Sport
Sport has had a remarkable contribution in uniting a South Africa that was fraught with separatist ideologies that emerged out of the apartheid regime. In light of this the KAY center aims to utilise sport as a medium of empowerment and growth. We recognise that sport has the profound ability to unite and gather individuals together with a common shared goal. In a South Africa and community that still shows some prejudices and stereotypes, sport will become a platform for the dispelling the some lingering prejudices. Sport is an essential pillar as it is not only fun but also a n effective method of instilling and teaching a diverse range of lessons.
Additionally, sport is able provide a secure competitive and cohesive environment that serves to benefit an individual whether it be through social interactions, the drive to work towards a common goal, accountability of your actions and the effect that this may have on others. Sport is thus a necessary condition for providing support and ‘building up’ a youth that will bring an impact
Health and Fitness
Secondly, health and fitness encompasses the concept of ‘wholeness’ thus including physical and mental wholeness. Health is not merely the absence of disease and the definition provided by the World Health Organization (1998) captures health as a ‘state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and … not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.’
The demands that are placed on individuals in this day can make daily living stressful and pressuring. It is important not only to ensure that one is physically able to function daily but also have the capability to cope with the mental fatigue and stress that daily living may entail. This pillar is especially important as the centre recognises that one needs to function optimally and adapt well in this rapidly changing society so that proper brain functioning is maintained and the onset of certain conditions can be curbed.
This is an especially worrying problem with the youth as the onset of certain conditions has been seen to plague the youth more and more as the years go by. It is thus the center’s that the youth of this community fit under the banner of health as described by the WHO to ensure a complete psychological, physiological, biological and social well-being.
Education & Training
Knowledge is a valuable commodity that allows one to market and present themselves. The youth centre in being a source of information aims to use this knowledge to educate and train the youth so that they can start competing in a world that values what you know and what you can do or offer. In strengthening this pillar, we aim to ensure that the youth become self-sustaining and also able to confidently perform tasks in any environment or setting. Our programmes that range from IT to music and even photography is aimed to the youth that we know is unique and varied in their interests.
We recognise that individuals becomes who they are because of the information, knowledge and experiences that they encounter. This exposure to stimuli is often varied and can range from being positive, neutral to negative. The youth is thus constantly grappling with all this opposing stimuli and information in an effort to become an individual. The centre is therefore aims aims to provide the individual with knowledge, experiences and information that can impact positively on how the youth understands themselves and how they can make an impact in their home, school, community and even the world.
Leadership
Leading is noted as important as it is a result of the strengthening of these pillars in individuals’ lives. It is also an opportunity for the youth to lead in every facet of their life. This leading does not mean having followers but rather being able the ‘lead’ in your thoughts and actions. Leading should encompass the desire to take the lead in your own life rather than being a passive receptor of instructions. This pillar aims to introduce a sense of agency in the youth. This agency means that individuals ‘help themselves’ rather than relying on others to get things done for you.
Financial viability & Administration
In order for any transformation, programme, intervention or project to occur, there needs to be adequate resources that will enable the continuation of these interventions. The youth centre therefore recognises the need to generate funds for the structural maintenance of the building but also in order for the continued effort to introduce essential pillars in individuals lives. The youth centre thus aims to generate such funding and resources through:
- The letting out of the space for functions. It is the centre’s prerogative that all aims to generate resources do not ultimately become detrimental to the running or institution of the pillars of the centre
- Donations
- Sponsors whether monetary or otherwise for specific projects
All this shall cater to the functioning and maintenance of the centers programmes and does not in any way aim to generate profits that will not serve towards the functioning and maintenance of the KAY center.
Lastly, one of the pioneering philosophers of this age Ian Hacking argues that we are constantly involved in a process of making ourselves up or rather discovering our identity by interacting and engaging with knowledge that we encouonter. If the youth is constantly in this process then the KAY centre, through its 5 categories aims to provide knowledge that can ensure that the best possible individual or youth is ‘made up’.