Mission of Service for Tony Naidoo and the USIKO MKP Men

Action in the World:

The USIKO Jamestown Community Project was an initiative put forward by Tony Naidoo during the 1st year of his appointment at the University of Stellenbosch in 2000.  This initiative was born out of a response to the concern of  the Jamestown community for assistance with their youth who were becoming increasingly susceptible to attrition from school, crime and violence, substance abuse and other negative social behaviour. With the dedicated assistance of the men listed for this award and committed community volunteers, this community project has now evolved into a dynamic intervention programmes for youth at risk with several partnerships. Usiko's programmes offers youth the opportunity afresh or perhaps for the first time to discover themselves, unlock their potential, and be guided through a rites of passage approach to develop their identity and proactively develop a personal vision for their future. Their activities include personal growth and therapeutic group processes, life skills training, involvement in a mentoring relationship, community project involvement, counselling, and exposure to wilderness programmes all purposed to help youth-at-risk engage with the challenges of their social contexts, gain confidence in their sense of identity, and development alternative visions for their life. Usiko's programmes have expanded from prevention focused school-based programmes, to include parallel programmes for girls and more recently a diversion programme for youth in conflict with the law based on restorative justice values.