YOUTH COACHES GIVEN TRAINING TO SUPPORT TEENS

A pioneering Teen Coaching Youth Development Programme, kicked off during September 2021, drawing young talent from within the Gamagara community, to yield a pool of talented youth coaches. Fourteen young candidates were selected from a group of seventy applicants, following a stringent interview process, necessary in a psycho-social space.

“Our selection process was focused on finding youth who are passionate to make a positive change in their communities, backed by specific interests, skills and qualifications relating to community development, social work, and youth development,” said Veronique Isaacs, Project Community Operations Officer for REISA.

The programme is designed to upskill young community mentors, to be able to suitably assist children and teenagers, within local schools, to understand the responsibility of their choices and to be pro-active about developing a meaningful life.

The cohort of fourteen selected coaches, will commence a six-month training programme, which provides the necessary skills training as well as computer equipment and software, all funded as part of this development programme by REISA.

Once the coaches are qualified, the Teen Coaches will be placed at the participating schools to assist social workers who are rendering social support services at the selected schools. These local community schools include Langberg High School, Gamagara High School, Diben Primary School, Noord-Kaap Primary School, Sishen Intermediate Mine School, Maikaelelo Primary School and Sishen Primary School.

The Teen Coaching Youth Development Programme forms part of REISA’s flagship ‘Ubuntu Schools Project’, which was conceptualized and implemented in June 2017 to identify and address barriers to learning, to support overall school functionality.