South Africa: Inkululeko, Support Local Youth
South Africa + awesome youth + education + entrepreneurship; the only thing missing is you!
Project description
We are looking for somebody who possesses an ability to dream as big as we do at Inkululeko – and we dream big! The only must: that you believe, as we do, in the transformative power of education. We are looking for people to help us with grant writing, website building, social media dazzling, tutoring. If you are about what we do, we can find a spot for you.
What we do:
A Department of Basic Education report shows that in South Africa less than a third of students finish grade 12 by the age of 18.
We contribute to changing this in the new South Africa by meeting tomorrow’s leaders, where they’re at, today. We offer free tutoring, access to computers and the internet, transportation, exam prep, a library of text books and regular books (and snacks too!) to young people beginning in grade eight and remain with them through grade 12. We also have a social enterprise unit to support students with an entrepreneurial zeal.
Let me tell you about Asanele. He’s an Inkululeko learner who loves to talk about Albert Einstein and counts Elon Musk among his idols. Asanele is serious about science. When we took him to the National Science Festival he asked so many questions, the presenter was getting annoyed so he whispered to other people questions that he wanted to have answered -- so they could ask.
A few years ago, with our help, he went – quite nervously – to a National Science Competition where he competed against other accomplished young people.
He won – big. Asanele got a four year scholarship to any institution in all of South Africa.
Each year, when Inkululeko re-opens, there are far more applicants than spots available. We want to work with people like you to expand our capacity to serve more young people each year.
After all, we know there are more Asanele’s out there. We’re hoping you can help us reach them.
Project outcome
There are many customizable possibilities for what your project outcome could be. We work collaboratively with you to find what you're interested in and how that intersects with our work and develop something from there. Depending on what you want to do, it could be an awesome marketing plan for our new MadeinMakhanda.com initiative. It could be a finalized grant application. It could be a new part of our website. It could be all of these things or something else entirely. To get you thinking of ideas, we could use support with grant writing, tutoring some of our learners in South Africa online via WhatsApp, marketing MadeinMakhanda.com or working to take advantage of the Google for Nonprofits Suite and use the tools in it to support the work of Inkululeko. The possibilities are endless!
Project details
| Length of commitment | About a semester (3-5 months) |
| Start time | Anytime |
| Level of collaboration | Individual student project |
| Benefits | Academic Credit, Volunteer |
| Who is eligible | All undergraduate students |
Core partners
Project mentor
Christina Heath
Administrative Director
Experiential Learning Network
Global NGO Project
This project is for students interested in collaborating with a global Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). Please be sure you identify your project as a Global NGO Project when you submit the interest form below.
Start this Global NGO Project
- Express your interest in this Global NGO project by clicking the button below and completing the form.
- You will be notified within 2 business days if you are approved to work on this project. Approval is determined on a first-come, first-served basis.
- After you receive approval from ELN, you should complete the Global NGO Project Preparation Guide in the section below.
After you complete the Global NGO Project Preparation Guide, you will automatically be prompted by email to begin an ELN digital badge.
Preparation activities
After you receive approval from ELN to begin the project, you should download and complete this Global NGO Project Preparation Guide.
In addition to the preparation above, if you're keen to join us, we have an orientation guide that we share. It's all online and features information about our program, about our theory of change and some context on South Africa. You should also review the materials below: