2U kicked-off their 5th Annual Days of Service event which ran between Thursday, April 11 - Saturday, April 13 and this year, the Cape Town office joined this milestone year.
Since 2015, 2Utes have served over 4,000 hours through Days of Service, giving back with almost 100 organizations. A list of volunteer opportunities were made available to the Cape town team and us at Call 2 Care are honoured to have hosted a special and unique CSR experience for the group.
Check out this incredible video highlighting the 2Utes involvement and contribution to improving lives through education.
A custom Volunteer and CSR experience for 2U
Call 2 Care is a NPO located in Cape Town that improves lives through educational outreach projects and socially conscious events while offering a sustainable end to end service to corporates, government, and the general public. We were fortunate to have designed a special program for the 2U team to allow them to form part of The Philile Project which is Call 2 Care's after school program hosted in Gugulethu. This program offers a curriculum rich in positive psychology, physical activity and environment learning. This includes creating a learning environment that is a safe organised space so children can build the 23 key character strengths and values (Peterson and Seligman, 2004) - a key curriculum that forms part of The Philile Project. Call 2 Care also work with an incredible youth group, Amasoja Youth Initiative, who play a key part of the The Philile Project to develop their leadership capabilities.
Volunteer experiences included in The Philile Project
Outdoor sports and recreational learning
Thanks to the incredibly talented Talya Wehlburg, a dance teacher back at home, she was able to share her passion and talent for dance with the kids. In no time, the collaborative workshop ensured everyone's involvement - a key skill that Talya possesses to which the children then taught her their favorite moves. This links in with our positive psychology approach as it empowers them to build confidence, explore their creativity in a safe environment while also sharing part of their culture. We unearthed a lot of talent and the kids were running up and showing us their moves long after the lesson was finished. The 2U team also got involved in taking charge of this fun collaborative dance exercise.
In Class volunteer Learning - Character strengths and values building
The entire team collaborated on producing a grand final art piece together. Each participant was given a small piece of a larger picture and a surprise was shown at the end of the program which includes a 2U branded South African art piece produced by the children. They were left in awe as to how a small piece can form part of a larger piece. This collaborative exercise focuses on the character strengths of creativity, appreciation of beauty and excellences, teamwork and curiosity which all form part of the character strengths and values building included in our curriculum (Peterson and Seligman, 2004).
Environment learning and volunteering
The children spent a part of the program learning about how to plant seedlings which utilises the on site water wise vegetable gardens we have built. The children were then tasked to creating their own seedlings (grown from seed) that will need to be looked after and later planted in the garden once developed. The children were so amazed by the growth of the potatoes that were previously planted which should soon be available for harvesting.
At the end of the program, the volunteers and children shared a delicious meal together. In addition, the 2U volunteers also donated some non-perishable food which will allow us to continue feeding the children in future. From all of us at Call 2 Care, we send our utmost gratitude for joining us for the 2U Days of Service.
About 2U inc.
2U, Inc. is a global leader in education technology, and has been improving lives by powering world-class digital education. As a trusted partner and brand steward of great universities, they build, deliver, and support online graduate programs and certificates for working adults.
