Non-profit Umphakathi empowers South African youth through practical learner programmes. This is Part 1 of a two-part series.

Learners at the skills centre.

Learners at the skills centre. Images supplied by Umphakathi

Judith’s Paarl is a suburb that is squeezed up between Bezuidenhout Valley and Troyville. To the west of the suburb, the familiar Jozi skyline juts out, pouring noise and busy-ness into the streets that lead out from it.

Just over four kilometres to the west of Judith’s Paarl stands a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, close to where he once had his law offices in what is now called Gandhi Square. “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” is a paraphrased a quote attributed to Gandhi.

In Judith’s Paarl, though, they are putting Gandhi’s words into practice through a remarkable, empowering initiative called Umphakathi, which seeks to provide learners with hands-on work experience, skills development and digital literacy.

Umphakathi’s skills village is alive with the sound of youth at work. Circular saws screech, the crackle of welders can be heard, and the sound of hammering provides a rhythmic beat. And while this is going on, a gentle murmur comes from the kitchen upstairs while learners busily prepare meals.

These grade 10 and 11 learners from surrounding communities converge on the skills village during school holidays and weekends to take part in skills development programmes. They learn anything from carpentry and hospitality to welding, and of course, plumbing. School leavers who are on the work experience programme will spend a year here.

Upstairs at the skills centre, which is part of the skills village precinct, learners have constructed a bathroom. They have done all the work from the tiling all the way down to installing the sanitaryware and piping. Learners are responsible for the planning, the sourcing of materials and the installation.

They get real-life experience, too. Umphakathi partners with companies that can assist with on-the-job experience and there are eight or nine projects on the go, offsite, that learners are involved in. Any money that they receive from this work is funnelled back into Umphakathi. 

Continued in Part 2…