Stories
On the 11th of July, I had a rare opportunity of training people with disabilities on Sanlam Money Fo Sho. They were accompanied by their facilitator and the project director. The session was amazing; they participated with passion and enthusiasm. There was a time where we debated about gambling as one of the wants, we need to cut down on or stop. One gentleman shared a sad story of his relative who is addicted to gambling hence he believes gabling should be stopped. Another gentleman had different view, saying we need to have self-control in everything we do including gambling. We had so many interactions, which made the session amazingly interesting.
The Months of June and July were really fruitful in terms of the people I trained.I trained both in Colleges and the community,The 7th of July was most memorable because I went to train in a community that I once trained in,had to leave because it looked like people were finished or they were just not interested. The community of Hammarsdale,when I arrived Monday the 7th,there was a long line of people queued up to attend the sessions.If I'm not mistaken,there was over a hundred of them,I had to count 32 to enter the hall,the next 32 had to write down their names to attend on the Wednesday (I had asked my colleague Nozipho Khuzwayo to train them) and the 3rd set of 32,were to attend the following week (Had asked my colleague Pamela Myeni to train them) as Nozipho and I had depleted our targets. When I trained my 32 participants,I discovered that I had the EA's in my session,Assistant Teachers.The way they were so interested in topics such as UIF,Tax,Pension fund,Retirement Anuities.it was my first time having people whom we spend more time on the UIF activity (calculating Nobantu's UIF)I could also judge from the questions they asked that they were asking so that they know and understand,not just asking to pass the day.I really enjoyed the last 3 days at Hammarsdale,it's so rewarding to us trainers to get people who actually connect to the topics and find it relevant and beneficial to them to be a part of the training. We also had a few Teachers in the traing,permanent teachers.
Spent the last 8 days coaching 24 Green Business Value Chain entrepreneurs in Matatiele and its surrounding villages (Mvenyane, Masupha, Moiketsi, Sibi, Colana, Mxegwini (Mount Frere), eMapheleni (Mount Ayliff). What a humbling experience. Listening to their childhood stories and how that has shaped the men and women they are today and the type of business owners they will be, one could not help but be proud to be supporting them on their journey to grow their businesses. I was left with lots of hope and excitement after each and every session. Thank you AvoVision for providing me with this opportunity of interacting with such an amazing group of entrepreneurs.
On the 5th of July 2025, I had an opportunity of training the rural community of Greenside, Oshabeni, Ray Nkonyeni Municipality in Ugu District, the session was on Clientele's Enriched Money Fo Sho. Most of the people in this area are unemployed, but they responded positively to the invitation and participated enthusiastically. Both young and old participants worked well in groups, especially during the activities. They enjoyed the session, they even asked for more, asked for jobs as they always do in poverty-stricken communities. While we were doing finance and funerals, they raised a concern that some financial institution and burial societies do not inform their clients when a person has been insured above the threshold. They suggested that systems must be put in place to easily detect when an individual has been over insured by a certain underwriter. They truly enjoyed the session, and the certificates.
On the 30th of June and 1st of July, I attended training sessions with DCS staff in the Drakenstein management area in Paarl. Although we got off to a very slow start on both days, once training started the sessions became a breeze. Participants were particularly interested in learning how to budget and saving. Too often stories of how finances were sour were being shared. Fortunately we were able to turn the stories of misfortune to stories of hope, all because the participants left training very hopeful and willing to manage their finances better.
On the 21st of June, I trained the community of Quarry Heights on the Clientele's Enriched Money Fo Sho, the session was held at Quarry Heights Primary School. I had a poor turn out of participants, but the few that arrived gained a lot of information from the session. They enjoyed all the activities, but mostly the planning of the funeral. They were surprised by what they learned about funeral covers and the estate. It is so inspiring to see the impact of our sessions to the community. Looking at their faces when you tell them that it's illegal to withdraw money from the deceased's bank account, is priceless. The funeral section of the MFS is much needed and needs to be added as a module to the community sessions.
On 3 JULY 2025,I trained young entrepreneurs in Benoni they used a library in order to have no disturbance of noise .The session was very interactive ,the participants shared their own stories concerning credit and funeral covers, Sibusiso kept mentioning how this session woke him up and his dreams too .Martha also shared a personal story that affected her and her husband a lot by buying a car on balloon payment .this made each participant to regroup themselves financially and start to make informed decisions ,to be responsible individuals with the little they afford
Training for Khumo took place during youth month. Most young people came in numbers, we had to ask some of them to return the following day. It was amazing how they engaged in the topic of finance. They agreed that young people have to know about finances as it is a crucial topic these days. They embraced the knowledge they received and they took decisions of changing their behavior and attitude towards money to better their lives. They discovered that the trick is being able to differentiate between Needs and Wants. They also voice out the fact that there is no financial literacy in schools that makes things a bit difficult because by the time they receive this kind of training they are used to their old ways. During the reflection they requested to have more trainings as this one.
We had a worksite training session in Vryburg (Stella) . The participants appreciated us being there to share information with them on Saving, Investing and Boosting income. They found the session very interesting and indicated that they really didn't know the different methods of saving & investing and they have no clue on how to safeguard their finances. They were looking forward to start exploring and using these methods moving forward. Sanlam officials /representatives were also present and gave clarity on how their saving & investment methods work. There were 3 participants who were interested in saving and investing with Sanlam and they were given direction and information on how to start the process. Boosting my income session has shown that some of them have a side hustle but didn't take it seriously and when we started unpacking the steps they can take and the difference it can make towards what they are currently earning, they started to even share the hustles they do amongst each other . Some started to share it on social platforms to boost their sales and help them to grow their small businesses.
