UPCOMING EVENTS
CITY YEAR SOUTH AFRICA STARFISH STORY OF THE MONTH
Living City Year
When we first recruited the school Progress we thought that it would be small waters, forgetting that we were faced with a task of demonstrating to that community, ‘City Year’.
In my After School Programme class, I have a grade five learner who believed that the BODMAS (brackets off, division, multiplication, addition, subtraction) rule was not for him. My biggest challenge wasn’t really to make sure that he understood the rule or how it is implemented but how his attitude affected his schoolwork.
By attending our ASP his attitude changed, but I was not the one who influenced him. To my surprise, he was challenged by his friends and his fellow classmates. When we share our beliefs as a corps, our ASP learners really listen and they in turn, influence all the other learners in the school.
I’m proud to say that it doesn’t matter what sum this young boy gets today because he will get it right. He got position two in the last test they wrote. As ‘Putting Ideamism to Work, says ‘It is never what we say. It is always what we do.’ With children it’s often what we say and do that builds their success and potential. I have realised that every child who decides to attend City Year is truly a star.
Karabo Hlelesi
Service Leader 2007
CITY YEAR SOUTH AFRICA ALUMNI FOCUS
My City Year
By Etienne de Beer, 2006 Service Leader
Thinking back, I recognise my year of service with City Year as being the hardest year of my life – but also the best and most interesting. It gave me the chance to experience other people and cultures – all of which is helping me now as I interact with larger society and the different sectors on a university campus. It has made me sensitive not only to people and their differences, but to issues in different communities that shape the way other people see the world. During my City Year, through the services of Jo’burg taxis, I got to know the suburbs, Braamfontein, Newtown, the inner City, Soweto, Freedom Park and Eldorado Park. On one hand, these taxis delivered me with rapid efficiency. But on the other hand, let’s just say that I’m with the government and their recapitalisation programme. Each of these places has their own value, but it’s the people that really make the difference.
With City Year I have had the amazing opportunities of going to the World Economic Forum Cape Town Summit and of meeting Nelson Mandela. But for me, what really made my year special is having had the opportunity to work with such a diverse group of people. Diverse in age, from the primary school children we served to the management of City Year, and diverse in culture. I maintain contact with my team and they are a source of support, shared memories and a social network. We can laugh and confide. It is something that I hope will remain with me for the rest of my life.
I think constantly of my school and the community that I worked in. It shapes my own thinking about South Africa and the society we have created so far and that we need to aim for. I am a student in the social sciences and humanities faculty at Wits. This knowledge has given me enormous advantage and a perception that others only seem to gain at a much later stage of their studies.
I know that City Year is responsible for the fact that I am socially concerned. It has led to my involvement in other social programmes like Parity and the Wits Volunteer programme. When I can, I spread the word about the incredibly important and good work that City Year does. I am sure I will always be an advocate, not only for City Year but for hands-on social involvement in building the kind of society we can all be proud of.
My year at City Year has shaped me as a young person and as a leader of tomorrow. It has expanded my views, my understanding, and my knowledge of how the world works and how to handle any situation that is thrown my way.
A popular slogan at City Year is, “Wake up, have coffee, and change the world”, while we may not change the world in one year, we leave City Year with a life-long commitment to social change, and some very important skills. And that, to me, is what City Year is all about. I like to say, City Year is not just an organisation – It is a way of life.
