An Extraordinary Journey: Umzi Wethu Training Academy for Vulnerable Youth

Port Elizabeth, 21 August 2014 - The incredible story of the Umzi Wethu Training Academy for Vulnerable Youth is the subject of an OXFAM case study, which was launched in Port Elizabeth last night. Umzi Wethu, which means “our home” in isi-Xhosa, is an initiative of the internationally-renowned Wilderness Foundation. It is the brainchild of its Director, Dr Andrew Muir, who is an active member of the NMMU Business School’s Advisory Board.

Umzi Wethu combines wilderness experiences and in-residence training to transform these youths, into highly employable young adults. OXFAM’s South African country manager, Allan Moolman, believes that Umzi Wethu is “pretty much the apex of development projects…giving young people the ability and skills to transform their own lives.”

According to Muir, “We are responding to the tragic paradox of a great demand for skilled customer service workers on the one hand, and massive unemployment on the other. We saw the opportunity to intervene and give hope to youth who were denied opportunities to access training and jobs due to circumstances generally beyond their control, many of whom have been orphaned as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.”

The fit between a conservation initiative and a social upliftment and leadership programme is not immediately evident to some people. The Umzi Wethu Training Academy for Vulnerable Youth presents a dynamic intervention model that offers skills development and job placement to youths who, despite incredibly adverse circumstances, have shown resilience and ambition. The model has been extended to three additional locations in the Eastern and Western Cape.

NMMU Business School Director, Steve Burgess, attended the South African launch of the new Oxfam publication. “NMMU is among the first universities in the world to establish a chaired professorship in earth stewardship, which is among the most important challenges of our time. Business and government leaders urgently need to address the obvious challenges of the sustainable economic growth that we need to achieve social sustainability, while protecting South Africa’s natural treasures. A less obvious challenge, which is no less important, is to mine the benefits of wilderness experiences in an age of rapid urbanisation.”

“McKinsey Global Institute recently projected that economic growth in mid-sized cities in emerging markets will outstrip the combined growth of the high-income countries and emerging market megacities. This suggests the importance of cities such as Port Elizabeth as important learning laboratories. One of the advantages of locating operations in mid-sized cities is access to the wilderness.”

“Thanks in no small part to the encouragement and constant support of Dr Muir, wilderness experiences are part of our MBA and other programmes in the School. After just a day or two in the wilderness, even hard-core disbelievers begin to report a deep transformation that has lasting positive effects on their well-being and productivity. We are delighted that OXFAM recognises the impressive achievements of the Wilderness Foundation in this way and congratulate Dr Muir, Pinky Kondlo and Paul Longe on the achievement.”

Background
The NMMU Business School is South Africa’s youngest major business school. It is recognised internationally for excellence and rated among the top business schools in the world. NMMU seeks to pioneer a new model of a business school. Global in its vision. African in its identity. Alive to the possibilities of emerging markets, and their mid-sized cities. Focused on economic, social and environmental sustainability. Imparting skills to manage across diverse socioeconomic, cultural and regulative contexts. Drawing on the unique strengths of the new comprehensive university paradigm. Delivering programmes that prepare South Africans from all walks of life and levels within the organisation to become tomorrow’s leaders.

The Wilderness Foundation is a world-renowned initiative founded by Dr Ian Player and now led by Dr Andrew Muir. Headquartered in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, the Foundation seeks to implement its mandate through a holistic approach that encourages awareness of the inter-relatedness of conservation, socio-political and economic institutions within society and active engagement in protecting and sustaining South Africa’s unique wilderness areas and natural heritage. Programmes focus on four main areas: conservation, social intervention, experiential education, and advocacy and awareness. The Foundation creates opportunities to encourage, plan and protect wild lands and wilderness, uplifting the knowledge and lives of citizens and stimulate an environmental ethos among current and future leaders.

Accessing the OXFAM case study
The case study is available at http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/an-extraordinary-journey-umzi-wethu-training-academy-for-vulnerable-youth-322346.

Beneficiaries candidly discuss the life-altering effects of Umzi Wethu in a touching video posted on the initiative’s Face Book page https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=451210434914957&story_fbid=151870381641927.