Sumaiyah Fuad Mohamed

“I thoroughly enjoyed facilitating the workshop in Diepsloot. The participants had a thirst for knowledge which was evident in their interaction throughout the workshop and the questions that they asked.

“Although I have experience and knowledge in the HR field, I realised that much of this knowledge is based on western context. While most of the concepts can be applied to the South African context, through interaction with the participants, I learnt about various concepts and areas that are unique to the South African context. These concepts need to be taught in HR courses to ensure that the content is relevant and thus capitalise on the diversity and uniqueness of our society.

“Through the interest shown, questions asked and the feedback provided by the participants, we learnt that HR skills aresomething that communities are interested in. These are essential skills for entry and progress in the job market and ultimately aiding in the reduction of unemployment in the country.

Engaging with the community is a reciprocal learning experience. Many participants indicated that they never attended such a workshop, despite its importance. I learnt from the participants as they shared theirs stories and experiences. Some things you simply cannot learn from textbooks or scholarly sources, but is learnt through interaction with the communities.

“It is so important to give back to the community as so many in our country were not privileged to further their studies. Through community engagement we realised how fortunate we are to have been given the opportunities that allowed us to develop as professionals. The onus is on us to give back to the communities so that they can start to make changes in their families and societies by teaching others what they have learnt. This will hopefully have a snowball effect and start to effect change in the communities and country at large.”

Khatoon Gani

“I had a wonderful experience. We were welcomed into a safe space where we felt comfortable to present and interact with the participants. Being my first experience I felt nervous; however, the Chance 2 Advance team supported us throughout the process to make sure we could successfully deliver a programme that is much needed within this community.

“I hope to use the engagement and experience to filter into my teaching and learning at Unisa. I endeavour to develop case studies for our modules based on the experience we had. I would like to use these workshops to conduct research.

“We had a lot of interaction and feedback from the community that showed us that the communities are interested in our presentations. The workshop was very hands on and we had active participation throughout the day. The workshop was very suitable for the group we facilitated, as most of the participants are currently involved in learnership programmes or studying and will therefore be looking to enter the job market soon.

“This opportunity enables us to reach out to communities and provide them with the skills and training they need to develop their employability skills.

“Having more academics involved in community engagement will allow us to offer more skills and training opportunities to communities in need. It will also enable us to learn from these communities and encourage research.”

Kholofelo Matlhaba (CHS)

“Thanks to Chance 2 Advance for giving me the opportunity to interact with the community of Tafelkop through my presentation. My experience with this programme was really overwhelming. The number of people who attended the presentation showed that there is need for knowledge and information on lifestyle diseases. Overall, participation was good which shows appreciation to me as a presenter and the effort from the C2A team to come up with this important programme.

“The interesting part was the fact that people were talking about their real-life situations which made it easier for me as the presenter to get to their level of understanding and to provide them with more information. What I have realised was the fact that most of the people were youth. Despite the fact that they are living with elderly people who are diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes mellitus, they were interested in knowing how to prevent and teach other people about these conditions.

“However, as a presenter I had concerns with the number of young pregnant women among the people who attended the presentation. I realised that if C2A can make such an impact on the community at large on lifestyle diseases, more can be done on issues related to reproductive health and family planning. I believe that ‘it is better to build wellness rather than treating a disease’. As an academic and healthcare practitioner, I believe that we can do more through the collaboration with C2A to bring change to the community at large.

Mmapeu Manyaka (CEDU)

“The community initiative in Tafelkop, Limpopo, was both fulfilling and eye opening. In my view reaching out to communities is beneficial for both academics and the communities. Through this interaction, academics get to appreciate challenges faced by communities, while communities gain insight with regards to solutions and alternatives that can be applied in dealing with such challenges.

“I got to understand the challenges faced by ‘backyard’ crèche owners while crèche owners (including aspiring owners) got to enhance their knowledge on how to gradually convert their crèches into quality early childhood centres. There is a need for more of these interventions, judging from the positive response received from participants and their turning up in numbers. Thumbs up to the C2A team for a sterling job in organising the programme. Keep the good work up.”

Fhatuwane Makahane (Department of Counselling)

“The Tafelkop workshop was unique and one of a kind considering the number of people who attended. There was a mixture of different groups, from those who have started their own businesses, and those who want to further their studies. It kept the participants interested on what was being offered. The interesting part is that despite the large number of participants which could have made it very difficult to present to them, they still kept focused without disturbing the programme. This shows that communities are willing to respectively listen and actively participate.

“The facilitation created an opportunity for the participants to voice their thoughts and experiences. The mutual and reciprocal learning environment enabled the participants to take ownership of the workshop. Even before the end of the workshop, participants were requesting the same workshop to be repeated in the next term. Working together with the community was a good experience and eye opener. I have worked in different communities but the uniqueness of each community makes it a very interesting experience. Moving forward, I think we need to collaborate with local municipalities so that they may come up with strategies to help their communities.”

Feedback from participants in their own words

“C2A has provided a chance for our community members to develop their skills in seeking employment. This programme has been very helpful because the unemployment in our community is very high.”

–Lehlohonolo Dhlamini

“Attending the C2A workshops such as effective communication skills has provided me with critical information on how to become an effective communicator in my family and at work. This workshop was changed my mind and challenged me to work harder on my communication skills.”

–Emmanuel Nkosiphile

“Thank you so much for giving us the chance to learn. I was blind when coming to internet and social media. I thought Facebook was for the young but now I have learned that I can also use the internet and social media to learn more at my age.”

–Nngwanathole Mokaba

“I thank the Unisa facilitators for coming to our community and sharing their knowledge with us. I have learned and gain insights from facilitators. I will apply and share the knowledge gained with my family and community.”

–Valentine Ramashu

The enhancing your employability workshop was co-facilitated by Sadika Ismail and Maryam Moosa from the Department of Human Resource Management.

What the Unisans had to say

Unisa academics who served as new facilitators also shared their learning experience as they interacted with the community:

- Maryam Moosa

“I was despondent on the very first morning of the Bramfischerville programme due to the sudden change in weather. However, my heart warmed at the sight of at least 120 people who braved the cold and rain to attend the programme. I was humbled by the fact that so many people placed this much emphasis on education and I was happy to be a part of something like this.

“The two-day workshop which I co-facilitated was a success in my eyes. The community responded well and interacted brilliantly with us. We learned so much from them. One of the main reflections from my experience is that we should not take anything for granted when facilitating—always explain everything that is in the presentation and gear presentations specifically towards the target audience.

“Some of the concepts we spoke about were alien to the community, especially the online environment. I feel that this programme has better prepared me for any future programmes that I may facilitate as part of the chance to advance programme.”

-Sadika Ismail

“I was in awe of the people who had availed themselves for the workshops we facilitated. I have learnt so much from them in terms of needs, opportunities, challenges and privilege. We often take for granted what we have and assume that everyone has the same, but this first initiative was really an eye-opener. Together with my co-facilitator, we have discussed re-designing the workshop material to tailor it to the users in the communities.

“I loved every minute of the workshop as it was a humbling and rewarding experience to work with people who are so eager and willing to learn. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to work with the C2A programme. We hope to be included in more events of this nature.”

Feedback from participants in their own words

“I’ve come from the community of Noordgesig, Soweto, to attend this programme; what a well-worth-it investment. Knowledge is indeed power; thank you for making it accessible and for empowering us with it. I look forward to the programme visiting our community to enrich the lives of the hopeless.”

–Stella Malgas

“I have learnt so much and am going to apply the information gained, I think these workshops offered have the ability to empower and help sustain NPOs, NGOs and small businesses. The facilitators know their subjects very well. Keep supporting the community at large; it is indeed making an impact.”

–Leah Nkabinde

“What a wonderful experience, I will go out there and empower the people as much as I can. ‘If you feed a man a fish, he will only eat for a day, but if you teach him how to fish he will feed his family every day.’ Please continue to empower and make more learning opportunities available.”

–Wendy Klassen

“This is a great initiative that will help South Africans to deal with socio-economic factors that affect their lives. Thank you for affording us the opportunity to obtain valuable information.”

–Prudence Sithole