A time of crisis also means a time where change seems more possible. At awarenet we have tried to use the crisis to change our programmes in a meaningful way for the youth and children attending.
After a bleak lockdown of most activities in South Africa from the end of March until the end of May where we were all confided to our homes awarenet reopened on the 1st of June, the very first day it became possible under the new regulations.
In order to do this we had to set up a new stringent system with access control at our gates where every learner in the program is screened for Covid-19 on a daily basis by the use of medical questions and temperature-taking. In addition, the learners have had to wash their hands with sanitisers and leave every second computer space empty at our computer labs.
We also radically redesigned our program; it longer takes place during tight hours after learners come from school but during the day as the new Covid-19 adjusted South African public school calendar has learners only attending school once or twice a week.
As the learners also now have much less time in school we decided in consultation with the learners to have an almost exclusive focus on academic support; still ICT-based with the use of internet and computers but now targeting the needs of the learners according to the curriculum.
We do think that we have come out of the difficult situation of the pandemic with our programs radically changed but still standing strong; we look forward to continue with all our great and enthusiastic learners next year!