During the first 6 months of 2011 we have continued to train small business entrepreneurs – using the Micro MBA course. At the end of May we had much fun at the Mfesane venue in Old Crossroads as we celebrated with those who successfully graduated. Patson and Mali have already started training the second intake of students for the year.
In August Lionel will train a group of about 16 men (between ages 18-25) from the Salesian Institute in Green Point Cape Town. The Institute exists to train young men who were either in prison, have no homes or live on the streets. They offer training such as carpentry, metal work etc. – many of these men won’t find jobs unless they start their own little businesses. So it is perfect for the kind of training we offer. They have two intakes of 30+ every six months – and our hope is therefore to do this training on an ongoing basis twice a year.
We have many plans for 2012 on the table. Apart from equipping people to successfully run their own micro businesses, we now want to expand our training to include preparing individuals to be more ‘marketable’ when seeking to jobs. Our plan is to start basic PC literacy Junior Bookkeeping courses. We have already identified the individual who will offer this training. Malibongwe Nduku graduated from UWC with a BCom Information Systems and will be heading up both courses.
Many organisations offer training in Basic PC skills or in Bookkeeping, but it is simply not affordable for many of the poor. Our ongoing aim is to make our training affordable and therefore offer it for free or at minimal costs/fees. Those who partner with us make this possible.
One day I walked into one of Patson’s training sessions unannounced. The question of “Somalian shopkeepers” was raised. For the next 30 minutes Patson presented his class with a brilliant lecture on tolerance and learning from others, not hating or driving them away. On my way home I thought, maybe they did not learn about stock taking today. But at Themba Training they did hear that God expects us to value and honour fellow humans.
