CWD wins prestigious Mail & Guardian award

The award was won by CWD’s Youth Interfacing programme because of what it has achieved with youth. Their ballroom dancing champions world champion rope skippers – and the overseas travel of their soccer teams – all point to the success of the programme.
 
All the youngsters involved with Youth Interfacing are from the Cape Flats Khayelitsha and other townships around Cape Town.  The secret of its success is an integrated approach to youth development as it offers opportunities for youth to excel – and it draws young people away from the lure of crime and drugs.
 
Youth Interfacing employs a programme manager Karen Damon and six youth development workers all of whom are helped by volunteers. One of the development workers started the Masithandane Ballroom Dancing Club in Khayelitsha three years ago which has achieved phenomenal success and many awards.
 
The soccer and rope skipping clubs have proved most popular. One of the soccer teams Masakhane toured Germany and won the Caritas International trophy in 2003.  And the 85-member rope skipping team recently won numerous awards at the National Gymnastics Championships . They’re set to compete in the next Olympic Games!
 
After joining the fun activities on offer through Youth Interfacing the youths are enrolled in the more serious learning courses of the organisation’s  programme – which includes education about responsible sexual behaviour goal-setting and life planning – and they’re offered career guidance.
 
As their talents improve and their confidence and self-esteem grow youth are encouraged to start their own clubs. This is made possible through the leadership training that CWD includes in the Youth Interfacing programme.
 
Most importantly this programme helps youngsters grow in independence although CWD remains available to them in an advisory capacity. The activities reach integration when Youth Interfacing members are referred to the Ecodev Programme one of CWD’s multiple empowerment projects.
 
Some receive training for jobs in the hospitality industry through Jobstart while others are given access to micro-MBA studies and learnerships through partnerships with various companies.  The skills acquired at this stage go a long way towards advancing their employment prospects and improving their living conditions.
 
The Investing in the Future judges praised CWD for its innovation in finding ways to attract young people – and for the breadth and scope of its interventions in their development.