My Youth to Work Story: Chansa Beauty Chiwele
Youth to Work is the flagship employability programme within Futuremakers by Standard Chartered, the Bank’s global initiative to tackle inequality and promote greater economic inclusion for young people in local communities. The programme is funded by the Standard Chartered Foundation (SCF) and delivered by Challenges Worldwide to support young professionals to become catalysts for positive change in business and communities across Zambia, Uganda and Ghana. The objective of the Youth to Work programme is to position and equip young people with skills and opportunities to create economic and employment changes across the economy for sustainable and measurable impact.
The programme sought to recruit 45 unemployed young and enthusiastic professionals between the ages of 22–30 and 22–35 for young people with disabilities (PWDS), not only seeking employment opportunities but also to learn new business and consultancy skills and apply them in a real business environment as Junior associates. The Junior Associates (JAs) were trained in key accredited business consultancy and employability skills and placed in different small and growing businesses (SGBs) across different sectors in Lusaka, Zambia to provide on-site business development, growth, and resilience support co-created with the enterprise top management. In addition, young people were equipped with key skills for employment and/or entrepreneurship that will be used to support the wider ecosystem, other young people, and their communities.
Here we follow the story of Chansa Beauty Chiwele, a Junior Associate from Zambia who in her own words tells the story of how being a part of the Standard Chartered Foundation funded Youth to Work programme Zambia has impacted her life and helped her grow both personally and professionally.
My names are Chansa Beauty Chiwele and I am a recent graduate from the University of Zambia where I pursued a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with Economics. Currently, I am studying for my Master’s degree in Business Administration -Finance and I am also a Junior Associate on the Futuremakers Youth to Work Programme by the Standard Chartered Foundation and the Challenges Group Zambia. I come from a family of 3 and I live in Lusaka. I enjoy reading, writing and doing charity work, also I own a business with my sister called Wayemba Zambia where we make organic hair and skin care products.
Before graduating last year, I was able to do my internship with a bank in Zambia for three months and I learnt a lot during the three months I spent there. However, the challenge I have faced with regards to employment is the lack of experience as I have found that most employers rarely look at the potential a person has and only focus on the experience they have because oftentimes this saves the employer a lot of money with regards to training. I became involved in the Youth to work Programme because unlike other programmes this one involves the imparting of skills and capacity building for young people on the programme. It forces me to constantly think outside the box, meet my deliverables on time and manage my expectations with regards to exactly what is expected of me in both the workplace and even in running my own business. It also gives me a platform to network with not only other young people from vast backgrounds but also business owners and professionals from whom I learn valuable lessons through their experiences.
While on the programme, I have learnt to believe in myself and my abilities, also I am more confident when it comes to presenting myself in front of others. It has also encouraged me in that most times as young people we mostly look at getting employed. However, we must also start looking at becoming employers ourselves and creating businesses that not only bring positive social impact but also enable us to become active citizens in our various communities. I enjoy interacting with other young people and our supervisors on the programme, also I enjoy the Chartered Management Institute Trainings the programme offers and I am looking forward to getting my first CMI qualification.
My dreams for the future are to be financially independent, be employed and run my own successful business. Right now, I have a page on Facebook where we focus mainly on giving awareness on disabilities especially Hydrocephalus and Spina bifida. Five years from now I would like this to grow and become an organisation where we can reach out to more people. This programme will help me by creating a platform where I can network with other young people and be mentored by the many supervisors we have on the programme and I believe that using the skills I have learnt so far, I can get employed, run my business with better insight and become financially independent.
While on the programme I was placed as a Junior Associate at the Hydrotherapy Center where I have been carrying out a business analysis on the enterprise and very soon I will be helping them in the implementation of some of the recommendations given. Being at the Hydrotherapy Center feels amazing because I get to learn so much from the enterprise owner and the staff. My late older brother was disabled too so being here really makes me happy and makes me feel closer to him even though he’s not here anymore. I get to learn various virtues such as patience and resilience and the best part is while learning, I also get to do what I love, which is giving awareness on disability. The highlight for me while being in the enterprise has been seeing a client leave in a better condition compared to how they came, for me this makes my heart full every time.
One of my personal goals at the beginning of the programme was to improve on my financial management skills especially with regards to budgeting. I feel I have learnt to manage my money better because I have been able to manage the stipend given effectively, also my networking skills have improved and I have made so many friends. I have learnt how to better present myself in CV writing, Interviews and presentations which I know will play a great role in me landing my next job.
Being on the programme, I have had to mainly overcome myself funny enough, because most times I feel I am my own greatest enemy in that I tend to be extremely hard on myself especially when I fail. On this programme I have learnt that I cannot control everything, it is okay to fail because from that you grow and most importantly I am not alone and asking for help from my supervisors and friends is okay because to grow and thrive one must always be willing to learn from others. One of the things that have helped me improve is the patience and commitment given to us by our supervisors, I feel that even in times I have felt scared and unsure I always remember that I have their support. They are always there for us and take the time to listen to us whenever we ask. For that, I am grateful.
Some of the entrepreneurial skills I have learnt on the programme so far include; Networking skills which I have gained by interacting with my fellow JAs, our supervisors, enterprise owners and staff at the enterprise. I have also learnt Teamwork and Leadership skills, in this process I have come to realize that one can only reach so far alone, we all need the people around us to succeed. Also, I have learnt communication and listening skills because to get information from the enterprise these were skills I had to make use of. The enterprise has taught me Customer service skills which I also use in my own business and finally the programme has taught me Time Management and Planning skills which I feel are important in both my personal and professional life.
These are just some of them however, there are so many that I have learnt, writing them all might be too much.
