Stories
Ikageng and Lekgalong are two small villages about 40 kilometers East of Rustenburg. this places are on a popular road to Sun City the gaming and entertainment destination within Northwest. Young people are seen daily along this roads trying to sell fruits and other goodies to make ends meet. This villages are fast growing with housing development taking place. however the setback of unemployment, lack of opportunities and other social ills taking their tolls and being the order of the day and causing negative mindsets within the youth . thankfully with the ward Councilor's connection I was able to do a three day training with Money Fo Sho and Money Modulars seeking to impact the youth with a positive mind set and skills to impact them no matter the odds. the youth were greatful and took advantage of these sessions to discuss all the important things in order to move forward to a hopeful future and take advantage of what they have learned. Thanks once again to Coronation and Avocado Vision for this opportunity. Communities and villages within our nation are being transformed.
This story is about a very brilliant and passionate entrepreneur Mr Jacob Maru who experienced a big loss and was scammed by his partners in the 70's due to lack of financial skills. Mr. Maru was born in The Northwest is the Brits Area. He started operating a small spaza selling sugar, maize meal, beans and grew to selling all other bigger products to the community. he eventually added partners to his business who ended up crooking him and made things difficult experiencing a negative results as they all did not have any financial know how, and budgeting or business skills. By attending this weeks training of Money Fo Sho and Money Modulars dealing with Scams, Budgeting, credit management and How to Boost your income, Mr Jacob Maru is in his 60's and is excited to move ahead as he seeks to do Better this time around his business adventures. in his own words "I cannot wait to start afresh because I now know what to do" He currently buys and sells tomatoes, oranges and other vegetables to the community of Bapong in Brits. Thanks to the partnership of Avocado Vision and Coronation in skilling and impacting lives of such people as Mr. Jacob Maru and others within the Northwest Province.
The participants trained are Exo rangers working 14 days each month , they see the money they're earning they are earning as peanuts that they can only partially fullfill their needs but during the training they were able to separate between needs and wants , when we were doing budget their budgeted according to their needs and managed to save a little from their income . Together with them in groups we counted the money saved per month multiply it by 12 months its was good money including interest earned . After the training they were all impressed and appreciative of the opportunity they've been given by CSA . During the trained when doing goals activity they've set their goals and saw that they can fulfill them if they budget and save accordingly . All participants had savings account which they opened when they were hired , they were all complaining about fees but after the banking module they all now can differentiate bank accounts , they vowed to go back to the banks and change accounts to transcation accounts with a saving pocket and able to calculate the monthly fees to pay . This training had a huge impact in participants they all wished that they can attend again with spouses and family members and get another chance to learn more in details . For me it was fulfilling to see participants happy and appreciating the training and putting it into use , most of these participants this job opportunity is the first one and others it's been a while after being retrenched . Thank you so much Avocado Vision and Coronation for giving these participants from deep rural Mount Fletcher this opportunity hoping they'll get another chance to be trained further.
This week I'm training in Hammarsdale, training in a youth centre named CODA,where youth learn computer skills,sewing and a lot more. I'm inspired by how they are always on time,ready for the lesson,every morning without fail,I will have a learner who will ask about something they learnt the previous day.Which shows that,when they get home,they take time to reflect on what they have learnt on the day and then have questions about it. I'm happy because I will be with them for all the 13 Modules,they are very enthusiastic, each day they bring energy and are always ready to learn.
Streetwise Financial Literacy held in Philippi market for a project called Presidential Employment Program this program was facilitated by Philippi Economic Development Initiative. I trained 380 participants, it was so great to see so much transformation in people's lives. There was a lot of engagement and discussions around finance considering the inflation. However with the methods on how to draft a budget and stick to it was a highlight. I introduced 50%30%20% rule and it made things quiet easy for them. One participant said now that he has written down the budget he can actually see how much he is spending on unnecessary things. They also said dividing needs and wants was an eye opener. This group of people was complaining on how they are under paid but they said after this training they will start savings and set goals for their lives. It is always fulfilling to see such a great transformation and communities start making informed decisions on how to spend their finances.
Participants that are from the Community Policing Forum from the local community attended the session with the sole purpose of learning how to use the little money they get as stipend. They mentioned that before the training they hadno idea on to spend the little money they receive but after learning how budgeting using needs,wants,short,medium and long - term goals as a base to plan the use of their money helped to see that it does not matter how much money one has, one can achieve any financial goal. Most important out of what they learnt was the importance of both short- term and long- term insurance. This they saw when they discovered on their own that banks,furniture shops and car dealers included both insurances in their instalments. What became a shock was the fact that they stopped insurance after completing paying their instalments and that left them with a high risk of losing their assessets should they stolen of damaged because they have no insurance.
I had the amazing opportunity to train the group of mostly young people from the outskirts of Cliffdale near Hammarsdale in Kwazulu Natal. The training was on Financial Literacy- Money fo sure sponsored by Laurium Capital. I trained four groups with three of them from Hammarsdale but the group that stole my heart was the one from Bux Farm. The area has no resources and very little infrastructure such that even the training session was done in a shelter which was donated by SASSA. What impressed me most is that against all odds the youth came in numbers such that we had to chase others away because of the training limit in numbers, sadly! The eagerness and hunger for knowledge was written in their faces and even during the session they showed up. Listening to their sad stories of not being able to further their studies and find stable employment was heart breaking but sharing ways to boost your income was an eye opener and it really brought some hope for a better life for most of them. Sometimes poverty can even block your mind and you can't even think out of the box . The training did not only bring awareness of how to manage their finances , risks and debt but it motivated them to look beyond their circumstance and see the light even in the darkness. I felt that more focus should be in the remote areas where such sessions are more fruitful and appreciated more. The business ideas shared during the training were amazing and I have no doubt that if executed they will make a huge difference in the Bux Farm community. They were very grateful for the opportunity to be part of the training and wished for more.
Vunani - MM financial literacy took place on Savings and investments as well Retirement. This training took place in February. Our community do not take savings seriously and they don't even ask best saving methods for them. I found out that they did not even knew that each savings method had a different interest. It was very interesting to see how amazed they were with the number of saving methods are out there. We also spoke about how their savings affects the economy. In the retirement plan some shared that they cash out their funds and that was caused because they did not know that they should not cash out instat they can preserve the fund. I really admire how young people planned for their retirement. This training opened their eyes and it transform their lives interms of planning their lives ahead. It was interesting because in my groups there different age groups.
