Day: Monday, December 8, 2014

Backstory

Today is the day when the mentors take the lead and teach what they learned in the past two mentor meetings to the other vendors. They had agreed on a plan the previous mentor meeting and defined their own roles and tasks. Fikiswa and Xolani planned to lead the worksheet activity, which would involve gathering information from vendors that would be used in creating the vendors’ online profiles. This would be the first time this worksheet idea would be piloted to see if usable content could be gathered from vendors with the help of a mentor. Lavista and Themba planned to lead a training session on how to use a camera. They would also be teaching vendors how to take profile pictures that could eventually be used on the website profile page. These two activities are the beginnings of the pilot program we hope will continue at The Big Issue once we leave. This pilot program encourages vendors to be the leaders in gathering content for their own profiles, as opposed to third parties gathering the content for them.

Cast of Characters

• Xolani– Big Issue Vendor Mentor
• Fikiswa– Big Issue Vendor Mentor
• Lavista– Big Issue Vendor Mentor
• Nosiphiwo– Big Issue Vendors
• Zuliwe– Big Issue Vendors
• Zukiswa– Big Issue Vendors
• Nolusapho– Big Issue Vendors
• No-Senior– Big Issue Vendors
• Leslie– Big Issue Vendors
• Jakoef– Big Issue Vendors

Setting

Big Issue South Africa offices conference room

Scene

Today was an exciting day for us and our mentors. It was a chance for the mentors to work together and take charge leading the activities. We had confidence in our mentors, because the planning at the last mentor meeting went extremely well. Our plan was to stay back and let the mentors run the meeting. This was the test to see if all of our time, planning, and hard work with the mentors would pay off.

We asked our mentors to arrive about a half an hour early for this meeting to help set up for the day and to go over the plan again. At about fifteen minutes before the hour, Xolani came running in apologizing profusely for being late. He informed us that Fikiswa called him and was on her way. Other vendors began trickling in one at a time and helped themselves to some coffee and chatted as they waited for other vendors to arrive. Five minutes before the hour, Fikiswa came running up the stairs in a similar fashion as Xolani. At this point only about half the vendors had arrived, so we decided to wait a little longer to see if more people would show up. And we were still waiting for two of our mentors. A few minutes after 9:00am Lavista came strolling in but did not seem very concerned that he was late. This was disappointing because we were unsure if he was taking his role as a mentor seriously. We were still waiting for Themba by the time all the other vendors had arrived. Ari had gone down with Nicky to try and contact him several times with no answer. So unfortunately we had to start the meeting without Themba.

Fikiswa jumped into the main mentor role by clearly outlining what the vendors would be doing throughout the day. She explained the worksheet activity, the picture taking activity, and the photo analysis activity in great detail before she began splitting up which vendors went when. She decided that it would be best to have the two English speaking vendors, Jakoef and Leslie, complete the worksheet activity first since it would be easy to explain it to them and also so that they would not be held back by the ladies who speak mainly Xhosa. Fikiswa was extremely considerate when thinking about Leslie and Jakoef because it is challenging being the minority in the group. Leslie was able to answer the questions on the sheet and fill in his name and vendor information without much help from Fikiswa or Xolani. However, Jakoef needed more help with writing his information down and understanding the questions enough to give detailed answers. Through past interviews and speaking with Jakoef we learned that he is a bit more reserved. We could see that Fikiswa was facing this challenge when he was answering questions. He would start by giving one word answers and not explaining them in detail. But Fikiswa didn’t give up and would ask a different question to prompt more information out of him, which worked very well. Afterwards Fikiswa and Xolani talked to us about how this first effort at mentoring was such a learning experience. They both did not know Jakoef as well and learning about how he used to be a criminal until The Big Issue helped him grow out of that was very inspiring for them.

Jakoef And Leslie Filling Out Their Worksheets

While Fikiswa and Xolani were in the other room with Leslie and Jakoef, Lavista worked with Nosiphiwo, Zuliwe, Nolusapho, and No-Senior on learning how to use a camera. We told Lavista that if he needed help to let us know because Themba was supposed to be working with him as well. However, he dived right in and made an organized system for teaching the women how to use the camera. It was a bit impersonal, but each one had the opportunity to learn how to use the camera and then teach it back to Lavista. He would address each by “lady number 1…lady number 2”. When it came time for the women to take profile pictures of each other, it was interesting to watch because Lavista would help them by holding the camera up to his height and saying this is where you take the picture from. When the women would try to pull it down so it was their height he would tell them to bring it back up high. Other than that we were impressed with how Lavista took responsibility when teaching the women and they all seemed to understand rather well.

Lavista Teaching Nosiphiwo How To Use The Camera

A problem we ran into was time. Because of the way the mentors had split the vendors, some groups were done faster than others. Leslie and Jakoef finished their worksheets rather early and were waiting for the women to finish learning the cameras. This also happened when the groups switched and the ladies went to work on the worksheets. Leslie and Jakoef were able to pick up the cameras rather quickly, causing the activity to take much less time. Fikiswa and Xolani had 5 women at this point because Zukiswa had shown up late and went into the room where they were doing the worksheets. At this point we needed to step in so that Leslie and Jakoef were still being productive while waiting for the photo analysis activity. We asked them if they wanted to take pictures of the worksheet activity happening in the other room or other pictures around The Big Issue. They were thrilled to do it and further advanced their skills just by practicing.

Jakoef And Leslie Working Together To Use The Camera

Xolani stepped up when he worked with the women on the worksheet activity. Fikiswa had to write answers down for a lot of the women so she was a bit preoccupied. Xolani explained every question in great detail for the group; discussing why each question was asked and why it was important to be as honest as possible in their responses. He is a great inspirer and the women take everything he says to heart. Fikiswa helped a lot with explaining but because she had to write a lot of the women’s responses she let Xolani take the lead.

Fikiswa And Xolani Explaning The Worksheets To The Women

After the activities finished both groups reconvened in the conference room for the photo analysis activity. Fikiswa explained this activity by saying that there is a “story behind each and every picture you take” so she wanted them to explain the story behind the photo. She had each vendor analyse a separate photo so that each person would have a chance to speak or would have to speak. Everyone understood well what Fikiswa wanted from them. Jakoef needed a bit more help and at one point Fikiswa jokingly yelled at him saying “Jakoef, explain!” The day’s activities exceeded all our expectations and we left that day feeling as if we had accomplished our project.

Fikiswa Runs The Photo Analysis Activity

Reflections

Ari: I was extremely hopeful as I walked into the Big Issue today. I knew that the mentors would shine if they arrived. I was just hoping that they would remember to come in early. When Fikiswa, Lavista and Xolani all got there on time I was beyond pleased! I was just so happy that they had the commitment to the project that they needed! Unfortunately Themba was sick and couldn’t be there but luckily everything went according to plan after that! I was so happy with how the day went! Especially when Fikiswa stepped up to the plate and really took over her role. At one point she even scolded a lady who went on her phone, telling her that she needed to put the phone away and participate in the activity. I was so proud of her! She has blossomed into an amazing mentor who will do great things with The Big Issue!

Gianna: I am extremely happy with how today went! I am so proud of how our mentors worked together and were able to complete the activities. I am disappointed that Themba did not show up, but Lavista really stepped up to the plate and did a great job showing people how to use cameras. I think he even had a little fun too. I can really see Fikiswa and Xolani making a great team and continuing the mentor program after we leave. The have great drive and they have so many ideas of how they can continue the program. We learned that the worksheets are a good way to get basic information. It is fairly easy and the mentors can help multiple vendors complete theirs.  It is also plausible for the mentors to teach other vendors how to use a camera and help them caption the photos. It will be very helpful to have vendors trained to help gather content so the Big Issue staff will not have to hire someone to completely do it.

Nadjia: I could not have asked for a more perfect day, other than for Themba to be there. But the mentors blew all my expectations out of the water. At first I was a bit unsure of how the day would go, but Fikiswa had told me before that we shouldn’t worry because everything would go fine; and she was right. They took charge of the meeting and were able to get the attention of all the vendors and keep their attention. All the goals we wanted accomplished from that day were reached. What I was most surprised about was how organized and well the day went. Fikiswa knew what she wanted and knew exactly how she was going to get it. We would try to offer suggestions and she would come right back with well I think we should do it this way, and we let her go because in the future we will not be there to offer advice. I was so happy with the day went and it showed that our project could be sustainable with the help of these mentors. But mostly Fikiswa, she has truly been a shining star through this whole experience and I hope that The Big Issue helps her realize her potential and that she grows even more into the head mentor role.

 Continue to Scene 6. Vendors Have Their Voices Heard