Weaving Inspired Exchange

On Tuesday October 4, we put our tag line Weaving Inspired Exchange into action, as we held our first Partner Development Workshop. The workshop was part of our Partner Exchange Network programme, which brings together NGOs across sectors to exchange skills, resources and services with the aim of multiplying the available resources in the sector.

Representatives from 15 NGOs working in Cape Town attended the workshop, to learn more about how they could exchange with one another. It was an exciting day, as the participants came to realise the power of exchange and the potential it has to change the way NGOs work.

We started the workshop by asking everyone to close their eyes and draw an item out of a black bag on the floor and put it on. Peals of laughter filled the room as people donned Mickey Mouse ears, fairy wings, crazy hats and colourful zany wigs. Each person was wearing something silly or funny that naturally brought out the little child in all of us. We asked the circle to reflect on and share their thoughts on the wisdom of a two-year-old. People spoke about their energy and enthusiasm for life, the openness with which two-year-olds approach life and also their attitude that anything is possible. As we reflected on this, we asked everyone to approach the idea of exchange and partnerships with the spirit of a two-year-old. It was wonderful to see how the joy and laughter of a two-year-old opened everyone up and changed the atmosphere in the room.

The idea of exchange is based on giving and receiving. We introduced the idea of exchange by asking each person to reflect on what they bring to the world: to their families, friends and to their work. Each person traced their hands on a piece of paper, and inside them wrote all the things they bring. Then, outside their hands, they wrote the things that their organisations could offer to other partners in the network. Each potential exchange starts with the individual, it starts with them asking the question, What can I bring? By drawing the handmaps, participants started with themselves and then moved out to their organisation.
We shared the handmaps in the circle, starting with each person saying "I bring...." and completing the sentence. A beautiful silence filled the room, as each person willing shared their gifts: listening, openness, compassion, hope.

Next, people shared the skills, resources and services that their organisation could offer to other organisations in the network. As we moved around the circle, Nicole noticed that the potential of the network had not fully clicked in yet. She asked us to go around the circle one more time, and have people name one or two things their organisation needs. The first person said, "We need funding." With a few simple questions from Nicole, the representative named sports equipment and outings for their youth programme as a need. It became clear to everyone that while we all need money to run our programmes, there are different ways to find the equipment, skills and resources such as venues and outings that we need for our programmes. And as we continued going around the circle, faces lit up as people made connections between the needs being named and the skills and resources they had which could fulfill those needs.

The room was abuzz with ideas, excitement and chatter as we paired people off for "Speed Exchange Dating". Each pair had five minutes to talk about their organisation's work, explore potential exchanges and swap contact details. It was almost heart-breaking to tear people apart after five minutes. It was evident that people were making strong connections and finding concrete ways of supporting each other's programmes. Exchange can be as simple as offering a box of paper lying in your storeroom that you no longer have use for, to an organisation that needs it. It could also be as big as offering staff training to another organisation, in creative facilitation methods, for an outing for your youth programme.
After 40 minutes of Speed Exchange Dating, we called everyone back to the circle to explain how the structure and functioning of the Partner Exchange Network. The speed dating provided a taster and people were encouraged to continue their conversations over lunch, and to set up meetings to further explore their ideas. Already we have received an email from one organisation who is sharing best practice models for youth development, with another organisation as a result of the workshop.

In the closing circle, people said they felt 'inspired', 'enthusiastic' and 'hopeful' about the possibilities going forward. Thank you to our NGO partners who attended the workshop: AfriOceans Conservation Alliance, Artscape Resource Centre, Cape Leopard Trust, Catholic Welfare and Development, Driftsands CapeNature, Tulbagh CapeNature, De Hoop Cape Nature, Earthchild Project, Educo Africa, Extra-Mural Education Project, James House, Mamelani Projects, Medical Knowledge Institute, Novalis Ubuntu Institute, SANParks: Table Mountain National Park. For more information about our Partner Exchange Network visit our website or email yesiamsomebody@gmail.com



Photos: Kent Lingeveldt

Thank You's
We'd like to thank the following people whose generosity made the workshop possible:

• Empire Cafe in Muizenberg for donating the soup for lunch
• Knead Bakery Wembley Square for donating the bread for lunch
• Driftsands CapeNature Reserve for the venue
• Photographer Kent Lingeveldt for documenting the workshop
• Filmmaker Nadine Cloete for recording the workshop and doing a short documentary about it

Soiree Series partners with 100Thousand Poets for Change

"Every voice has a tune. Every heart has a beat. And the world is large enough to hold all of us side by side drumming in unison and in cacophony. But what happens in the silence? What happens in the moments when the music of daily living dies down? When we lay down our instruments of questioning, building, fighting, creating, arguing, learning, debating and developing? Do we like what rings out from us in the silence…or do we run away from it?" says Toni Stuart in an article published in the Cape Times today. The article talks about our Soirees and about I Am Somebody!

As part of the 100 Poets for Change global event taking place on Saturday September 24, I Am Somebody! hosts its next soiree entitled The Change Within, featuring poet Toni Stuart.This will be our last soiree in South Africa this year, before heading to the USA in October.

I Am Somebody! on The Taxi with Soli Philander

On Tuesday September 20th, from 1pm -2pm, radio host Soli Philander will talk to I Am Somebody! co-directors Nicole le Roux and Toni Stuart about the work our organisation does, on The Taxi online radio station. To listen, tune in to the The Taxi, by visiting http://thetaxi.co.za/, and click "Listen Live".
You can also follow The Taxi on Facebook

A really big secret

Read Nicole's third blog post as part of our new program, Talking About It, where she begins to tell her story about being white:

“One day, a short blond haired blue eyed rebellious sometimes right sometimes wrong Afrikaans girl discovered a really big secret at the bottom of a dark dark pile of shit." 

Talking About It

Talking About It is a space by and for white people, in partnership with people of all backgrounds, to tell their stories with the aim of owning and transforming oppression from within. It creates spaces to explore the many stories, including the privileges and challenges, of being white in the 21^st century.

Through this program Nicole le Roux is telling her story and making a space to own all of the parts of herself, including her role in oppression. She is sharing it with people who want to hear it, and creating spaces where more people can begin to transform their silences by “Talking About It”.

Having lived in both countries, Nicole has experienced silence in similar and different ways in America and in South Africa. Talking About It will be officially launched in the USA this November but the conversations will happen online and in workshop spaces in both countries. 

In her second post put up today, Nicole asks:
Do we think that, if people knew the hard things about us they would no longer remember the good? Or is it that when we look at the hard things in ourselves, we forget to look at the good?

Visit the blog to read more. 

Peninsula Hotel Mentorship Programme

 On Thursday July 7, we completed our nine-month mentorship programme at the Peninsula All Suite Hotel in Sea Point, with seven of their staff. We were so moved on the final day when the participants reflected on how far they had come and how much they had grown during our nine months working with them.

The aim of the programme was to help participants to reclaim power in their lives through identifying what they wanted in their working and personal lives. Through monthly group and individual sessions, we worked with goal setting, communication skills and trust building. 

There were very challenging moments during these nine months where participants really looked at their relationships with themselves and one another.  We were amazed at how they took on what we shared with them and made it their own.

The group sessions focused on developing listening skills, looking at assumptions, how to respond versus react, working with triggers and building trust. It was amazing to watch the group as they grew over the nine months. By working with their own assumptions, they became more open and understanding towards their colleagues, family and friends. The group particularly drew a lot from the session on learning about responding and reacting. Almost all of the members came back the following month and related a story of how they chose to handle conflict differently. In choosing to respond and to actually listen to the other person, they found they felt more power in situations of conflict. By taking a step back instead of simply reacting, one participant was able to hear the other person’s side of the story. As a result he developed a relationship with one of his colleagues, with whom he did not get along with before.

The programme also supported the participants when they came up against challenges in achieving their goals. By identifying why something was a challenge and then how to deal with it, participants were able to find solutions to their own problems and develop tools within themselves to face challenges on their own.

Self-confidence and the ability to speak and be heard were two of the things that participants said they gained. 

One participant began the programme off with many goals for other people. This she must do because her mother wants her to, this she must do because it is the right thing to do, etc. We asked her a difficult question - Can you do something for you every day? - and we challenged her to think about why she doesn't have any goals for herself. Of course she never completed all of the goals she had made for everyone else, but as the months went on she began to explore who she was. Through hair styles and religion, relationships and work, she explored and stood up for herself. She started to use her silence as a tool, choosing to speak and creating clear boundaries. She literally glowed, and went from coming to work late and being completely unmotivated to getting a phenomenal job offer. This young woman inspired us with the way she took her own life into her hands and decided she deserved happiness.

Two participants, who were partnered together in our individual/partner sessions, became mirrors of growth for each other. One of the participants initially struggled to be open with people at work, and by the end of the nine months she and her partner swore they could tell each other anything and that they were helping each other become who they want to be. Toni and I watched them form the kind of bond we have with each other, where we can say the hard things and be there to celebrate the good.

Another participant regained a sense of personal power in his life, through working with choice. He saw how in each situation – whether good or bad – he has a choice. He didn't initially feel that listening is important, and he talked about power as something over other people. But by becoming aware of his choices, he developed a different relationship to the power within him and how he can use that power. By the last session, he was naming one of his qualities as caring about other people. He was able to see that he does in fact know what he needs and how to take care of his needs. His goals shifted from being general and small to involving major steps in his job and relationships. He took ownership of his goals and was certain that there would be a way of achieving them. 

Each person in the group feels that they have a stronger sense of self as a result of the programme. They all feel more energised and motivated to work towards their goals and have the support now to do so.

*Thank you to General Manager, Chris Godenir for inviting us to work with his staff. It was a wonderful experience working with you all.

Exchange in action!

After arriving at the Driftsands Cape Nature Reserve at 8am on Youth Day this Thursday morning, Toni Stuart said to me, "I've always worked public holidays, but for once I got up this morning and thought - everything I am doing today I really love!" We had a good laugh about being allowed to paint on a wall as part of our job... But what we did paint holds so much meaning to us and to people who read it.


With the help of participants, we painted the name of our organisation, a phrase which says a lot in and of itself, "I Am Somebody!" followed with a concept of our work, "in relationship to the environment."  Every person who walks into this room is going to see and think about the fact that they are somebody. Proof of the impact of this phrase, Cape Nature facilitators spoke to the eighty participants at their event about how they matter and what they want to do with their lives is important. It has been so moving to hear how people resonate personally, and create meaning from the name of our organisation.

After many partnership meetings, it was inspiring to see the first immediate impact of our exchange with Cape Nature. A group of about thirty young adults joined us out of the larger event to make their mark on the wall. They partnered up and traced one another's hands before painting the outline in their favorite colour.


Then, they answered three questions using metaphor:
1. What do you love about yourself?
2. What do you love about the environment?
3. What do you want to learn more about the environment?

We normally encourage participants to let go of outcome when they paint a hand map, but these young adults, male and female, were intent on making their mark on the wall beautiful. Instead of being worried about how it would look, they were proud of what they were making. Many of them took pictures of one another in front of their hand maps with their cell phones.

Once the wall had been painted on, a few of the seniors who were enjoying the larger event asked that we add a few things they wanted to see, such as drawings of the chickens and horses that the reserve had on their property. A member of a church in Mitchell's Plain asked if we were open to working with them as well because they had spaces in their buildings that they wanted to create on. 





Thank you to Driftsands Reserve for the amazing event they organized and for their partnership with our organisation. Thank you also to the participants for their insight and creativity. It was a great day!

This post was written by Nicole le Roux, co-director of I Am Somebody!