About
Upstart Youth Development (South Africa)
Upstart is a local youth development project based in Grahamstown aimed
at young people in Grades 8 to 10. Based at Grocott's Mail, the project
was founded in 2008 as a way of responding to the low levels of literacy
which was evident in school performance and the poor matric pass rate.
The project aims to expand the abilities of schoolchildren on a variety
of levels - including promoting a culture of literacy; developing
reading and writing abilities; encouraging inter-school communication in
order to break down racial, cultural and language barriers and
developing leadership skills amongst the Grahamstown youth by running
weekly workshops at each school.
Upstart caters for learners based predominantly in the township and
collaborates with them in the co-production of a 16 page tabloid sized
newspaper which is published 8 times a year. Through this interactive
culture of learning and production, the learners are able to strengthen
inter-school communication and develop strong leadership skills that
would otherwise be undermined in their school settings.
Currently, Upstart has clubs at 12 schools in Grahamstown and at
Ikamvalesizwe Combined School in Kenton-on-Sea. A poetry group of Grade
11 and 12 learners, calling themselves Upstart Plus, also meets weekly
under the banner of the project.
Location: Eastern Cape, South Africa