Established in 1953, The Valley Trust in Botha’s Hill, aims to uplift the Valley of a Thousand Hills community, by eradicating poverty and improving the overall quality of the lives of the community through various health, educational and entrepreneurial projects.The broad objective of the Valley Youth Leadership Development Project is to improve the life chances of youth in the Valley of a Thousand Hills.
One of the key focuses of the Trust is the youth. According to the Trust : “Youth in rural areas only have a 4% chance of making it into an institution of further education and training, a 13% chance of finding employment and are likely to live below the poverty line all their adult lives until they become eligible for a government old age grant at age 60”
The Valley Youth Leadership Development Programme is aimed at improving the opportunities for the youth of the Valley of a Thousand Hills by fulfilling certain specific objectives :
- To equip 60 young people with the knowledge and skills to lead through supporting them to form and lead youth groups.
- To develop the confidence and skills of 60 young people to negotiate access to opportunities for youth through leading youth groups to attain their stated goals.
- To enhance the capacity of 780 young people to identify and take up opportunities for employment, entrepreneurship and/or further education through exposure and access to resources and opportunities.
- To improve the health and well being of 780 young people through education and participation in health-focused campaigns.
- To strengthen civic responsibility in 780 young people through providing opportunities for them to contribute to the development of their communities.
IT varsity was established to address the IT skills shortage in South Africa by providing an institution of hardcore learning and direct preparation for the world of work.
IT varsity’s vision is to empower 100 students with not just technical skills, but also entrepreneurship skills and a go-getter attitude. That’s where the name Apptrepreneur comes from: it’s a combination of the words ‘App’ and ‘Entrepreneur’. Mission 2020 sees the upskill of 100 learners in App Development in 2019, and placement of those learners into job positions in 2020.
Because of the alignment of visions and missions, IT varsity has partnered with the Valley Trust to launch Project Apptrepreneur at Botha’s Hill.
The objective of the project is to train 20 disadvantaged students to become app developers. The project, which will run for the rest of the year, will see all students gaining a national certificate in software development, as well as practical mentorship and guidance from IT varsity’s founders and directors, Bilal Kathrada and Maseehullah Kathrada, both of whom are award-winning app developers themselves.
Project Apptrepreneur will be instrumental in breaking the cycle of poverty and unemployment!
