Emotional Intelligence

We invited the Kempton Park Police Department to come and talk to our learners regarding safety and security. Since its woman’s month, they also prepared a small ceremony for the ladies.

They brought a motivational speaker, Ms T Banyini, who spoke to our learners about emotional intelligence and taking control of your life.

She spoke to the learners about Attitude, saying it is our attitude towards work and life that makes both successful. Every problem has a solution, but sometimes we have to change our “Attitude”.

In her message to the learners she mentioned the following:

• Stay away from anger…it hurts only you. If you are right then there is no need to be angry, and if you are wrong then you don’t have any right to get angry.
• Every problem we encounter comes to break us or make us, the choice is yours whether you become victims or victorious.
• Do you know why God created gaps between fingers? So that someone who is special to you comes and fills those gaps by holding your hand forever.
• Forgive those who have not treated you as expected and forget the bad things; this also makes room available for storing good things.

The learners were so motivated by her message that there is no one but yourself who is in control of your life.

The Police of Kempton Park also prepared “Certificates of Appreciation” for each learner. The certificates that were awarded had each learners name on it, with the following quote

“This Certificate is awarded to you for being the Woman of the Month” – the certificate highlighted how much they were being appreciated as Beautiful Women!!

Anathi Msolo
Academy Supervisor, Kempton Park

We ended winter in an interesting way!

I Can! Vereeniging Academy celebrated their unwavering commitment to women and their role in the struggle for the emancipation of women.

National Women’s Day is an annual public holiday, celebrated in South Africa on 9 August. This commemorates the national march of women on this day in 1956 to petition against the pass laws that required South Africans defined as “black” by The Population Registration Act to carry a ‘”pass,” an internal passport that severely restricted their movement. Each “pass” designated specific urban/metropolitan areas in which the bearer was authorized to live, work and travel. Within such areas, black South Africans were required to carry and produce their “pass” at all times, and were arrested if without one. As such, it served to maintain population segregation, control urbanisation, and manage migrant labour during the apartheid era.An inspiring display of political strength, female solidarity and inner fortitude. – Wikipedia

The march on August 9, 1956 is both a reminder of the great women who helped mould South Africa and the trailblazing women who continue to lead the country forward. A song was composed in honour of this momentous occasion, “Wathint’ Abafazi Wathint’ imbokodo!” If you strike a woman, you strike a rock”

• To all the men here at I Can! Vereeniging, thank you for the support and to all the ladies: Happy Women’s Month.

Another immensely proud moment for I Can! was the opening of the brand new academy in East London on 4 August 2014.

Situated at 37 St Marks Road, Southernwood, 35 learners sponsored by ARB Electric Wholesalers, entered the doors on this sunny Monday morning ready for a new challenge. Our 3 new staff members, Academy Supervisor Busisa Nokama, and two facilitators Avile Sikiti and Thulisile Khumalo, were eager to start them off on this new journey.

ARB Electrical Wholesalers is Southern Africa’s largest independent black-empowered electrical wholesaler. With its roots in Richards Bay since 1980, this company has grown drastically to become a nationwide, fully equipped electrical wholesaler. Employing over 600 staff members, ARB provides a wide range of internationally recognised and SABS approved products across three main categories:

• Power and instrumentation cable
• Overhead line equipment and conductors
• General low voltage products (including lighting)

 

In addition to our generous sponsor, we would like to extend a special Thank You to the following individuals for their selfless assistance in getting the academy off the ground:

• Ms Jola from the Department of Education in marketing the learnerships to parents and students in the area; and
• The East London PMI team for the use of their venues and hospitality during assessments and interviews.

Be sure to keep your eyes and ears open for all the news on our new venture.

 

Lauren Butler
Operations Manager – Eastern Cape

Three out of 5 of our LIV employees proudly attended their graduation ceremony at Westridge School on the 2^nd of August.

Seen in this picture (from left to right) are: Thabisile Mchunu (placed on learnership by Defy), Samkelisiwe Ngcobo (placed on learnership Defy) and Nokuthula Khumalo (placed on learnership BHP).

We are so proud of these ladies, not only for the work they put in during their learnership, but also for the hard work and commitment they now show while working at LIV. Thabisile is sponsored now by PMI, Samkelisiwe by SGRP, and Nokuthula by Boardroom Appointments.

Thanks to these companies’ Enterprise Development contributions, the ladies have been in full time employment since Feb of this year and work (happily) in various departments at LIV.

Please check out our Khulisani website – http://khulisani.co.za/ featuring information on our existing projects, and ideas on how companies can earn 5 bonus points on their BBBEE scorecard, by supporting Khulisani through enterprise development.

On the 2^nd August KZN held their second official graduation at the Westpark school in Malvern. Sixty seven learners from 17 different sponsoring clients graduated. Our honorary guest was Westpark’s principle Mr Perumal, who was there to say a heartfelt motivational speech to all our past learners.

Included in the graduation was Durban North’s very own Mbali Nkosi (now Academy Administrator) who graduated from the Business Practice learnership. We are especially proud of her.

Not only was this a special occasion for the learners where we celebrated their success, but also a time to thank the facilitators who played a vital role in shaping their lives with their continuous love and support. Very often the role of I Can! facilitator extends to become a mentor and a role model to the learners for the duration of the learnership. From the confines of the classrooms the facilitators build the confidence of the learners so that they can go out and face the world as confident, well-adjusted adults ready to take on life’s challenges while living the I Can! Vision:

“To focus on the mainstream inclusion and integration of young adults with disabilities into society”

Natascha McAllister
Operations Manager – KZN

On the 11^th August 20 new learners were inducted and orientated at our I Can! Farm agricultural academy in the Midlands, marking the start of our new agricultural skills programme in Plant Production. Together with their guardians, learners and I Can! staff packed the farm house to capacity, whilst introductions to I Can! and the new programme were made. The learners then enjoyed a walk about on the farm followed by the official orientation session and signing of all the necessary documentation.

This Skills Programme will run for a duration of 12 weeks consisting of 2 days of theory and 1 day of practical work on the farm every week. For the duration of September the learners will be conducting their theoretical work at the HS Ebrahim Special Needs School in Pietermaritzburg whilst we wait for renovations on our new Howick academy to be completed. We expect to officially open this academy on 1 October 2014.

Agriseta has very generously sponsored the Skills Programme. We look forward to impressing them with a very successful and grateful class of competent learners at the end of this year.

Youth Day, a public holiday on the 16th of June commemorates The Soweto Uprising of 1976 where high school Students from Sowetan schools protested in response to the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in local schools. An estimated 20,000 students took part in the protest. Many were killed during the demonstration.

This year, Kempton Park learners wore school uniforms to honour the day. Part of the celebrations included watching the movie SARAFINA and playing a “Guess Who” competition where learners and staff came with photos of themselves as their younger selves and other learners had to guess who was in the picture. It was a fun and memorable day and thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Anathi Msolo
Academy Supervisor
Kempton Park

At the I Can! Cape Town academy we work as a team and encourage our learners to have the same values.
The learners at I Can! Cape Town in the past have had limited work place exposure. They have however, achieved success despite several practical experience challenges.

We are delighted to announce that our newer learners will have the privilege of being placed at our one of our four host practical sites in Cape Town. We have been very lucky to have partnered with local schools and retirement homes which will offer the opportunity for practical work-experience for the duration of their learnership.

We would like to thank all the host practical sites for welcoming our learners to their organisations:

• Principal Mr B.D Pather at Tembaletu “Our Hope” School for LSEN(Physically Disabled)
• Manager, Mr Lionel Dreyer at Sun Bell Lodge
• Nursing Manager, Mrs Renette du Toit at Boland Old Age Home
• Manager Mrs Nokongama Matiwane Ekuphumleni Old Age Home
• Academy Supervisor Ms Nikki McMahon I Can Disability Academy

These learners will be exposed to work environments and have a supervisor to report to while on duty. Our facilitators will work with the supervisors to ensure that the learners provide good service and gain experience simultaneously. This is a great opportunity for our learners to engage with others in the workplace who can help guide them to get the experience they need.

More Cape Town news, and great thanks to Academy Supervisor Nikki McMahon for providing a platform for ex learner Michelle Frans to be part of the I Can! team. Michelle completed her Domestic Services Learnership (NQF 1) and Hygiene and Cleaning (NQF 1) and has now the temporary position of General Assistant at our Bellville Office. She is very excited about this new opportunity and is coping well in the workplace . Michelle will be employed for a six month period and will be exposed to basic office administration during this time. This opportunity will be offered to other I Can! graduates on a rotational basis in an attempt to broaden their workplace experience, giving them opportunities to develop skills and in doing so, increase employment opportunities.

Maryam Kriel
Operations Manager
Western Cape

One of the biggest challenges that our recruitment team is faced with is the high level of illiteracy we observe from candidates who are being assessed for enrolment (all national qualifications have some degree of literacy as a requirement for entrance into the selected course). This is often the biggest stumbling block for our intellectually disabled and sometimes also for our hearing impaired learners.

I recently met with teachers from Ningizimu Special School and informed them that their learners were not being taken on learnerships with us due to their poor literacy levels. I suggested that the school start a reading program: a reading hour everyday with every class. The school does not have a library and most of their learners live far away from any public library.

The I Can! team at Durban North academy are co-ordinating a book-drive initiative to assist Ninggizimu with enough books to start this much-needed resource for their learners.

The staff of Ningizimu School are appreciative and grateful to I Can! for this venture.

The KZN team is looking for help from all of our stake-holders. Do you have a spare book lying around? Have your children outgrown any of their childhood books? By donating your unwanted books, you could give a great opportunity to an underprivileged child: The opportunity to read!

Please contact:

Nalini Cuppasamy
Snr. Recruitment Administrator
Kwa Zulu Natal

Victory Over Down Syndrome And Other Intellectual Disabilities: A Facilitators Story

My name is Nozuko Portia Mayedwa and I am a Domestic Services Assessor at the Port Elizabeth I Can! Academy. I have three children, including a 5 year old son with Down syndrome, Akhanya. He was diagnosed with Down syndrome when he was only 27 days old. I couldn’t accept his condition because I couldn’t see anything wrong with him, I saw him like any other new born baby. I was told he will not be able to talk, walk, go to toilet on his own, or even go to school.

When Akhanya was four months old I attended a support group for children with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities. While I was there, I noticed that children with Down syndrome can do things, yes they have a learning challenge but they only need patience, acceptance and love. I was told that I must do exercises and teach him gross and fine motor skills. My son can walk, he is out of nappies and fully potty trained, he can speak and he can even draw a circle.

As an assessor, my bond with Akhanya enabled me to handle children with intellectual disability. If a learner is struggling with oral questions, the patience and care that I gain from my son helps me keep calm and make sure that the learner would give me a correct answer. If I don’t do that, I feel like I am giving up on my son. He is the one who is keeping me going and inspires hope that children who are intellectually disabled can learn and go further. True to the meaning of his name, Akhanya brings light, and that is why I always say I Can!

67 minutes in KEMPTON PARK

The 67 minute celebration of Mandela Day asks that by devoting 67 minutes on the 18^th of July each year (one minute for every year of Mandela’s public service) people can make a small gesture of global solidarity with humanity by performing some act of public service.

This year the Kempton Park learners were involved in cleaning the local streets of and providing sandwiches and drinks to the needy.

After the activities, we asked the learners how they felt about the whole experience and these were some of the responses we received:

• “It felt good doing something that you don’t do on a daily basis, knowing that you have made a difference”.
• “It was a wonderful day; we experienced appreciation from the community”.
• “ I enjoyed cleaning for the community”
• “ I remember Tata on this day and what he taught us as a country, UBUNTU”

Many of our learners were motivated about the importance of having a clean environment, and providing a helping hand to those in need.

Anathi Msolo
Academy Supervisor
Kempton Park

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Nelson Mandela Day – Bellville

This year the Bellville Academy decided to use their 67 minutes to knit a blanket and donate it to someone in need. We were realistic and realized that it could not be done in one day so we have dedicated the entire month of July to this project as we believe everyday should be Mandela Day.
The learners are also encouraged to do their own random acts of kindness in their communities and share it with their fellow learners.
Catchphrases like “Be the change you want to see in the world” and “Everything starts with me” have become regular Academy slogans.

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Mandela Day Event PDC

This year it was all fun and games in our Parc Du Cap academy on Mandela Day, when the Parc Du Cap staff in collaboration with MKS (one of the companies in the building), prepared lunch for the learners at I CAN! PDC. This joint initiative was to show the learners that we love and care for them.

As Tata Mandela said “it always seems impossible until it’s done”

We know that some of our learners feel that it is impossible to achieve their goals and dreams due to their disabilities, but on this day we wanted to encourage them and remind them that a winner is a dreamer who never gives up, no matter the circumstances and challenges one might face.

Maryam Kriel
Operations Manager, WC

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I Can – Durban North – Nelson Mandela’s 67 Minute drive – 18^th July.

“Nelson Mandela has spent 67 years making the world a better place. We’re asking you for 67 minutes”

The I Can! team at Durban North rotated their time at the Domino Foundation on July the 18th helping out with the babies, and younger children.

The day opened our eyes (and our hearts) to how so many people are giving love and care to those in society who are most in need of special attention. The staff and management of Domino’s are committed to kindness and respect which we all agree is the ethos Madiba would appreciate us being influenced by.

If you would like to find out more about the Domino Foundation, please visit their website at:
http://www.domino.org.za/