ICHAF – A devoted NGO striving to make a difference

JOHANNESBURG – A number of factors contribute to the low education participation rate in poverty stricken rural areas across South Africa, including issues such as overcrowded classrooms with a shortage of teachers, lack of funding and educational resourcesand child-headed households due to a lack of adult supervision.

With the considerable challenges facing our education system it’s heartening to see an NGO such as ICHAF (I Can Help Africa Foundation Training Institute) strive to make a difference in the lives of so many.

Established in 2001 in Benoni, ICHAF started as a small Confidence, Communication and Life Skills programme for school children. ICHAF’s Training and Development Director Devan Moonsamy’s passion for teaching and developing skills in others prompted him to start coaching young children in the areas of communication and confidence.

Fast forward to the present day and ICHAF, a fully accredited FETC Provider, as well as a registered Section 21 Company, now operates nationally. ICHAF offers vibrant scholar training programmes in both Gauteng and in KZN, with a vision to penetrate the Western and Eastern Cape, uplifting and inspiring the youth toward a prosperous future. Apart from providing free training services to scholars, ICHAF also offers corporate, leadership and soft skills training products to corporate companies.

Aware of the urgent need to address pressing education challenges faced by many South Africans in rural and lower income segment schools, the ICHAF Training Institute has implemented a tutoring and teacher programme, designed to assist both struggling students and strained educators.

“Currently, we have five permanent teachers and three contract teachers,” says Devan Moonsamy.

“Being an accredited FETC provider, allows us to run learnership programmes and other advantageous training within corporate South Africa,” continues Moonsamy. “With a dynamic team of corporate trainers, who are equipped with a clear understanding of current training needs and national trends, we position ourselves as one of the best providers in the country.

“Having never been funded by any corporate or government, we rely solely on the revenue generated from our corporate training division to self-sustain the charity segment of our business,” says Devan. “With these funds, we are able to dispatch student teachers to qualifying schools to aid teachers with the workload.

“Our tutoring and teacher programmes have proven to be extremely successful. Pass rates have increased as a result of teachers being able to give students much needed individual attention. Both the levels of confidence in the scholars and learner-commitment levels have sky-rocketed and the benefits of having an additional member of staff to support the learners and help alleviate some of the pressure previously experienced by teachers,” says Moonsamy. “This year, we aim to reach more than 8 000 South African rural children.

“We also have a valued alliance with Child Welfare in Verulam, KZN and Child Welfare in Actonville, Gauteng whereby we fund the nutritional needs of children listed on our books,” says Moonsamy. “We successfully fund more than 20 scholars in two provinces via Child Welfare.”

For anyone interested in working for or running an NPO, Devan suggests that you become familiar with and study in the field that speaks to the vision of the organisation. “First and foremost, the most important component for any individual wanting to enter into any NGO is heart or emotional intelligence,” says Moonsamy. “Bring heart and a solid vision to the table and you will most certainly reap NGO rewards. Our social projects bring me so much emotional reward and leave me with so much to be grateful for.

“Although it’s an industry where one is driven by passion rather than financial gain,” Devan says, “the result of my work is enough reward for me – the individuals I work with, the progress I see in my students’ grades, the corporate learners who flourish after interventions and the children on welfare who no longer go hungry.”