Al-Qalam 
By Azra Hoosen
The Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa (MYMSA) in collaboration with the Phoenix Care Foundation (PCF) held a two-day intensive skills training workshop in the Phoenix community this week in the hope that it would up-skill struggling matriculants, unemployed individuals and aspiring entrepreneurs through its Project Hope programme.
The workshop was conducted by several experts who introduced the trainees to a cluster of essential skills, ranging from CV writing, interview skills, communication skills, business plan writing to other vocational training. They also taught the participants how to acquire workplace experience and introduced them to different types of possible career opportunities.
In 2018, the Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa (MYMSA) initiated ‘Project Hope’ with the intention of empowering vulnerable people to overcome unemployment challenges in South Africa. This kind of training was requested by the community and activists after they attended the ‘Giving Hope to the Unemployed’ workshop in Phoenix.
“The MYM undertaking is a win-win situation for the community and will enable the community volunteers and activists to empower individuals and families,” said Rashid Chopdat, the Project Manager of the skills workshop.
The two-day event was requested by the Phoenix Care Foundation (PCF) – an organization that has dedicated itself for over two decades to uplifting the Phoenix community.
The workshop was attended by 33 persons who included senior high school teachers, community activists, volunteers, individuals wanting to improve their business, individuals running a business from home, as well as unemployed people.
MYM Administrator, Asif Essop said, “We heard and understood their needs and MYM will indeed present more of these workshops whenever it is needed in association with PCF as we believe it will help the large number of unemployed stand a better chance of applying for jobs or starting a small business from home.”
One of the highlights of the event was a motivational talk by entrepreneur and chemical engineer, Salim Essop, who plans to take forward a project that will help participants to set up local entrepreneurial programmes that could eventually generate income and create jobs.
Participants received training directly from an HR consultant, Kairoon Ghumran, on how to write a solid Curriculum Vitae (CV) and how to prepare for an interview. They also learnt important business, marketing and financial skills from Old Mutual member, Shabnam Bux and an international business consultant, Ahmed Seedat.
Two members from Siyafunda CTC, Sameer Padaychee and Lutfiyyah Patel, enlightened the participants about vital IT skills, careers in the IT field and how to use social media effectively to grow their home-run businesses. Patel took the group through a step-by-step process on how to use WhatsApp for Business purposes.
Attendees were pleased with the training course and looked to the future optimistically.
Interviewed after the workshop, one participant told Al-Qalam: “The information and skills we learnt was extremely helpful and at least I can now prepare a CV that an employer will actually look at.”
Another participant said she was impressed with the way the workshop was conducted: “The quality of the presentations was of a high standard.”
“We came here to improve our home businesses and we do not regret coming at all. Now we have important information to write a proper business plan,” he added.
Founder of the Phoenix Care Foundation (PCF), Haroon Yousuff, was pleased with the outcome of the workshop. “The positive response we heard from the attendees was heart-warming and confirms that we took the right decision to co-host this much-needed skills training in our area,” said Yousuff.
The MYMSA project has successfully given hope to many students and adults, up-skilling them in a way that has given them a better chance of being considered for jobs. This has also boosted the confidence levels of some, motivating them to start businesses and becoming job creators, the coordinators explained.
The MYMSA has committed to arrange several free skills workshops for the youth and adults in the Phoenix township for the next 12 months.
The community workers also plan to look into ways to further uplift the community and hope to tackle the two major problem areas, unemployment and drugs, in the near future.
