Stories of hope Caroll Warmberg

About BTE-East London, Partners Unathi High School Johnson & Johnson East London FHI 360 Implementing partner: ITEC Students 47 students 11th Grade

Students come from disadvantaged communities Disadvantaged community 54% of EC households are below the upper bound poverty line (R1138 per person per month in 2017). Over 65% of EC children between 12 and 17 fall below the upper bound poverty line. Nearly 36% of children 12 – 17 are food poor – don’t have enough food to rnaintain health. Unemployment rate in EC is 37% . 33% of SA youth (15 to 24) are not in employment, education or training. (STATSSA 2019).

Unathi High School Entrance to the school High drop out rates, particularly amongst boys. The rise in Grade 9 enrolment could be because of high grade repetition. Graph from Department of Education Challenges: poverty, high crime rate, substance abuse, family breakdown. Some children live in shacks, no electricity etc. Entrance to the school

Building resilience: stories of hope Holding up ‘resilient’ indigenous succulent plants. Coloured paper show goals.

RESILIENCE IS BUILT BY Having strong connections and supportive relationships Building a sense of self-efficacy and perceived control Strengthening adaptive skills and self-regulation Mobilising sources of faith, hope and cultural traditions (Centre on the Developing Child, Harvard University) Strong connections: partnerships, support services eg. masithethe, schools, J and J mentors, local partners, ITEC staff

Building coping skills through supportive partnerships

Building strong connections and a sense of trust Connections built between the students, and with teaching staff, mentors, local services and partners, and ITEC Building strong connections and a sense of trust

Developing supportive social networks

Engaging with others Mentors from J and J, SANCA, counsellors from Masithethe, police, local government (Lucky Naidoo), building relationships with teachers Reading clubs now starting in the school!

Developing capacity and confidence

Building reading and English skills Book club in the local library. Book clubs extended to Building reading and English skills

Learning together Right: demonstrating science concepts to younger children

Experiencing the world of work Tour of the J and J factory

Building values and skills for the future Take a Girl Child to Work Quotation from evaluation: “The most useful thing that I have learned was computers, because last time I didn’t know anything about computer but now I know that I can use the skill”

Helping others and giving back to the community

Community support: cleaning the area around the school

Supporting food security, becoming self-reliant, learning skills for living.

Helping at the ECD Centre nearby; giving back to the community

Impact Over the past quarter 8% increase in Mathematics pass rate 16% increase in Mathematical Literacy pass rate 17% increase in Physical Sciences pass rate “Making choices that are not based on the current situation, but choices that will benefit me in the long run” “I want to tell BTE that they do big things to me they do right thing to us, now I have knowledge in my head.”