Kuyasa ‘s mission is to empower children and youth of previously disadvantaged communities to become independant while embracing Christian values. The dream is that they will lead and empower others to follow the same set of values.
Community Transformation Model
Kuyasa is using a system of 6 separate Levels of Support and filtering to sift the youth of our community. As we educate, empower and equip, we desire to have the means to move a select group forward; giving them greater and greater opportunity along with increasing responsibility and challenges to overcome. This ‘Learning by Doing’ approach has been extremely successful. We believe that by doing this within the context of the community, home and family; the transformation has been much more permanent and complete. We have seen the growth and leadership becomes fully integrated into who they are and their full identity, including the cultural context. This makes it all the more simple to re-approach their context to use the knowledge and skills they are equipped with.
The learning is a contextualized process and so the product and implementation of the learning remains contextualized.
The goal, of course, is to identify the strongest leaders in the community and to offer them the opportunity to meet their full potential through a wholistic and experience-based, hands-on learning. The entire process that moves them through the Levels of Support emphasizes that a true leader will empower those around him/her. That the most influential leader will give themselves away to see others move forward and plow back into their home community with the talents, resources and skills they have been given.
Level 1 – Emergency Relief & Crisis Care
Level One aims to move children and youth out of crisis by ensuring their most basic needs are met. This frees them to begin to dream and begin to gather a vision for their future.
- Supplying basic needs
- Feeding scheme, basic clothing
- Sponsorship Program (School Uniform & Stationary, Clothing)
- Safe House and Food Parcels
- Basic Medical Assessment & Doctor referral
- Counselling: many times children that have lived unstable lives require time to process this and adjust to the freedom of life without less fear that fighting for survival brings. Abuse in the past or in their current living situation will also keep them from dreaming and developing vision.
Level 2 – Educational & Spiritual Capacity Building
Once an individual has moved past the basic needs level and is out of crisis, they are given hope and the capacity to look past their next meal and into their future. This is the sowing and growing level where we give the children an opportunity to grab the hand that is being offered to them and to expose them to the gospel. Level two equips youth and children with the most basic building blocks and skills to empower them to dream and move toward a purposeful, goal-oriented life.
- Formal Education
- Bible Education
- Life Skills & Counselling
- Adult Skills Training and Life Skills Training for job creation and own development.
Level 3 – Sifting and Testing of Leaders
In Level Three we seek to sift and test the youth in our programs by offering them opportunity to lead and serve in various capacities. We provide a series of youth lead clubs that offer position and influence to those youth who are able to rise to the challenge. Many children do not show the drive to move forward and influence the group that they are a part of. Others take several years before stepping into a leadership role. Staff closely observe the youth in their program and develop a mentoring relationship with them, encouraging those who have the potential, but lack the confidence to slowly step out and take over small projects and tasks. This experience-based and hands-on learning allows the children & youth to experience many of the same type of challenges they would face in leadership as adults. Staff walk along side them to solve problems, but facilitate a learning process that allows the youth to find the solution themselves, thus building confidence and capacity. The leadership group from each club meets on a regular basis and plans programs along with staff. They are expected to take ownership and responsibility of their program. Staff inform, facilitate and help to structure their vision, goals and action plan.
- Performing Arts
- Sport & Adventure
- Visual Arts
- Leadership Development & Community Service
Level 4 – Investing Further in Leaders That Emerge from Level 3
Level Four takes the young leaders who demonstrate natural leadership skill and an unusual capacity to influence in Level Three and invests in them further. They are put in supervisory roles, walking alongside staff and are taken into the organization as a kind of junior staff person (though this is not specifically discussed). The relationship between the staff person and the youth moves from a general mentor to more of a discipling and supervisory relationship. Here they are pushed and thrown in to “sink or swim” on many occasions. Specific skill sets are identified and tested. Youth are given more independence in the running of certain parts of projects and on occasion are paid for the work they do.
Level 5 – Selection of Top Leaders for further Tertiary Training
Level Five gives opportunity for those who have shown the greatest potential and dedication to get further exposure to the world and diversity of culture, career and worldview. Typically known as a ‘Gap Year’, this Level allows these young adults to prayerfully search their hearts and contemplate the true purpose that they have been created to fulfill. We believe that exposure for an extended period of time (outside of the culture and worldview they have been raised in) opens up the mind and heart to new possibilities and matures the character of the leader like nothing else can. Funding, scholarships and bursaries are squeezed out to assist as many students as do qualify. Partnerships with other ‘brother & sister’ organizations are cemented to benefit as many as leaders possible. Some of our leaders do know exactly what they want to do or feel they have already discovered their purpose. For these we help to facilitate transition directly into University and College programs in the direction of their dreams and strengths. We hope to gain funding in 2010 that will enable many more strong Leaders from Level Four to move on to Level Five.
Visit our website to read some of our children’s success stories.