As part of Youth Month, Action Volunteers Africa (AVA) travelled with their Mobile Career Café (MCC) to Wellington where they offered a one-stop shop to assist youth with job-readiness services in Mbekweni.
AVA is a Cape Town based non-profit organisation, specialising in empowering youth to be ready for the world of work.
According to data released by Statistics South Africa in the fourth quarter of 2022, youth unemployment remains alarmingly high at around 4,4%. Furthermore, there are 3,4 million youth aged between 15 and 24 in NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training).
Youth in underserved communities (townships, informal settlements, semi-rural and rural areas) cannot access proper career guidance and job readiness services to increase their employability and ultimately impact their economic freedom. AVA believes it is very important to keep hope alive among the 30% of youth who have never been in formal employment. In addition, 48% of youth don’t complete their schooling. With unemployment in early adulthood strongly linked to chronic unemployment, the need for early intervention is paramount. That is why AVA focuses primarily on this demographic.
Approximately 60 young people, between 16 and 28 years, attended the mobile career café sessions that focused on being resourceful in looking for opportunities in their area; career development and management; learning interview skills and compiling a CV.
The youth also completed an online career profiler test that reflects the career options that best match their interest and skills. The youth find the career profiler test in particularly insightful, as reflected by one participant from Mosaic – “I learnt a new career path that I didn’t know about; human resources. I never considered that as a career option.”
Mosaic Community Developments, Mbekweni Youth Centre, NorSA – all local non-profit organisations working in Mbekweni – and the Department of Social Development partnered to make the events a success.
Somila from the Desmond Mpilo Tutu Secondary in Mbekweni reflected that she had “learnt there are many things we can do (to gain work experience) and that can open doors, like volunteering”. For another learner from the same school, Sithenkosi, the major take away from the MCC was “knowing the difference between a job and career and how to build a career. I also learnt about soft and hard skills and how to draft a professional CV.”
“The workshops were very informative and helpful, making things clear and giving different perspective on values, career and jobs,” said Pumza Jamakela, community development practitioner at the Thusong Service Centre.
Heidi Hartzenberg of Mosaic echoed the sentiments on the value of the workshops, stating it “was amazing and the youngsters really learnt a lot and enjoyed it.”
A baseline-and-end questionnaire is completed and the stats reflect the significant shifts in knowledge, attitudes and skills experienced by the young participants who had completed the various MCC workshops:. 84% now know what will make them employable, compared to only 31% before the workshops;. 80% are now more confident they know what to do and say in a job interview, compared to 28% at the start; and. 76% said they now know how a career develops, compared to 28% at the start.
AVA planned to visit more towns and underserved areas in the Western Cape with their Mobile Career Café (MCC). Organisations and companies keen to know more and possibly have the MCC visit their area can contact AVA on info@avafrica.org.za.
