Good Work Foundation converts youth into empowered agents of change

The Good Work Foundation (GWF) is a non-government organisation which runs educational programmes to empower rural youngsters.

Based in Hazyview, the GWF’s Conservation Academy is a second-year skills development programme for adult learners who want to pursue a career in conservation, guiding or environmental studies.

Konica Minolta South Africa is the sole partner of the academy and also supports the conservation component of foundation’s open learning academy programme, which aims to foster a love of nature, wildlife and conservation within learners from an early age (grade four and up).

“The conservation academy is so important because it provides young people of local communities with a platform to understand, love, connect with and take care of the natural environment.”

“Our aim with this initiative is that by the age of approximately 18, when these young people reach the conservation academy, they will already be fiercely passionate individuals who will become wildlife warriors. Over time, we can develop local skills and talent to feed the economy of wildlife around us,” explained Kate Groch, founder and CEO of GWF.

ALSO READ: Food for Life provides vulnerable Lowvelders with hope

Programmes such as these can have an incredible impact on these learners, who have limited access to opportunities. They are able to access modern educational technology and programmes to upskill themselves, with support from the foundation’s facilitators, thereby becoming more employable and prepared for their future workplace.

One such example of the potentially life-changing impact of these kinds of initiatives is Sibusiso Mnisi, who himself is a GWF alma mater, having studied English, digital literacy and computer skills among others in 2014.

“My first highlight since joining the foundation was travelling to the Eastern Cape (first flight and first time seeing big game in person) in 2016 for a kids’ training programme. We went to Amakhala Private Game Reserve along with learners of a local school, and were taught how to educate pupils about conservation.

Thanks to a passion for the environment and a lifelong dream of one day becoming an educator myself, I managed to win an ecological silver award under the youth category in 2018 and got to attend the Business of Conservation Conference in Rwanda in 2019 (my first international trip) through GWF.

Without the support of Konica Minolta South Africa, none of this would have been possible as it opened the doors to my career,” said Mnisi. Today, he is a full-time member of the foundation’s staff in the role of conservation academy coordinator, which sees him facilitating this year-long adult learning programme.

ALSO READ: Degrees of Realism exhibit showcases amazing talent

He also assists in coordinating the open learning academy’s conservation curriculum. This holistic programme for grades four to eight predominantly aims to come alongside the government education system by teaching the languages of access – English and mathematics – through digital mediums.

The curriculum aims to grow a love of and concern for wildlife, wild spaces, and the conservation thereof, in the hearts and minds of young learners.

“We are proud to be involved with this programme and to be a partner of GWF as it plays a crucial role in expanding the opportunities and access to skills development, education and jobs for the youth of our country.”

“By so doing, it helps to empower these young people to not only have a share in the prosperous future of the nation, but also enables them to become leaders and shapers of young minds themselves, like in the case of Sibusiso,” said Laetitia Coetzer, chief human resource and development officer at Konica Minolta South Africa.

ALSO READ: Pediatric Care Africa on mercy mission to Free State farmers