HYGIENE AND CLEANING LEARNERS – WORK EXPERIENCE

One of I Can!’s clients in Durban, Super Clean (Shanela Cleaning Services) agreed to give our hygiene and cleaning learners from the Prospecton Academy some on-site practical work experience. On Monday 18 November, 28 learners arrived at the Super Clean offices in Morningside.

The learners were introduced to the company and explained how their week of training was going to work. The learners were divided into different groups and allocated to a different area manager.

Later in the morning they were issued with uniforms for the training and taken out to their sites and introduced to the Super Clean team that they would be working with for the week. The learners spent the week learning a variety of new skills – from cleaning floors and offices, to bathrooms and kitchens, and gaining knowledge about the different cleaning materials to be used on different surfaces.

A BIG THANK YOU to Super Clean management for affording our leaners the opportunity of going on-site for a week with their cleaners and gaining valuable experience to improve their cleaning skills! A special mention of appreciation to Chantal Rammanhor and Siza Khumalo for their assistance. All the learners really enjoyed the experience and are motivated to doing well as they work towards completing their learnership in March next year.

ACSA DISABILITY TRADE AND LIFESTYLE EXPO

“Break Barriers, Open Doors: for an Inclusive Society for all” is the theme of the United Nations’ International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December 2013 – an event dedicated to celebrating the experience and capabilities of people with disabilities  to acknowledge and better their lives. With similar goals, the ACSA Disability Trade and Lifestyle Exhibition and Conference last month in Johannesburg showcased how people with disabilities can live independent and productive lives if they have access to the right resources.

“Careers for people with disabilities” was the overriding theme for the Expo. Designed to allow a full range of South African companies and organizations, including I Can!, to offer recruiting opportunity for people with disabilities as well as allowing suppliers to present and promote their products . There were more than a dozen fun activities and entertainment events including wheelchair tennis and basketball, curdling, wall climbing, archery and a pop concert.

This annual event attracts more than 2,000 visitors and is the only public showcase on the African continent where people with any kind of disability, their caregivers, families and friends can find the manufacturers, distributors, suppliers and service providers that offer products and services necessary to empower and improve the quality of life for persons with disabilities.

The conference objectives is to provide a platform for people with disabilities to engage with like-minded individuals, groups and stakeholders, express themselves and explore the enhancement of environments inside and outside the living and working spaces of people with disabilities.

1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY – PE

1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY – PE

I Can! Eastern Cape is celebrating its first anniversary.  One year ago I Can! began recruiting learners for our first class in Port Elizabeth. We opened with one employee and 11 learners under the sponsorship of DHL couriers. Currently, we have  54 signed learners,  41 on our waiting list and nine full-time staff members.

I Can! has been welcomed by the disability community and  stakeholders alike; and we have grown stronger with their support.  In 2014 we will open our East London academy. More than 30 current learners will graduate from this first class.  We are grateful for the warm welcome we received and hope to double the size of our program next year at this time.

NATASHA MEYER

I Can! recently sponsored a learnership for Natasha Meyer, who started Business Practice classes in Durban in September, 2013. She is doing very well with all her classwork. Natasha’s great passion is horse riding…here’s her story:

“I was born with cerebral palsy. I have to do exercises every week to keep my legs strong and to relieve pain.

Knowing that it would never have been easy to do the sport at the school I had to find another sport suitable for me. I found horse riding in 2008 and after the first ride I knew that it was what I wanted to do! It made me feel like I belonged there.

I started to notice a change in the way I move around in the first six months of riding, being able to walk around by myself without holding someone’s hand was the greatest change.

I have been chosen for the KZN Para Dressage Team in 2012.

I compete in shows on a regular basis with great success. My dream is to go to the Olympics.

With determination and an absolute passion for horses and the sport, I know I CAN”

I Can! wishes Natasha all the best with her riding and hope to see her achieve her dreams one day!

I CAN! BRACELETS

I  Can! has launched a new promotional project with the  learners, making I Can! beaded bracelets, one for themselves and another for new and prospective learners .

Additionally, the Cape Town learners made 1,000 bracelets to hand out at the  recent Disability Expo and Conference held in Johannesburg. Besides giving them the opportunity to exhibit their creativity, the project also improves  concentration, eye-hand coordination and dexterity, skills that they may be able to use to start their own jewelry business one day.

A special thank you to Jo-Anne Lindoor one of the Cape Town facilitator, who coordinated the making of the bracelets. Her good organizational skills and dedication have inspired her learners to stay after hours in order to meet their target. The learners had fun with this project and delivered a beautiful end product.

ENTREPRENEURS MAKE A SPLASH AT JET PARK

The Johannesburg learners in the I Can! Jet Park Academy have set up their own new business venture!  As part of their Business Practices class, the learners had to come up with a viable business idea to practice the skills that they learned.

A car wash has been one of the ideas and after completing their market research the venture was begun. All the learners participated and are excited about the new venture. The learners did a great job washing almost all staff members’ cars.

It is of great importance to I Can! that all the learners practice what they learn, to see that with the knowledge that they are gaining in the classroom they can further develop their skill sets. This also helps the learners to realize that their disability does not have to limit them; if they put their mind to it they can achieve it.

First External Moderation for Eastern Cape

After applying for exit moderation for a group of learners at the Port Elizabeth academy, the PE team was given a date for external moderation about a month in advance, which gave us a few weeks to finalize preparations. Planning had taken place to meet Services SETA requirements, but this was an intense process to gather information, ensuring a smooth exit of our first group of learners.

Weeks passed by as meetings were held between the Academy Supervisor Darelle Yon and Programme Co-ordinator Cindy Mclean. On the morning of the 15th of October Lauren Butler the Operations Manager (on maternity leave) arrived to support and share her expertise with the team. Two evaluators from Services SETA arrived to conduct the external moderation. The moderation was scheduled to take place at 10am however the evaluators arrived an hour early! Fortunately we were well prepared and therefore able to commence upon their arrival.

As much as this is a common process among all regions this moderation was a first for the PE team. We believe that we would not be as effective without the ongoing assistance from all regions as it was easy to pick up the phone and ask for guidance. So in this newsletter we would like to thank all of I Can! for their team orientated work ethic which has helped the academy grow as it has. The exit moderation was a great success, the Evaluators had only positive feedback and for this we would like to say thank you to all who assisted in big or small ways. As usual, Louise Carlyle-Mitchell, our extremely competent assessor, who was also on standby, played a particularly valuable role and we continue to appreciate her ongoing guidance.

I Can! PE’s success is not just a success for PE but a success for I Can! as a whole. We not only pay tribute to the hard working team we have in PE but the hard working staff at I Can! Disability Academy! It is easy to take credit but we as a team first of all Give God the glory for what is taking place in our academy and we trust Him for further guidance and growth.

There was great relief as all the hard work had paid off and a special thanks to all the role players that made this moderation a success. To Darelle and Cindy a big thank you for holding the fort and ensuring the moderation ran smoothly.

WELL DONE TEAM!!!

I Can! Durban North Academy

 

All employers should “reasonably accommodate the needs of people with disabilities.” This is both a non-discriminatory and an affirmative action requirement in South Africa. The aim of this accommodation is to enable any person to perform the essential functions of their job. Reasonable accommodation, which refers to modifications or alterations to the way a job is normally performed, should make it possible for a suitably qualified person with a disability to perform as everyone else. The type of reasonable accommodation required would depend on the job and its essential functions, the work environment and the person’s specific impairment.

On the 13th of October I Can! Durban North Academy started a new class on a Business Practice learnership, with 12 learners having substantially varying physical disabilities. So how did we reasonably accommodate these learners?

We had ramps built for easy access into the academy; an accessible toilet placed in a convenient location and had special desks made to accommodate people requiring wheelchair access. We also had training material printed on A3 pages with much bigger font for our visually impaired learners.

We all need to be prepared in the event of emergencies, so it was also essential to install a fire alarm that works on a system of lights, to alert our hearing impaired learners in the event of a fire or other emergency.

All these minor adjustments were made to reasonably accommodate ‘people with disabilities’. We would like to encourage every employer to look at their worksites and see what can be reasonably done to ensure our disabled colleagues in South Africa are also able to contribute towards the prosperity of this beautiful country.

Operations Manager – KZN

Natascha Mc Allister

Cape Town Bellville and PDC has a new Quantum!

October started off on a high note when we received a very welcomed gift from ADCORP.

Western Cape Academies are now proud owners of a Quantum. We would like to thank ADCORP for sponsoring the Quantum for our Bellville and Parc Du Cap Academies. It goes without saying that this gift will be of great assistance when we are required to transport our learners to various sponsor’s premises.

Our first trip in the van was to I &J on the 16 October 2014. The learners were invited to tour the I &J Factory in Woodstock, Cape Town. The learners were excited and thrilled to be visiting their sponsor. Not even the rain on that day could have dampened the spirit of the learners.

We were greeted by staff who also acted as our tour guides. We were then escorted to the change area where we had to wear standard overalls and boots for the tour. The learners were then taken to all the different areas of the factory and saw for themselves how the fish, (hake in this case) was cleaned, sorted, and packed. I&J employees were very friendly and greeted us as we went along the tour. It was indeed an eventful morning and we would like to thank I&J for taking the time to show us around their premises and for the friendliness of their staff.

Maryam Kriel
Operations Manager – W Cape

I Can! Makes a Difference

On the 30th of July 2014 I met Mrs Thoko, a Social Worker at Othandweni Children’s Home. Othandweni means “Place of Love” in Zulu and Xhosa, and this is what they strive toward it being.

The home is situated in Mofolo South, Soweto. The centre was established in 1984 as a project of child welfare and it offers residential care for up to 90 children of all ages who have been abused, abandoned or neglected. The Centre also has limited places available for destitute mothers or pregnant women who are contemplating the future of their unborn children.

I Can! was able to conduct Tram assessments on some of the Othandweni (intellectually disabled) residents. They were so overwhelmed to be part of this exciting program. I Can! believes in the value of putting ability before disability. We see how many challenges people with disabilities face on a daily basis and therefore it is important to us to also make a difference in our communities; to lead by example.

I will never forget the day I met with the Othandweni family and to have given hope to differently abled individuals. I wish them all the best.

Thapelo Monyeke

Recruitment Officer – Gauteng

Khulisani – Vocational Learning Program

We received communication about a vocational learning program on the horizon from the Department of Basic Education. This makes us optimistic and confident that energy and resources are being targeted in the right direction with regards to formal schooling qualifications for People With a Disability (particularly People with an Intellectual Disability). Good news indeed.

Rachael Erskine
Khulisani

Vocational Learning Programme On The Horizon – Department of Basic Education

The Department of Basic Education has gathered together education experts to develop a skills and vocational learning program for schools.

The general aim of the learning program is to enable learners who struggle to attain the academic targets set in the National Curriculum Statement, Gr R – 9 (including learners with intellectual disability) to realize their full potential in spite of the barriers that they experience.

The Department also recognizes that it is critical to introduce a skills and vocational track at an earlier point in the learner’s school career, so as to prepare learners better for the requirements of the world of work, to reduce the significant drop-out rate and ultimately to reduce youth unemployment. Learners who complete this qualification at about the age of 18 should be able to progress either onto the National Certificate Vocational (NCV), the Trades and Occupations or directly into employment.

Addressing officials before the session got underway, Mr. Suren Govender, Chief Director: Curriculum Implementation and Monitoring at the DBE, hailed the process as a historic moment in South Africa’s quest to provide quality education to all learners.

“Currently our education system is geared towards academics, and there is an assumption that every learner will go on to enter tertiary education,” said Mr. Govender. “However large numbers of learners either don’t complete Grade 12 or simply do not pursue further studies once they have finished formal schooling. This process seeks to address this challenge.”

I Can! Drives Compliance

Over the past years, I Can! as an organisation has experienced growth in all its functions and has managed to assist hundreds of learners each year through learnerships. I Can! is directly and indirectly influenced by many factors from its macro and economic environment (the environment outside the company). However, I Can! has managed to keep up with these changes and as a result, one such consequence has been to focus on the upskilling of all our facilitators, with the aim of improving the quality of assessments we produce.

As an organisation, we are aiming to have all our facilitators registered as constituent assessors for the qualifications that they facilitate and the wheels are turning faster than expected. The first stage is for all facilitators to achieve the assessor unit standard and then registration with Services SETA on relevant qualifications to follow.

We are proud to announce that Vereeniging Academy has jumped at this opportunity and booked all facilitators (that weren’t already assessors) on the assessor training. From the 27th -29th of October, three of our Facilitators below will be attending assessor training with Assessment College. This will take our academy to 100% compliance of the first stage.

  • Sekopi Mabitle
  • Yvonne Mngomezulu
  • Lucy Ramonana

Among this group is also Gontle Moswane from Kempton Park academy.

We are proud of the work we are doing in our Academy and we feel special to be part of an organisation that is uplifting so many lives of PWD on such a large scale.

Liane M Chipangura
Operations Manager – Gauteng

I Aspire to be Happy in Life….

My name is Nonhlanhla Majola, I would like to share my life story. I fell pregnant when I was 22 years old and I later tested HIV positive. When I learned about my status I was angry and could not accept it: angry because I could not understand why that would happen to me when I only had one boyfriend. I am not a party girl.

I needed my family, but unfortunately they were not there for me. My Dad has his own family and my Mom is with her husband. At that point I had no one but I needed someone. It was hard and many times I wanted to end my life but through counselling I was able to accept my status.

Then I decided to do proposal at local clinics to sell something, so that I can support my child. Fortunately they were very happy with my proposal and I started selling some sweets and chips. I asked the clinic if there was any vacant job for cleaning, even volunteering so that I can get some experience. There was no post but they said I can start volunteering in the morning shifts.

I started going to Faith Mission Church where I found Mam Neli and Sibeko. I told them everything and that I want to study but I don’t have money. They told me about I Can! as I also told them that I like cooking and cleaning.

I then came to I Can! Academy to apply and they told me to come and hand in my documents. After some time they called me for Pre-Assessment; I couldn’t believe it. I was so happy that for once things are going well for me.

I’m now at I Can! Academy completing Domestic Service Qualification. I am thankful to God for the opportunity. I am now a strong individual who is responsible and able to stand on her own. I am so happy in the space that I am in and I foresee a bright future for me and my son.

Today I have come to realise that I am not alone, I have God and my son.

I aspire to be happy in life, and right now I can proudly say IM HAPPY!