 |
| Xoli Fuyani of Earth Child taught morning yoga classes |
Our greatest resource is people. Together, I Am Somebody! and Educo Africa's vision for our recent
weekend workshop was to
support the sustainability of the people within different organizations
through room for personal reflection, wilderness reconnection and rest,
and to develop deeper partnerships among those organisations using the
concept of networking and exchange.
The Personal Sustainability Weekend, held July 20 - 22, was an idea that surfaced at
our Environmental Partners networking meeting last year. Alex Eppel of
Educo Africa felt strongly that the sustainability of an organisation
starts
with the people doing the work. We resonated with his belief and
realized that although it was incorporated into our work before, we had
never directly addressed it with our partners. I Am Somebody! and Educo
Africa
collaborated to develop and implement the first of our
personal sustainability weekends for individuals working in non-profit
organisations. The amount of interest for this programme was
significant, it was clear to us that the issue of personal
sustainability was very relevant to many people in the non profit
sector.
 |
Walking to do a solo in our beautiful natural surrounds |
The weekend was centered around a question that was drawn from the incredible work of Organization Unbound (
www.organizationunbound.org).
The question was: When did you last receive the gift that you so
regularly give to others? To work with this question participants had
the chance to do a solo activity and tell the story of their solo, but
they also had the opportunity to contribute their own answers, tools or
solutions to the group.
The
value of the weekend was ultimately created by the incredible wealth of
passion, resources and skills within the group. It was inspiring to
witness the way each person brought themselves to the weekend. It was also
incredibly moving to reconnect with how much we do receive in our own
lives from working within our communities and with the environment.
 |
| Sylvester making potjie |
 |
| Participants Nolubablo (far left) and Zimkhitha (bottom right) |
I Am Somebody! also saw this as an
opportunity to support
young adults in our Rites of Passage programme. We invited four of
the participants in our Rites of Passage programme to attend the weekend
and share the work they do and aspire to doing. For
Sylvester, whose dream it is to open a restaurant, it was an
opportunity to make potjie for a group. For Michael it was a chance
to be witnessed for his work teaching surfing to kids, and to speak into
what step he wants to take in the Rites of Passage programme. For
Nolubabalo and Zimkhitha it was a chance to facilitate and share the
work they are doing with youth through their organization at UWC. The
four participants brought their passion, their dreams and an
inter-generational perspective to the larger group, offering as much if
not more than they were receiving. Exchange, we believe, happens across
generations, across experience, across class and across culture.
 |
| Jenny Radloff from APC Women facilitated a vision board actiity |
Finally, one of the most beautiful things to witness this weekend
was the diversity of the group and the wealth of exchange this
diversity made possible. There was inter generational diversity. There
were people from organizations across different non profit sectors, from
environmental to gender and technology to community building and youth
development. There were consultants and artists with backgrounds from
sustainable building to international documentary film. But there was
also diversity in gender, class and culture. Throughout the weekend the
diversity was often mentioned by participants as something to
appreciate. We were reminded this weekend, that working towards an
integrated, resilient and reconciled community can happen simply by
exploring issues that matter to us within diverse groups of people.
We are very grateful to everyone who participated in the weekend
and to Educo Africa for collaborating to make it happen and we're
really looking forward to the next one!!
If you are interested in participating in the next Personal
Sustainability Weekend on November 17-18, 2012 please
RSVP to yesiamsomebody@gmail.com and alex@educo.org.za
Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA – Nicole le
Roux, the co-founder and acting Director of I Am
Somebody!, which uses storytelling and youth development to build
integrated, reconciled and resilient communities,
was among 20 outstanding young leaders from 16 countries honored as 2012 Laureate Global Fellows. The Fellowship is made possible through a partnership between the
Sylvan/Laureate Foundation and the International Youth Foundation through its
YouthActionNet® program.
The Laureate Fellowship is open to young leaders, ages 18 to
29, who have founded or co-founded a social enterprise that has been in
operation for a year or more. Fellows are
selected by a panel of experts representing the public, private, and nonprofit
sectors, along with the previous year’s winners. They benefit
from leadership training, networking, advocacy, and funding opportunities and join
a thriving global network of more than 650 young social entrepreneurs in 70+
countries. 
What you can do: 
What you can do: 
