Yoga4Alex was born out of the desire to address the physical and mental needs of at-risk youth in Alexandra. Using yoga as a tool, it has given the program a bridge to a community who welcome upliftment, opportunity, and intervention.
2011:
Dr. Marianne Felix started her first series of Kundalini yoga classes at Realogile High School in Alex after work. Thirteen Grade 12 male students attended regularly. Mina Modiba travelled with Marianne in and out of Alex.
Dipuo and Nonhlanhla (above Image)
2012
The group grew with nine new Grade 11 and 12’s joining the classes in 2012. Weekly classes continued at Realogile High School.
A weekend workshop is held at 4Living Guesthouse with the 2011 group sleeping over.
Mentorship support for the the class of 2011 secures positive results with Lucas Manhica being accepted to the African Leadership Academy, UPS offering two Yoga4Alex youngsters an internship and the Planetarium offering an internship to Karabo Mdluli, who is interested in astronomy.
2013:
In 2013 The challenges of hosting classes in Alexandra drove the team to offer classes in a more serene, safe, and peaceful setting.
So classes and weekend workshops are held at 4Living Guesthouse. The students respond incredibly positively to this new setting and more trust is built.
Four more youngsters join and come regularly.
2014
In 2014 new venue for classes is provided by Afrika Tikkun so Yoga4Alex expands their offering of free yoga classes on weekdays to young people attending a Job Readiness program.
Thirteen more students join the group. Some come to the Saturday yoga classes at 4Living Guesthouse.
A group of Yoga4Alex alumni students attend a weekend workshop on gender issues and non violence run by Phaphama at Melody Hill in Magaliesburg.
2015
Popularity builds and ten new students join the group. Fulufhelo, Bongekile and Emmah express interest in becoming yoga teachers and in October enrol for the first of four six-monthly modules.
Dipuo returns from two years of schooling at the Miri Piri School in India and attends Yoga4Alex classes that happen every Saturday at 4Living Guesthouse.
Two Yoga4Alex youngsters start working at the 4Living Guesthouse every weekend.
A group of 20 Yoga4Alex youngsters travel to Magaliesburg to attend the second Gauteng Spring Kundalini Yoga Festival, SKYFest.
Eleven more students join bringing the total group to 58 youngsters who feel Kundalini yoga helps them stay calm and bring focus and clarity to their lives.
2016
In 2016 the yoga teachers-in-training start giving the afternoon classes at Minerva and Realogile High Schools in Alex. Between 10 and 20 school students attend their classes regularly.
Sindiso begins his journey to become the first qualified male Kundalini yoga instructor in Alex.
Sindiso Moyo (above image)
Yoga4Alex holds its first 67 minutes of Yoga4Mandela at Thusong Community Centre in Alex and 100 people participate
Mitzvah students study in the 4Living Garden during the Matric study break in October. They participate in daily yoga and meditation during that week.
2017
In 2017 four high schools allow the newly qualified yoga teachers to offer yoga to the students during Life Orientation. Each week 2,000 Grade 12 students participate.
Yoga4Alex wins the Live to Give Grant awarded by International 3HO and Yogi Tea, and officially becomes registered as an NPO.
Yoga4Alex holds its second 67 minutes of Yoga4Mandela on the astroturf of Grassroots Soccer Altrec in Alex and 200 people participate.
In the same year “Live to Give Grant” is used to take 71 high school students to SKYFest at Mopani Lodge.
Mitzvah students study in the 4Living Garden during the Matric study break in October. They participate in daily yoga and meditation during that week.
Dr Marianne Felix facilitating yoga (above image)
2018
To address the high drop out rate of Grade 8 learners Yoga4Alex employs 10 youth part-time to pilot our Grade 8 after-school program that included book club, board games, chess, puzzles, construction, drama and dance.
It was a great success but by July we realised that English literacy was holding the youth back.
In the third school term, the same 10 youths start working in the nearby primary school to do one-on-one tutoring of Grade 4 learners.
The 67 minutes of Yoga4Mandela was a huge success on the astroturf of Grassroots Soccer Altrec in Alexandra and 300 people participated.
Yoga4Alex fundraised to take 100 youth to the SKY festival held for the second time at Mopani lodge
2019 :
Yoga4Alex partnered with Yes4Youth to secure a stipend for the youth thus creating more job opportunities for the youngsters living in Alexandra.
A program was developed that equipped 12 youth with work readiness skills.
A few of the young tutors got an opportunity to be trained as internationally recognised Yoga Instructors.
This qualification created opportunities for mindfulness practice.
Penny Metcalf provided training in Face Clues to the Youth teaching the 53 sounds of the English language.
Face clues improved pronounciation which is important when tutoring English.
A weeklong computer literacy training was held during July school holidays for the Youth teaching basic computer skills, and speed type when keeping their records of the sessions from the schools they teach.
The 67 minutes of Yoga4Mandela was a huge success on the astroturf of Grassroots Soccer Altrec in Alexandra and 410 people participated.
Rather than not have SKY Fest, Yoga4Alex agreed to organise it. It was held at Paradiso and 120 Yoga4Alex youth attended.
2020 :
The schools were very supportive of the yoga program and by January 2020 four yoga teachers offered weekly yoga to 5,500 high school learners.
This classes stopped in March because of COVID.
Yoga4Alex strengthened the relationship with Yes4Youth and provided 30 youth with an employment opportunity.
Jenny Taylor who is a reading therapist and trainer facilitator of Read For Africa - Phonographix Training, offered a training to the Youth so they can be qualified as Reading Buddies and teach the learners with the best tool so they can read and write effectively.
Nineteen of the youth completed the assignments and becaem certified Phonographix tutors.
Yoga4Alex supported the youth with computers so they are able to work and keep the record sessions effectively and develop their computer skills and speed typing. This was during COVID19 lockdown and the youth was able to work from home.
The Youth got the opportunity to get training from Pritam Khalsa. To be qualified as Kundalini Yoga Instructors and broaden their knowledge about mindfulness practice. Nine wrote the exam and became qualified yoga teachers.
Yoga4Mandela was held as a virtual event and all the tutors participated with family members in their homes.
Towards the end of the year we had a mini-SKYFEST at zoo lake. We did yoga and meditation in the garden with the youngsters and participated in other activities.
2021:
Because of COVID the yoga in the high schools had not been possible for most of 2020 and half of 2021.
One of the schools asked a yoga teacher to resume in the second half of 2021 because the principal felt yoga minimised the number of suicides among the students.
We continued our partnership with YES4Youth and 22 youth in Alex and 10 youth in Wakkerstroom were sponsored to work with Yoga4Alex.
At the beginning of the year, the tutors travelled to Diepsloot as ex pat volunteers no longer were travelling in Diepsloot becasue of COVID. In addition the tutors worked in two primary schools in Alex and one school in Wakkerstroom.
Twelve youth completed the assignments and became certified Phongraphix tutors.
Our flagship, 67 minutes for Yoga4Mandela was a virtual event with the smallest number of people participating.
2022 :
Annie Olufuwa was appointed to manage the Yoga4Alex program and rebrand it.
The alumni felt the organisation was floundering and in July, Marianne Felix took over again as CEO. The process of rebranding continued and by the end of the year, Yoga4Alex was rebranded as Stretch Education SA.
Yes4youth created an opportunity for 32 youth.
Ten youth succeeded in becoming certified Phonographix tutors.
Pritam Khalsa secured funding to make it possible for 9 of the 2021 cohort to receive training during the year to become qualified kundalini yoga teachers.
Yoga4Alex provided the funds for two of the alumni to receive training in Early Childhood Development NQF Level 4 and 5.
Move in Awe has resumed yoga classes in one of the schools in Alex.
2023
The group of youths selected by the alumni for the 2023 cohort were exceptional.
Yes4Youth no longer wanted us to be implementation partners. IQ Business wanted to continue working with us and agreed to sponsor 20 youth.
Jenny Taylor has rated them the best group of Stretch tutors she has trained. They have become certified Phonographix tutors.
This group captured the tutoring data effectively and for the first time there is a way of measuring the reading ability of children post our intervention.
Two tutors from Lebowakgomo received training from Guy Stubbs in ECD training and project management in Mpumalanga.
Ten tutors successfully completed the ECD Level four training.
Ten tutors successully completed Project management.
Comentários