A story of exponential growth: WomEng and Mnara join forces with IAWA
When IAWA first began the mission was simple, to show young people that with the right tools they could do anything. We had hopes that the work we were doing way back when, would lead to the type of people that would go into communities and plant the same seeds. In a sense that those we taught to fish would some day teach others.
Enter the Mnara Foundation, created by Makansela Rethabile Milisi, an IAWA alumni from the first cohort. An ambassador so impacted and empowered that she knew she had to spread this to other people. The Mnara foundation’s main objective is to enable youth to shift the paradigm from job seeker to job creator.
This foundation is an ambitious project that wants to position youth to solve societal issues through its three pillars STEM, art and personal development. It’s a newly minted passion which she hopes will enable young people to see the opportunities in the unemployment rate, wage gaps and entrepreneurship. We could not be prouder of her foundation and it fills us with great joy to be able to partner with through this journey she has started.
During the October youth camps of IAWA we help space for her to host her first ever workshop! In partnership with WomEng and Royal Impact the Mnara foundation created a day for women in various fields of Mining and STEM to come and speak to our ambassadors and students from her own old high school. Aiming to raise awareness about the different stem future available to women and to speak about the unique challenges as people from the community or similar backgrounds it had a stellar energy and engaged the young people on their terms. As Mnara’s launching event was a smashing success and we can't wait to see what else Milisi has to offer!
It was a day of glowing pride seeing an alumni shine and share her light with others. It was incredible to hear her speak and command the energy in the room from the teen she was so many years ago to the alumni and powerhouse she is sure to grow to be. Our Founder and youth facilitators showed their full support and confidence in her abilities and we hope this is the first of many joint successes. Through ambassadors like Milisi, we are assured that our mission will yield as we hoped.
Even our cohort had only wonderful things to say about this event:
“I really liked how WomEng organization motivated and encouraged us on Mining Engineering and how women has power to do all kinds of engineering. I really enjoyed the camps we had this time.” -Sibongile Mabuela, IAWA Ambassador.
Event partners such as Royal Impact seemed to glow with pride and the opportunity to have direct contact with young people and speak about their bursary scheme and expressed an interest in ensuring that the work of young people such as Milisi continues on.
When asked about how Milisi felt her first event was, she expressed how happy she was to see young people enjoying the activities and engaging with speakers. And that her highlight was seeing everyone happy cause that made her happy too. Witnessing this event only bring back those words said by the ambassadors when they gifted Meisha Lerato a watch:
“IAWA’s mission will be fulfilled within your lifetime” and a year later, here we are. Supporting the launch of a program by one of our alumni.
To find out more about how you can support our programs and the dreams of our young people, be sure to leave any questions down below or even better, show Milisi some love! Leave a comment below.
