Agriculture Education

South Africa is a country that prospers from agricultural production. Unfortunately, though, current agriculture initiatives are limited to commercial farming, completely overlooking local opportunities. Through Ubuntu Youth’s agriculture program, students will learn how start and cultivate their own vegetable gardens, as well as how to eat nutritiously. Each student will be given a plot of land at the Ubuntu Youth garden to grow their own vegetables, and the remainder of the garden will be used for experimentation. After students learn the basics of agriculture, they will be challenged to think critically to find solutions to problems that typically plague agriculture production, such as pest control and inadequate harvests. Later in the year, students will use these critical thinking skills to address other issues in their lives and to try and come up with viable solutions to poverty and HIV/AIDS.

Music Education

Music is an integral part of Zulu culture, so it will also be a substantial element of Ubuntu Youth. The music program will give students the opportunity to be creative and will allow them to effectively express themselves and the issues they’re concerned about in their communities. After an initial incubation period, where trust will be gained between mentors and students, the music program will begin addressing the community’s most sensitive but pressing issues, such as poverty and HIV/AIDS. Students enrolled in the music program will participate in an array of activities not limited to singing, song writing, musical instrument lessons, creative writing, dance, and art.

Technology Education

In order to excel at the university level, computer skills are a necessity. Most poverty-stricken students, however, have never even been exposed to computers. The computer program will provide basic computer skills to students, teaching them how to type, use Microsoft Office programs, and navigate the Internet. These skills will offer rural students unparalleled advantages when applying for university admissions and jobs. Additionally, the latter half of the technology program will focus on Web and graphic design in order to further enhance these students’ technological capabilities. Ubuntu Youth’s computer program will be geared toward our brightest students and will eventually work in conjunction with a university scholarship program where donors can pick a specific student to sponsor through university.

Directors

Alyssa Peterson, Executive Director

Alyssa has spent the past four years researching and implementing sustainable aid programs in South Africa. After receiving a $10,000 grant to research microfinance in Peru, India, and South Africa, she helped start an agriculture-based loan program under another existing nonprofit, Thanda After-School. Prior to that, Alyssa developed Thanda’s computer program on-site before becoming the organization’s Stateside fundraising director, a position she has held for the past 3 years. Thanda After-School is now run by a dynamic local staff, and that has propelled Alyssa to launch Ubuntu Youth. Alyssa received the 2010 Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Oklahoma State University and was elected Philanthropist of the Year for 2011.

Sibusiso Goba, Site Director

The man everyone knows as “Sbu” has lived in Durban for the past six years while working to earn his bachelor’s degree at the University of South Africa. Sbu spent 2010 volunteering as Thanda After-School’s soccer coach, and he recently decided to help Alyssa co-found Ubuntu Youth. During his time at Thanda, Sbu gained a comprehensive understanding of the ideology behind sustainable aid, making him a vital part of the project’s sustainability plan, since he will eventually be the sole director of the local staff. Sbu is an inspiration to youth in South Africa, as he is local Mtunzini success story himself. Having grown up in the community of Mtunzini, where Ubuntu Youth will launch, Sbu’s connections will foster access to a plethora of local resources that will be integral to achieving sustainability.

Ashley Hesser, Music Program Director

Ashley Hesser, a Nutritional Sciences senior at Oklahoma State University, has a passion for music education that is outmatched. Ashley has been involved in musical activities all her life, and she is looking forward to sharing her love of music with underprivileged youth. Her responsibilities will include implementing the music division of the high school program, as well as devising a nutritious feeding scheme for the project. Ashley spent the month of July 2011 in KwaZulu-Natal helping Sbu and Alyssa conduct Ubuntu Youth’s preliminary research.

Derek Barchenger, Agriculture Program Director

Derek Barchenger is a Horticulture Science senior at Oklahoma State University, where he recently concluded his term as student body vice president. He is from a small farming community in Southeast Oklahoma called Indianola, where he developed a love for plants and learned how to farm an array of dietary staples, from wheat and corn to fresh cucumbers and tomatoes. While in South Africa, Derekwill bedevelopingthe agriculture division of the high schoolprogram. After his program becomes sustainable, Derek's goals include obtaining his master’s degree and a Ph.D., both in Horticulture Science, and becoming a plant breeder and geneticist to develop plants with resistance to stress and pests.

Ryan Smith, Chair of Board

Ryan is the current owner of Grimsley’s, Inc., an industrial supply company, and is also the missions director of Sunnybrook Christian Church in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He has been a mentor to Alyssa throughout her college career and is currently consulting the group of directors as they develop and implement Ubuntu Youth. Ryan is anticipating his first site visit for Ubuntu Youth in 2012.