Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) is widely known as one of South Africa’s busiest manufacturing centres, boasting a busy port with many imports and exports. Even so, the city and its people bear the burden of high unemployment rates, poverty, as well as a lack of education and skills training. Statistics show that the district of Nelson Mandela Bay (which includes Gqeberha, Kariega (Uitenhage) and Despatch, recently recorded the highest unemployment rate of all the major metropoles in South Africa. This has led Leva Foundation to partner with registered and existing non-profit organisations which allows them to support specific initiatives in their city that focus on social upliftment and the promotion of social justice.
The foundation also runs various projects and programmes such as the Unplugged Coding Project, Work 4 A Living courses and the Red Band Barista Academy, all in an effort to impact lives and help create opportunities for a better future for those in the city and beyond.
Work 4 A Living
Education and skills development play a vital role in ensuring that people are employable. Therefore, Leva Foundation has partnered with Work 4 A Living in running a skills development centre. Work 4 A Living offers training at various centres across the country where the unemployed have the opportunity to get equipped to join the workforce or start their own business.
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Red Band Barista Academy
The Red Band Barista Academy assists unemployed youths in entering the job market by providing them with tangible skills and fostering positive, professional mindsets. Before someone can join the academy, they have to complete a Work 4 A Living course. This three-week job readiness course includes modules such as CV writing, financial planning, interpersonal skills and various other subjects necessary for successful employment. Next, they kick off their two-week theory and practical barista training, customer service and basic business skills. Trainees get hands-on experience and are evaluated as they work with qualified baristas and interact with customers. Upon course completion, graduates receive a Red Band Academy barista certificate and are assisted as needed during their job application process.
Over the years, Leva Foundation has seen the Red Band Barista course play a crucial part in ensuring that over 300 candidates successfully graduated with accredited barista qualifications. This has not only opened up many opportunities for employment at leading hospitality establishments, but for some it has served as a stepping stone into different careers, as, through the process, they discovered gifts and talents they never knew they had.
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Unplugged Coding Project
Through a partnership with Prof Jean Greyling of Nelson Mandela University (NMU), Leva Foundation’s Unplugged Coding Project aims to bring hope to learners across Africa by expanding their career horizons in order to create a different narrative for their lives. The TANKS coding game provides children aged 10-14 with the opportunity to code without the need for computers. TANKS coding introduces children to core “unplugged” coding concepts through the use of customised tokens and image recognition. The TANKS coding game has been used to reach over 20 000 learners directly through interactive coding workshops across the country, led by Prof Greyling and coding coaches like Lizwi Gwaza.
Lizwi grew up in a disadvantaged community in rural Eastern Cape. Yet, he always had aspirations to achieve great things, despite his dire circumstances.
“My father died when I was four-years-old and my siblings and I were raised by a single parent who wasn’t working at all. Sometimes it was very difficult,” says Lizwi. He shares that even though many of his peers made bad choices, he decided that he didn’t want to live that kind of life. Lizwi committed himself to church, desired to live an honest life, and was determined to excel in school. “My first goal was to get a national senior certificate. I wanted to pass all my grades so I worked hard and did well in school,” he says.
Lizwi’s path crossed with that of Leva Foundation through Prof Greyling when, during his software development studies at university, he applied to assist Prof Greyling in taking the TANKS coding game to underprivileged communities. Given that 16 000 out of the 25 000 schools in the country do not have computer labs, Lizwi saw the value in this “unplugged” solution.
“When Prof Greyling explained the game, I was blown away,” recalls Lizwi. “I realised that this content, some of which I was only introduced to at university, could give young African learners an opportunity to learn about IT and software development while they are still in primary and secondary school! I just knew that I wanted to be a part of it,” says Lizwi.
The Unplugged Coding Project also equips teachers in disadvantaged communities in terms of “unplugged” coding principles.
“The opportunity I got to be a part of TANKS changed my life. Before, I was only focussed on my own goals like finishing my studies and finding a good job. But when I got introduced to TANKS, it made me much more active in helping others,” he says.
Lizwi is now sponsored by Leva Foundation so that he can join Prof Greyling in going to schools, equipping teachers and introducing young minds to the TANKS coding game and the possibilities of software development and IT.
Find out more about Leva Foundation, as well as the projects and programmes they run and support, here: https://www.levafoundation.org
Stories of Hope is brought to you by the Mergon Foundation, a resource partner to ministries who expand God’s Kingdom and bring hope and restoration to communities across Africa and the Middle East.
Listen to Lizwi’s story here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2MTCb3GP8HE9CpdwnFyG6K?si=2e64fff047b8467b
Stories of Hope
An opportunity is often all that is needed
Every life matters, every story is worth telling – the best ones are when God tells His story through us. Stories of Hope is a collection of inspiring stories of ‘ordinary’ people whose lives have been impacted immensely through the work and care of the ministry partners of the Mergon Foundation.
This is Lizwi Gwaza’s Story of Hope.
Port Elizabeth is widely known as one of South Africa’s busiest manufacturing centres, boasting a busy port with many imports and exports. Even so, the city and its people bear the burden of high unemployment rates, poverty, as well as a lack of education and skills training. Statistics show that the district of Nelson Mandela Bay (which includes Port Elizabeth, Kariega, Despatch and Uitenhage) recently recorded the highest unemployment rate of all the major metropoles in South Africa. This has led Leva Foundation to partner with registered and existing non-profit organisations which allows them to support specific initiatives in their city that focus on social upliftment and the promotion of social justice.
The foundation also runs various projects and programmes such as the Unplugged Coding Project, Work 4 A Living courses and the Red Band Barista Academy, all in an effort to impact lives and help create opportunities for a better future for those in the city of Port Elizabeth and beyond.
Work 4 A Living
Education and skills development play a vital role in ensuring that people are employable. Therefore, Leva Foundation has partnered with Work 4 A Living in running a skills development centre. Work 4 A Living offers training at various centres across the country where the unemployed have the opportunity to get equipped to join the workforce or start their own business.
Red Band Barista Academy
The Red Band Barista Academy assists unemployed youths in entering the job market by providing them with tangible skills and fostering positive, professional mindsets. Before someone can join the academy, they have to complete a Work 4 A Living course. This three-week job readiness course includes modules such as CV writing, financial planning, interpersonal skills and various other subjects necessary for successful employment. Next, they kick off their two-week theory and practical barista training, customer service and basic business skills. Trainees get hands-on experience and are evaluated as they work with qualified baristas and interact with customers. Upon course completion, graduates receive a Red Band Academy barista certificate and are assisted as needed during their job application process.
Over the years, Leva Foundation has seen the Red Band Barista course play a crucial part in ensuring that over 300 candidates successfully graduated with accredited barista qualifications. This has not only opened up many opportunities for employment at leading hospitality establishments, but for some it has served as a stepping stone into different careers as, through the process, they discovered gifts and talents they never knew they had.
Unplugged Coding Project
Through a partnership with Prof Jean Greyling of Nelson Mandela University (NMU), Leva Foundation’s Unplugged Coding Project aims to bring hope to learners across Africa by expanding their career horizons in order to create a different narrative for their lives. The TANKS coding game provides children aged 10-14 with the opportunity to code without the need for computers. TANKS coding introduces children to core ‘unplugged’ coding concepts through the use of customised tokens and image recognition. The TANKS coding game has been used to reach over 20,000 learners directly through interactive coding workshops across the country, led by Prof Greyling and coding coaches like Lizwi Gwaza.
Lizwi grew up in a disadvantaged community in rural Eastern Cape. Yet, he always had aspirations to achieve great things, despite his dire circumstances.
‘My father died when I was four years old and my siblings and I were raised by a single parent who wasn’t working at all. Sometimes it was very difficult,’ says Lizwi. He shares that even though many of his peers made bad choices, he decided that he didn’t want to live that kind of life. Lizwi committed himself to church, desired to live an honest life, and was determined to excel in school. ‘My first goal was to get a national senior certificate. I wanted to pass all my grades so I worked hard and did well in school,’ he says.
Lizwi’s path crossed with that of Leva Foundation through Prof Greyling when, during his software development studies at university, he applied to assist Prof Greyling in taking the TANKS coding game to underprivileged communities. Given that 16,000 out of the 25,000 schools in the country do not have computer labs, Lizwi saw the value in this ‘unplugged’ solution.
‘When Prof Greyling explained the game, I was blown away,’ recalls Lizwi. ‘I realised that this content, some of which I was only introduced to at university, could give young African learners an opportunity to learn about IT and software development while they are still in primary and secondary school! I just knew that I wanted to be a part of it…’ says Lizwi.
The Unplugged Coding Project also equips teachers in disadvantaged communities in terms of ‘unplugged’ coding principles.
‘The opportunity I got to be a part of TANKS changed my life. Before, I was only focussed on my own goals like finishing my studies and finding a good job… but when I got introduced to TANKS, it made me much more active in helping others,’ he says.
Lizwi is now sponsored by Leva Foundation so that he can join Prof Greyling in going to schools, equipping teachers and introducing young minds to the TANKS coding game and the possibilities of software development and IT.
Find out more about Leva Foundation, as well as the projects and programmes they run and support, here: https://www.levafoundation.org
Listen to Lizwi’s story here:
Stories of Hope is brought to you by the Mergon Foundation, a resource partner to ministries who expand God’s Kingdom and bring hope and restoration to communities across Africa and the Middle East.
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