Empowering Our Youth

Moving Them Forward

Youth in South Africa face significant challenges that contribute to a lack of drive and motivation. High unemployment rates, socio-economic factors, and prolonged unemployment have severe psychological effects on young people, leading to decreased life satisfaction, low self-esteem, and symptoms of depression. This is emphasised in an article by Z. Mseleku (Youth high unemployment/unemployability in South Africa: the unemployed graduates’ perspective. 2022)

Shukuma Youth Programme

“Shukuma” means “to move” in Xhosa, and this is precisely what we aim to achieve amongst the youth on this programme. Our 12-month intervention aims to move youth aged 18-35 forward, restoring hope and drive. We provide mental health and well-being support, personal growth processes, and intense change and work-readiness training.

Our Goal

Our goal is to empower young people with the tools and skills they need to overcome obstacles and achieve their full potential. Our approach essentially involves two phases:

Phase 1 of our Shukuma Youth Programme provides mental health and well-being support through personal growth processes, led by MoreThanMeerAs, with a focus on small, intimate settings of no more than 12 youth per group.
Phase 2 of our Shukuma Youth Programme offers an intense work-readiness training process, providing ongoing opportunities for youth to engage and participate, supplemented by community workshops that deliver interactive and supportive sessions to equip young people with necessary resources, fostering environments for learning, growth, and meaningful connections.