Meet the youths building Rundu’s future, through a KAYEC school support centre funded by FNB.
What’s the most important he can share with others, as a youth leader? “Always talk to them about education, because without education they will mess up their life and they won’t get even a proper job. Encourage them even more to come at KAYEC, instead of going in the streets, smoking or doing bad things.”
On 17 August 2016, the Namibian Sun reported that the partnership between KAYEC and First National Bank Namibia, to provide after-school support for 142 Rundu learners since September 2015, “is proving to be a good investment” for the northern Namibia town. Reporter Denver Isaacs cited results from FNB Namibia, announcing that “no school dropouts had followed its support … schools in the area typically faced a scourge of teenage pregnancies which caused girls to drop out of school at a rate 1.4 times higher than the national average.”
In her full statement to the press, FNB Corporate Social Investment Manager Revonia Kahivere explained why they chose to throw their support behind KAYEC’s education initiatives: “Youth enterprise development and education and training are part of our President’s Harambee plan and we support this plan to educate as many Namibians as possible so that they can become employees or employers.” FNB concentrates on five pillars for development nationwide: Education & Financial Literacy; Skills & Capacity Development; Sport, Art & Culture; Community & Health Development; and Environmental Guardianship.
Read on to meet more youth leaders from KAYEC’s Rundu centre – and for more about them from around the web.
According to Ms. Benedikta Kamunoko, Acting Deputy Director of the Rundu office of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, “KAYEC is the only youth organisation left in Rundu – I don’t know what we’d do without them.” This year, Rundu schools invited KAYEC to facilitate life skills for an extra 818 students, and social workers teamed with KAYEC to arrange outreach in Sauyemwa and to receive youths with drug problems. Soneha thanks FNB for showing “they also care for the community. If others can follow in FNB’s footsteps, we’ll be fine.”
Clara’s mother, Leticia, says her daughter has taken a new interest in school after just a month-and-a-half with KAYEC's staff and older teens: “She was having trouble with math, but now I can see there’s improvement.”
Every weekday afternoon at KAYEC, two full-time KAYEC youth staff and a team of 15 skilled volunteers offer academic enrichment to the next generation of learners like Namadiko, focusing on math, English and accounting, plus sports, agriculture, culture, leadership training and discussion of relationships that builds on what learners get in school. Today, other teachers have already adopted Namadiko’s language-learning methods. Says Principal Kerttau Aisindi: “He’s good! He knows how to communicate with learners.”
See what others are saying about this story
Read the full piece from the Namibian Sun
Hear some more from Soneha and Sara in the Namibian Economist and Confidente
The Namibia Press Agency adds figures on learner pass rates