Young city leaders excel at national competition
The FSA overall winners: Kgosimang Jr Mampe, Tefetso Seikaneng, Paballo Telekelo, Oregelele Kuriti and Karabo Letebele. Picture: Supplied
PUPILS from Technical High School Kimberley made the Northern Cape proud by scooping first and second place at the national leg of the “Engage South Africa my.voice Best Youth-Led Initiatives” of 2022/23.
The team from THS Kimberley School that participated in the programme initially consisted of 28 pupils divided into five groups.
The first prize was scooped by the Fighting Substance Abuse (FSA) team, through an incredible campaign to educate the youth at their school and community about substance addiction and abuse, the dangers, and the long-term effects that it has on the human body.
The team created posters to raise awareness and organised an assembly where they invited speakers from the Department of Health and Agape Drug Addiction Treatment Centre in order to encourage the youth to enrol in programmes that can assist in combating substance addiction.
Second place went to the Diamond Girls team, who successfully mobilised their school and community and collected clothes and food to donate to the less fortunate.
They further organised soup kitchens and created posters to raise awareness about reducing poverty in their community
The proud THS school principal, Michael Ludick, explained that the teams participated in a five-month “Engage South Africa my.voice Leadership and Civic Management Programme”.
The programme aims to help young people discover the skills, knowledge, platforms and confidence to find their voice as young leaders and to become active and empowered citizens that are able to create a positive change in their communities and the country at large.
“The programme included eight sessions of my.voice leadership and civic engagement training and four sessions of my.initiative mentoring that helped them design and implement their own youth-led community initiative or project to tackle issues of social justice in their immediate surroundings.
“That is why they travelled to Pretoria where they participated in a national Youth Advocacy Festival,” said Ludick.
