Self Reliant and Empowered Youth Programme (SREY) 2011:

BY

MNQOBOKAZI COMMUNITY TRUST

1.    Introduction

·         Social & skill Youth Development's Programme aims to enable youth to take responsibility for positive lifestyles, and to contribute through skills development, behavior modification, recreation and to participate in family and community activities, as well as their own mental health and emotional well-being. This strategy includes a Youth Development Programme committed to the development of young people in our area (Mnqobokazi Community) as reflected to our strategic plan.

·         Together, we want to ensure that young people from disadvantaged homesteads are given the opportunities and means to become resilient and self-reliant.

2. Youth Development Programme

Our Youth Development Programme will provide appropriate, coordinated support for young people especially to matriculates who neither working nor studying, youth who neither studying nor working as well as graduates who are not working or Tertiary youth are still studying.

Our programme will build on the strengths of young people, through skills development and community service aimed at assisting personal growth, volunteerism and accountability. We believe that these strengths lay the foundation for a positive future and help youth to become responsible citizens.

3. Services aimed at:

3.1         Youth Life skills

This will be aiming at short training courses entailing AIDS awareness. It will be including the  background on how AIDS is transmitted, what steps to take to prevent transmission, how to handle infection, and where to get help. AIDS is not a problem that can be ignored and with so many people already infected, young people must take steps to empower other youth people with knowledge through life skills training programs. Other trainings will be on hygiene, diet, lifestyle choices and more will be actually addressed. Another aim will be equipping youth with academic achievemts, self management, and social development, interpersonal and career development.

Eventually this item will allow youth to be more competitive in this corporate world and make them more marketable and confident in order to survive the challenges facing in their personal and academic world.

This service will be focusing on:

1.    How to cope peer pressure especially those in high school (This has been revealed by Mseleni and Monqobokazi statistics on high teenage pregnancy in schools currently rating at 65% in our area only)

2.    Job hunting skills – in terms of networking, using internet or human network, proper cv’s and application letters, how to prepare interview

3.    Finance management- equipping them on how to deal with completion after employment

4.    Entrepreneurship

3.2         Educational skills

This will be aiming pushing on carrier guidance in schools as it is a huge gap that causing demotivation to many youth for Mnqobokazi area. How to choose a right career, how to fit in work market places and many more bursary networks. When to apply and how- in terms of settling a place in high institution as well as application for a bursary. Ho w to fill forms, and etc.

The service will be focusing the following:

1.    Bursary equipment

2.    Carrier Guidance

3.    Short courses on pandemic HIV/AIDS and computer skills

4.    etc

3.3         Skills training

This will be focusing on three folds

3.3.1     Welding- is the demand skill in our area (burglar proofs, gates, motoring, etc) which could financially capacitate our youth by schools and other institutions purchasing the product and many more individuals

3.3.2     Carpentry – is also a demand business (where we will be training on basic furniture which can be also purchased by local schools as well as the whole district). As the time goes on the focus will go further to ceiling, signboards, in suites, etc

3.3.3     Paper recycling and tissue papers – this is a high demanding skill not needed only by our area, but globally.

4. Coaching, guidance and general support

This will be dealing with the part of how to choose the right direction before the already mentioned skills. It will be a check point before the journey begins, because the programme is not only aiming on just skills development, but mostly on creating real choice on real youth

5. Conclusion

After next financial year we may motivate for more if there is feasibility and sustainability on the planned training skills