I trained a group of youngsters and the session went very well,most of them already have small businesses,they sell meat,clothes,cosmetics,bags and vetkoeks.some of the information they got from the training was very useful to them,like they wanted to know how to support your existing business with another one if you see that it is not doing so well.we played around with ideas and they were happy with the outcomes.

Introducing the MM modules for Sanlam it is a great opportunity to the community as we are able to keep track of the last time education and people are using and still remember the trick aswell as the budget form

Most of the training took place around Tsakane and the community are loving the modules and the training it self. I am continuing training the Money Modules for coronation and classes are packed

Ever since I started facilitating Financial Literacy trainings I have always wished to know whether some Participants do practice any of the things we try to encourage them to do in order to start saving. In one of the sessions I did this month, there was a lady by the name of Babalwa that came after the session, she was not part of the session as she was about to leave for her work shift. She told me that she had attended one of the Avo Trainings in 2014, she came to greet me and to thank you for teaching her the importance of starting to save from the little you have and that saving is not about starting with a lumpsum but you can start with even 10c. She started saving in 2015, she challenged herself to save the same amount of money that she gives her daughter daily when she goes to school, which is R5 a day which is R25 per week and R100 a month. After doing this for two years, her daughter joined in with her R5. so now they have their little club of savings and deposit it in a Post Bank Account. This money she is saving for when her daughter leaves for Varsity in 2022. They currently have a savings of R8000, they have had to use some of the money that they had saved last year during lockdown. Had she not started saving earlier, she would have had no money to keep them going during the tough lockdown period. My motivation now is that, we are doing these trainings to plant a seed, be it that of saving, learning to prioritize our spending according to our needs, the importance of having a will or that of investing for the future/retirement but plant that seed, one or two people will listen and will make the right decisions for their kids and families. Change is always 1 person at a time, we have not only changed the life of Babalwa but her daughter will make informed decisions from here on and teach the same to her kids.

On the 24th and 25th of February, I facilitated the Hollard Streetwise Finance course respectively. Though the sessions didn't particularly achieve the level of engagement desired - given the circumstance, trainees enjoyed the learning content and took away some valuable information from the teachings.

I had this fabulous opportunity to train few sessions at Kuruman Campus TVET.. We had a great time with students as we were unpacking all the modules and what i liked most is that most of them could relate to the topics... It was so so enjoyable and had a great feedback from the students and they even requested that we bring them more of these programmes because they want to be financially educated when they enter the working environment. They highly recommend the programme to everyone out there because they've learnt so much from it. Once again i'd like to take this opportunity to thank Avo Team & Hollard for giving me this amazing platform to plant a good seed to our youth and everyone who participated. I can say, we impacted communities positively .

Hollar StreetWise Finance Basic Financial Literacy Programme (2021) Type of Participants: Participants were drawn from the local CWP (Community Work Programme) Location: Letshego Primary School, Galeshewe , Kimberley. We had the pleasure of training a group from the local CWP (Community Work Programme) This was very inspiring as it was the inaugural session(s) for Galeshewe NC. "The Community Work Programme was established to provide an "employment safety net" to eligible members of target communities by offering them a minimum number of regular days of work each month." www.gov.za. It targets unemployed and underemployed people. The stipend(s) (R780p.m) participants get are meant to be a starting basic income. The participants were at first very sceptical about how they would benefit from financial literacy. Stereotypically they believed that this was for people who were already wealthy ( hadsomething to lose) As the day progressed prior to concluding the last module we all admitted to wanting to be financially secure in our later years. The non-chalant bravado exemplified in our younger years is now giving way to the realisation that most South Africans still will not have enough to retire with modest comfort. Obviously the township being viewed as part of the periphery of the local economy will view some topics differently compared to the formal parts of our economy. Retirement becomes retyrement. Cash is still king for alot of things in the township but the internet of things is on its way to the "Kasie". Insurance for funerals is about dignity. Alot of people take CWP for granted . these are but just a few of the sentiments expressed during the course of the workshop. Module 1 : Needs vs Wants vs Budgeting Many of the partiicipants were aware of the differences between needs and wants. Most expressed the monthly frustration of having to prioritise needs over wants. They also showed much insight on how to stretch your income to last you longer during the month. Alot of the participants were not comfortable with divulging too much on their own personal financial challenges and obstacles. Module 2; Banking , Lending & Saving Banking: A lot of the participants highlighted their financial astuteness when it came to banking. They do not use the ATM unnecessarily and they do their banking mostly through an ÄPP”which is cheaper and in some instances free (data costs excluded) Lending: A lot of the participants understand the concept of being charged interest. Many found the challenge of tracking your monthly interest-repayments daunting. If its with a formal lending institution Saving : The participants were skeptical about the importance of saving in their finanacial lives but this can be attributed to the “”inflationary” times we are living in. This is highlighted further by the things we save for (basic essentials like maize and cooking oil etc.) either individually or in groups formations (i.e Stokvels and Burial Societies) Module 3 ; Insurance This is a very sensitive topic to a lot of the participants. Many would like to leave some contribution to their families when they”pass”on”BUT many cant afford “life-cover”. The challenge of also over and under insuring people in the family and extended family was highlighted by some of the participants. This allowed for a lively debate on the merits and demerits of insuring everyones life in the family.’The facilitator emphasized that he was not financial advisor and steered the conversation more towards the rights and responsibilities of the consumer in such contracts. The CPA (Consumer Protection Act FAIS (Finanacial Advisory & Intermediary Act)) as the law(s) governing how Financial Services Providers interact with us the “consuming public was highlighted”. Module 4 This was another highly charged and emotional subject for the participants. They believe that they will not be able to provide a comfortable (perceived to be) life after retirement. The facilitator highlighted the importance of saving and investing towards this goal like any other financial goal.Many now attribute their perception to what they have always heard about retirement.I.e That it is difficult and its like playing a game of “Russian Roullete” . Many would like to do more for a happier retirement but they do not know how. Tr Conclusion : The training sessions held on the 11th & 12th February 2021 were both humbling and pleasing for all in attendance. We have learned from our side that people are very finanacially aware but this does not translate into making good finanacial decisions. If you teach people about their wants and needs you must also highligght the “Assets” that they currently possess that can be usedto improve their finanacial condition.Sustainable livelihoods go hand-in-hand with finanacial literacy.The facilitator emphasised the fact that he was not a finanacial adviser but they must get in touch with a registered financial adviser. All in all we achieved what we had set out to accomplish I.e.”raise finanacial awareness ammngst the participants” Thank you Robert Thato Mashope

It's always been great pleasure to train rural people as watching dynamics change , training Hollard has given me an opportunity to spend 6 hours a day with people employed on 1 month or more contracts and also the internship. In most cases these people they don't refer to these contracts as employement and money earn through these is not regarded as sustainable income , it was satisfying to watch the same people referring to their earnings as savings and investments through out these trainings . Some have started saving for the equipment to take internship training to business level . My most amazing moment was trainings in Bizana - Baleni village where these youth have always thought the Baleni life is not cool but after the training they all agreed they can continue live this life and save more . I've also learned 1or 2 things that I can change in my daily life and start saving money. Thank you Avocado Vision and Hollard for making these trainings possible

MetroKickStars is a great and inspirational to many young entrepreneurs. All the participants I have trained so far appreciated it. I love this program as it unleash the potential of many young South Africans. I was so amazed with their great business ideas. I also love the fact that it can reach to so many young people across the country. Teens love it and many have started their businesses through this program. I have built a good relationship with most of my participants , even though I have never seen most of them because some are coming from different provinces but the relationship we have built so far is amazing. These program is giving hope to many teenagers, especially knowing that you dont have to be older to start a side hustling. May thes program continue as it will discover many many younge entrepreneurs.

One of the most challenging yet rewarding sessions I have ever had the honour of training. I had a session in Lugelweni A/A where I was training People Living with Disabilities, most of whom are illiterate. The motivating factor for me to have this session inspite of the challenges that I anticipated was that they earn Disability grants and most of the time they do not know how their monies are handled by their family members and all of them have no savings yet they have families that they are looking after with their income. There were many challenges during the session as some of them had to wait for their assistants to explain things (deaf and blind) but I was amazed by their patience and eagerness, they were very interested in understanding more about savings as well as insurance. One of them shared that they had found out a few years ago that they were insured by various neighbors who wanted to benefit from their death and when the neighbors had a disagreement, the truth was then revealed and luckily Traditional Authority Council intervened. This made me realize that these people really need information yet we have never given them a thought as a target market for this programme, considering that some of them are born with disabilities and therefore earn an income from an early age. I aim to consult with Forum that looks after this group of people so that within each target that we get for trainings, I can set aside a few sessions for them.