When Nomhle joined Amoyo, she was quiet, shy, reserved and lacking in confidence. She struggled with eye contact and holding conversations. Five years on, she’s not only matriculated, qualified as a carer and working in retail but a happy, confident young lady who’s preparing to study business science.
“Amoyo helped me with self-confidence and self-esteem and the ability to make sensible choices that positively impact my life. Even after matric I still use the 'life lessons' that I learned at Amoyo. Amoyo developed my strong work ethic and core values, I am a proud Ambassador of Amoyo.” – Nomhle
A cathartic after school programme that primarily focuses on performative arts
The Amoyo Foundation was founded seven years ago with the primary focus of getting the youth of Imizamo Yethu and Hangberg in Cape Town engaged in performing arts.
“After School programmes play a crucial role in the education ecosystem and Amoyo is well-positioned to meet learners where they are, enabling them to thrive and succeed in reaching their full potential.” – Kim Conley, Amoyo CEO
Amoyo offers an average of 38 classes a week to their current 175 learners. Their classes include Dance, Drama, Singing and Musical Theatre and Life Skills, supplemented by outings and workshops. A big part of their strategy is to offer learners a caring and nurturing environment that demonstrates strong social and moral principles. Their vision is that each Amoyo child, aged 6-18, will continue into tertiary education after school, equipped not only with performing arts skills but also with the life skills, self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-discipline to conquer life successfully. It’s important to learn the skills needed to survive in the fast paced professional world outside of their immediate environment of poverty, neglect, criminal and gang activity.
Amoyo graduates regularly give feedback about the lessons they’ve learnt and the impact the programme has had on their lives; how it helped them finish high school, go onto study a tertiary education and gain employment.
Projects Amoyo are currently busy with
Amoyo recently celebrated the end of two projects with a showcase of their performances, which they called UNSTOPPABLE. The first project being ‘Listen I have a Voice’, sponsored by the City of Cape Town and the second being 'Crossing the Waters - onto a life of success' sponsored by the US Consulate of Cape Town in partnership with the New York Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre Company Arts in Education. 130 students took part in dance, djembe drumming, singing, and monologue performances.
“The children were immensely proud of developing and performing their own pieces, many of which were cathartic in content. The process helped the healing of situations portrayed. Performing live in front of family, friends, and guests takes a lot of courage and it's an important skill to learn, especially with our new students.” – Conley
Amoyo offers these young performers all the encouragement within a safe environment for them to slowly but surely discover their talents and abilities to determine their journey to success. This is why Amoyo exists.
How to get involved
Amoyo appreciates donations small or big. But if you’d prefer to help in other ways, you can donate preloved dance goods, volunteer your time at the foundation or even buy something for them on their wishlist.
What is the Naked Difference and how does it make Naked different from other insurers?
When you see or hear “Naked Difference”, Corporate Social Investment might be what comes to mind. But it shouldn’t. The Naked Difference isn’t the icing on the cake as far as social impact goes. The way we’ve built Naked means that causes benefit directly from the way we do business. We’re on a path to do good in an otherwise grudge-purchase industry.
We take a flat fee upfront to cover running costs and profit. The rest of the money goes towards claims, with leftover premiums at the end of the year paid to causes that our clients choose. This is different from other insurers, who take the leftover money as profit: we’ve removed the conflict of interest completely. This is the Naked Difference and it changes everything about insurance.
We’re really passionate about telling people about the Naked Difference and who it supports, so we’re featuring our causes to share what they do within South African communities.