Stories
On the 24th of May 2023. I had an opportunity to train Men and Women in Blue Uniform. These Police Officers work hard to keep South Africa safe. The amazing part about this particular group is that they worked night shift previous night and when they knocked off they went straight in to the Financial skills training. Their participation was great and asked relevant questions. They were engaged and involved through out the session(s).Training was held at Madikwe, North West Province of RSA. The Topics were My Budget : Digging deeper and Ageing Grace respectfully. The most interesting part was Budget tips and finding money in your budget and Pension vs Retirement annuity. Sthembiso Ngamlane a young Constable appreciated the training and shared how the training opened his eyes and learned a lot about saving and investing. He continued saying "From day-to-day expenses to long-term budget forecasting, financial skills training is crucial for managing these factors. It is important to plan and save enough to provide adequate income in retirement while avoiding high levels of debt that might result in bankruptcy and defaults". We had a great time with Police Officers. Thank you Avocado Vision and Sanlam for empowering us to empower others.
This group I trained in Hammarsdale,they attended From Money fosho until module 13 without fail,what stood out for me,was the fact that they were quiet different from the groups I've trained before,some groups will always ask what time are we finishing because they need to be home by a certain time because their children will be back from school and so on,this group made means for their children and they stayed everyday until we were done.Wuen we did savings and investing,they showed an interest in the Retail savings bond and 2 of them have invested in it.They were very active in class and did their homeworks, so much information was shared,especially when we did scams and fraud,they had a lot to share,some of it very sensitive because 1 learner shared His story,how he was scammed, but He was grateful for the information He received in the classroom,He promised to share with others as well.On our second to last day of training,there was another training happening in the same venue,where learners will get stipends every month,but these learners told the Facilitator that they wanted to finish their course with Avo,then start attending with them, this made me so proud,and it showed that they appreciated the information they recieve in our sessions.Lastly,their punctuality was just awesome, we always started at 9am sharp without fail.
On the 30th of May 2023 I trained a group of people who are very hungry for information. The session was held Waterloo, KZN, at their community hall. By far, it was the best group I have ever trained for Avo. They participated enthusiastically, asking questions, sharing their experiences and providing answers, advices and solutions to various issues. During the unexpected events they came up with some hilarious but realistic circumstances, like, unplanned pregnancy, which also sparked a debate between men and women, and the issue of finding out that the child you have been supporting for many years is not yours, resulting in heart and hospitalisation. At the end of the session, they all requested that I need to come back with more trainings. Thank you Avo, for giving us the opportunity to uplift our communities.
On the 17th of April 2023, I had the opportunity to train a group of very dynamic and energetic people that are living with different disabilities ranging from speech,blind,deaf, poliomyelitis,aphysia,epelectic,etc. These learners where already part of a group that I was training on NQF Level 5, Supply chain management Learnership programme funded by National Skills Fund in partnership with Disability Economic Empowerment Trust and DPSA ( Disabled People South Africa).The session was based on a Module called Money fo Sho covering topics like, managing my money,managing risk,banking and saving and managing credit. The session started with a very high note, active participation and participants engaging and asking very relevant questions especially on the topic of budgeting and credit vs cash and consequences of therefore. These participants are now already in the workplace and receiving stipends. They have been giving me feedback indicating that now they arleady started to use the budgeting tips that they received in the session and are already making more research with the different banks on saving and investment options. The are indicating that the sessions are very informative and they are an eye-opener to a number of things that were discussed in the sessions. They thank Avocado Vision for bringing these types of trainings to them as most often feel neglected and not given and trainings as the disabled community. They are requesting that Avocado Vision please bring training of this nature to the rest of the disable community. Thank you very much Avo!!!!
On Thursday and Friday the 11th and 12th respectively, I had the opportunity to work with 32 Community Works Program officials (formerly referred to as EPWPs). Over the two days we had four sessions, MM 10-13. In all four sessions, it came as a shock how stigmatic the topics we were discussing were! Ranging from module 10s young people and money to module 13s funding a funeral. The Stigma came from the fact that people in this community are very touchy about discussing finances, more so discussing it with children or in the presence thereof. Once the ice was broken through game play and scenario reenactment, everyone softened up and participation was plenty. At the end of the sessions, participants pleaded that we return with more training as soon as it becomes available and they are grateful that they had been able to debunk financial myths and fears.
Most of my trainees were young people of Mangaungging ,90% of them did not see a necessity to save or invest. They were appreciative about the training and most mentioned that they've been taken a lot especially when it comes to money for granted. The training really changed their mindset, eight of the trainees decided that they going to open up a stockvel. "They said the training made them realise the importance of saving money". And investing which allows one to enjoy greater security in life. And again if one have cash set aside for emergencies, one can have a fallback should something unexpected happen.
Plot 41 was a home for a white woman called Dinie that is why it is called Dinie Estate. She was rich and did not have children. All her workers were her children. Lawyers were looking after her assets. After her death lawyers paid all workers then Land affairs bought the plot and hand it over to municipality for development The victims of evictions from were allocated together with those that did not have homes like orphans and old people from farm etc. They then applied for RDPs and that is how the Location or formal settlement was formed In total 2 groups of 32 each were trained. One trained in the Money Fo Sho and Money Modular Courses and another one in just only Money Fo Sho. The local and ward committee leadership who organized the people appreciated and welcomed the initiative. They connected us to two more wards outside their area to be trained. A community riddled with poverty and political instability is being positively impacted with money matters and new paradigm shift on how to handle their money affairs. The participants also expressed their gratitude and thanks.
Avocado Vision in partnership with Coronation we have managed to reach out different communities in the financial life skills training program. Participants show enthusiasm towards the program and interested to learn more, what I noticed that many South Africa's are stacked in their finances due to lack of financial managing skills. They have learned more about different models including tax, Insurance, money and believes, black tax, youth people and money, children and money, buying a big ticket of which most learners it was a new information. All participants engage fruitful in their groups and ask questions another youth said "I wish all this information could be implemented as a subject in schools so that as we grow up we will carefully manage money better and safety. The mistakes it will have been avoided if we were told before". Many learners share their views and enthusiasm towards the program. I could say this Session arrived in a right time to right people to manage their better and safety.
