Twenty learners from Cape Town high schools have been selected for the 2005 Desmond Tutu Emerging Leadership Award programme which will, during the next three months, equip them to play a leading role in dealing with social issues within their communities.
The learners, who were subjected to a rigorous selection process, are from schools across the greater Cape Town area, including Somerset West, Khayelitsha, Bellville, Gordon`s Bay and Strand.
The award programme, sponsored by Computer Sciences Corporation`s operations in SA, is increasingly global in its reach. Kenya joins the programme this year, the second African country to do so. The programme started in the US in 2002 before being launched in SA the following year. Norway joined in 2004.
The Desmond Tutu Emerging Leaders Award programme has the active support of the Western Cape Department of Education and Educo Africa, an NGO that conducts outdoor-based learning.
Clem van Wyk, manager of Research and Development of New Initiatives at the Leadership Academy at the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre, says this year`s curriculum has been deepened in both Norway and SA.
"It places much emphasis on the bridging of leadership and an alumnus of awardees. They take part in video conferences with each other and discussions on leadership development are conducted among the groups.
"There is a constant need to update and develop the programme so it remains relevant to current issues and appropriate to the process of peace building. It aims to engage more partners internationally and develop programmes that are context-specific. While the core of the programme is constant it is tailored to the needs of the new partners."
Van Wyk says past awardees from Norway and SA have been intimately involved with the development of the Kenyan curriculum and have visited that country to help with its launch.
The eight modules in the programme focus on communication, diversity and difference, dynamics of oppression and emancipation, and critical issues. A six-day wilderness experience teaches resourcefulness and team building. The South African programme culminates in a meeting with Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and an awards ceremony in July.
The underlying aim of the programme is to prepare a skilled and committed generation of leaders able to work towards peacefully resolving issues in divided societies.
Van Wyk says issues in the programme are those faced by South Africans every day. "Some of these are tough issues to deal with but we believe that peaceful, free societies can be created and sustained if individuals understand that they have a powerful leadership role to play in creating peaceful communities.
"Through leadership training, using the example of Desmond Tutu`s leadership and life story, we extend the vision that effective communities are built through a series of actions by ordinary people who are committed to truth, justice, human rights and living responsible in the midst of their freedom."
Previous awardees have gone on to tertiary education and many of them work on projects they initiated after completing the programme. Some are members of the junior Cape Town City Council. Umr Bagus, a 2004 awardee, is the junior MEC working with Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel.
Archbishop Tutu is delighted with the steady progress the award programme is making into Africa. "Africa`s youngsters face some of the toughest social issues in the world - HIV/AIDS, wars, grinding poverty, failing economies and corruption. By sharing experiences and forming support networks with other young leaders around the world, these youngsters will be encouraged to dream with their eyes open and work towards creating better, just societies."
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