“Aware Yet?” at SEWF2011
aware Yet?
South African youth is in general vastly un-appreciated, un-skilled and un-employed (**). Yet they are the future of our country and the hope for the nation! Second rate schooling, apathy and lack of a master plan are the ingredients in this terrible recipe for disaster!
“aware Yet?” a campaign that the Village Scribe Association is starting in concert with the Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) 2011 conference has the aim of highlighting the bilateral ignorance:
- On the one hand the public is unaware of the problem, or even glad to ignore it and sweep it under the carpet.
- On the other hand, youths are unaware of their options, their rights and the possibility to make their voice heard through team work and mass action.
“aware Yet?” will also highlight the benefits of the VSA product
awareNet:
By starting early and learning about the world around them using active collaboration and participation, awareNet users have a head start on their colleagues and are able to pass these skills on by thinking openly and collaboratively about their options. awareNet learners know that united they stand taller than individually, and that the world is a connected place, which can help them fulfill their dreams.
** Some Statistics: unemployment in the Eastern Cape for ages 15- 64 was 27%, StatsSA 2010, where unemployment historically in the age group 15-24 is about double that.
By: Ron Wertlen
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Teaching the youth that they belong …
… is one of the ideas behind aware Yet. A brilliant blog post by
Paul Pereira at Tshikululu Investments (a CSI company dealing in the
education sector I recently met at SEWF) expresses the need for this
very plainly:
Teaching lifeskills may be more empowering than other social investments
These thoughts are what drive our awareNet programme. We have
experienced the most demeaning situations which enforce in learners
minds the idea of being meaningless to society, in our Eastern Cape
schools. We are doing all we can to reverse this, and it starts with
ourselves and they way we deal with people. Thank you, Paul!
By: Ron Wertlen
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