What is the « Academy of Creativity» about?
The aim of the Academy of Creativity project is to provide a solution to a lack of resources and finances and thereby allowing the children and young adults of the townships to build a future for themselves and to break the vicious cycle of poverty.
Without a proper education, family support and after-school supervision, many children do not finish school and often adopt risk behaviours such as violence, alcoholism, drug abuse, gangs as well as early and unprotected sexual activity. The project, therefore, tries to reinforce after-school and extra curricular education by using art as an educational channel and in transmitting values to the youth of the townships. In this way, we try to:
- Provide a safe place where the young people can learn and develop after school
- To change the behaviours of the children and young adults
- To support education
- To recognise and develop the potential of the youth of the townships.
Why CHF 4’373?
The specific sum of CHF 4’373 is the cost of art materials for 30 children and young adults.
Who are we?
IMBEWU is an NGO based in Neuchâtel supporting the education and psychosocial development of the children and young people living in the South African townships. These districts were established during the apartheid era (1948 – 1991) with the aim of centralising the black and mixed-race population. These unsafe and squalid neighbourhoods still exist and their population suffers greatly from poverty and disease.
Through its projects, IMBEWU’s mission is to create an environment in which every child has access to a decent education enabling him or her to develop the skills necessary to become a responsible citizen. In order to ensure sustainable change, IMBEWU promotes the acquisition of knowledge and the development of skills relevant to the social difficulties of the townships by using art and sport, both of which provide a fun and interactive tool for learning.
Other projects
IMBEWU is currently implementing two development and sport through education projects in different disadvantaged areas of Port Elisabeth and Pretoria. For more information, check our internet site.
To summerise, supporting this project means...
- providing 300 girls and boys between the ages of 10 and 18 years with a safe place to learn, to have fun, to develop and grow after school
- improving the formal education of these young people through committed learning support and tutoring for every participant
- improving the holistic education and the well-being of the young people enabling them to develop their artistic capacities in order to improve their chance of a better future
- using art as an educational channel in dealing with the social difficulties with which the youth is confronted daily (HIV/AIDS, dangers of alcohol and drugs, crime and violence)
- finally, making it possible for our local partner to become more professional and autonomous through continuous training and through collaboration with the local department of education.
