Inkululeko

Qui sommes-nous

Inkululeko means “Freedom” in Xhosa. Our organization, founded in 2011, engages proactively in supporting the next generation of South African leaders with finishing high school and applying to higher education or being equipped with a skill set to enter a 21st century workforce.
We are a proudly South African non-profit organization that believes in the transformative power of education. We work with motivated young people from socioeconomically marginalized backgrounds in Makhanda, South Africa. We support students in finishing high school with the necessary skills to move on to university or to be gainfully employed upon graduation.
Inkululeko is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the United States of America. Inkululeko is incorporated in the Republic of South Africa as Freedom Through Education NPC (registration number is NPC 2014/137954/08).

Our Vision
Inkululeko is a space for youth from previously disadvantaged backgrounds to individually, and collectively, improve on areas of academic deficiency. It is a place where motivated students, regardless of socio-economic status, race, gender, religious affiliation, sexual orientation or nationality, will be provided with academic and moral support to perform at the highest level.
Inkululeko is a place where socio-economic disparities and bigotry will not be used as excuses for why students cannot succeed. Students, staff and the community will prove to themselves, and each other, that with support, motivation and a desire to learn, success is possible.

What we do
• We carry out this mission through after school programs (“ASPs”) that offer academic support as well as business skills training for school age learners from severely resource limited environments. We enroll approximately 70 teenage students per year in grade eight and, ideally, remain with these learners through grade 12.
• We work strategically, and in concert with, township schools in Makhanda, South Africa as well as with community organizations and universities in Makhanda and around the world..
• The organization has academic (classroom) space at both Nathaniel Nyaluza Senior Secondary School and at its primary branch, Ntsika Senior Secondary School. We provide learners with access to resources including books for leisure reading, textbooks, desktops, laptops and tablets as well as access to the internet. Learners are also provided with individual support, as needed, with, for example, bursary applications.
• Through our new business skills programming, learners gain insight into basic business principles, operating a small business, developing business plans and in some cases, piloting their ideas. The purpose behind this is to build confidence among our learners, and hopefully inspire some to become entrepreneurs. We hope, in the long-term, to support the development of an entrepreneurial spirit within the community that we work.
• Through our academic programs, learners have an opportunity to work with tutors from both South Africa and the United States through GoogleMeet and WhatsApp. There are also opportunities to work one-on-one with tutors who can provide tailored guidance and insight into challenging academic assignments. The organization has also built an online library of YouTube videos custom made for learners and in alignment with the CAPS curriculum.
Social enterprise:
• Common Ground Café: In 2015, Inkululeko opened Common Ground Cafe in Makhanda, South Africa, with the support of the John Ben Snow Memorial Trust and the Rotary Club of Grahamstown/Makhanda. With one of the highest unemployment rates in the world at 32,9 % according to Statistics South Africa, the Common Ground Cafe gives the next generation of learners a place to engage positively in their environment. It also offers an opportunity to learn and create valuable business skills that will serve them long after they leave Inkululeko.
• Made in Makhanda: Proceeds from what is sold through Made in Makhanda’s online store give Inkululeko unrestricted funds, which allow us to be flexible and meet the ever-evolving needs of our learners in South Africa. This support includes an educational support programme, physical resources for online tutoring, greater exposure to promote our organization, and more.
• Business skills training program: Seeds Of The Future: A transatlantic cooperation on building the green economy among youth in the eastern cape

Activities:
• Business Skills Course: The U.S. Consulate funded the provision of a remote business skills course for 15 learners. Co-funded with The Learning Trust, the program included 25 learners who participated in online sessions every Tuesday and Thursday for two hours. Carried out by US-based facilitators and Inkululeko staff, sessions encouraged learners to take ownership of their learning by making them co-responsible for the success of the course.
• Norec Partnership: Through our partnership with Norec, utilizing their mutual exchange model, we have collaborated with our partner Day Africa (formerly DEYI-K) in Nairobi, Kenya on entrepreneurship training and job placement activities.
• Rejuvenating Rivers is a project funded by the United Thank Offering that seeks to clean up rivers in Makhanda,
• The Podcast Collaboration: Our mission is to give students in both Syracuse and Makhanda the opportunity to engage in a virtual exchange program. The sharing of ideas between different cultures and regions is essential to a socially conscious education. The podcast allows students to reap the benefits of an educational exchange program without paying the high expenses of study abroad programs.

Jason Torreano is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Inkululeko and Zuko Gqadavama is the Deputy CEO of Inkululeko.

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.