Last week, several Social Employment Fund participants of Awarenet were interviewed to share their experiences working in the SEF programme.
This part is about Lindokuhle Maraba’s story and the impact the Social Employment Fund had on her life:
While being a learner in high school, Lindokuhle Maraba was actively involved in NGO work. During her high school years, she and a friend also started a community initiative called “Global Levels”. Through the initiative Lindokuhle was helping schools in Soweto with basic infrastructure and hosted learning workshops for children to enhance literacy and revision of school content for learners. She also hosted reading activities with the learners in the local park.
After high school, she joined the organisation ‘’AIESEC” which fosters leadership in youth through cross cultural exchange programmes. She was introduced to SEF when she attended a conference of The Learning Trust in Johannesburg early this year. At the conference she was inspired by a story of a SEF participant who was able to volunteer as well as start her own business while in the programme. This story Lindokuhle found very interesting and inspiring as she is following similar goals – she therefore decided to join the programme.
During her time at SEF she has acquired several important skills such as multitasking, teamwork and the ability to take own initiative. Working with Awarenet, a relatively small organisation, she also learned that it is important to not be tied to a specific role or job title, but rather be a team player who contributes in every part of the organisation where help is needed. Being a SEF Site Supervisor, she has also learned how to apply Microsoft Excel and Google Spreadsheet to analyse data – something which came in very handy for her post graduate diploma in taxation research which she is pursuing simultaneously with the participation in the SEF programme. Her newly acquired skill-set made her reflect more on the NGO sector and the positive impact it has on the community.
The time at SEF has helped her to get a deeper connection to the Makhanda community where she moved earlier this year. Her public speaking confidence has also improved a lot – making it easier for her to make friends and form connections. Furthermore, Lindokuhle feels she is “actually part of a bigger thing”. She feels she is making this community and country better, an ongoing effort she always dreamed to be part of.