Our project ended up having a much bigger impact on the The Big Issue than we could have ever anticipated. Trudy Vlok, the managing director, mentioned that she was skeptical of how this project would turn out because through her experience with vendors she knew how difficult it could be to implement new programs. Now she sees how much the vendors have blossomed by being involved in the development of The Big Issue’s online marketplace. To express our thanks, we created a video summarizing our amazing experiences with the vendors. We gave each vendor a disc with the video to remind them what an enormous impact they had on our project. This summary video is shared below.

Also, on our last day we asked the vendors to share their experiences of working with us on this project by filming self-reflections. We wanted them to take a moment and think back to the very start of the project and the progression they had made. They all had wonderful things to say about us and the growth they’ve made throughout this journey.

Below is the vendor mentor group’s reflection video. Thank you Themba, Lavista, Fikiswa, and Xolani for your hard work and dedication!

Some thoughts by the Big Issue Vendor of the Month group are shared in the video below. A special thanks to Fikiswa for providing brief translations. Thank you to our amazing vendor group for all the work they put into this project!