It was a chilly winter's morning and we were anxiously waiting for the girls, since we were hosting girls from different schools in and around Pretoria in support of the Cell C initiative; “take a girl child to work” day.
About 80 girls arrived for the event and they were allocated to different companies within The Innovation Hub. We at the CoachLab were responsible for the girls from Tebogwana High School, in the North-Western suburb of Ga-Rankuwa. What a pleasure it was to be in the presence of such young, yet intelligent, beautiful and articulate girls.
We started the day off by explaining to them what it was that we did at CoachLab and what it took to make it to that point. They all seemed very interested and excited about being ambassadors for this great programme one day. Enough had been said about us, this was, after all, their special day. From general practitioners to veterinarians, the girls had a range of careers in mind; this was indeed very inspiring.
This was a very interesting group of girls to share our time with, as they were very inquisitive and kept on asking endless questions in order to better prepare themselves for life after grade 12, and perhaps even more important, life in the workplace. Time seemed to have been flying, because before we knew it, it was time for lunch.
Off we went to the Europa restaurant, our resident restaurant. The girls were treated to a delicious hamburger and chips, with a cold drink of their choice. Unfortunately for us, we were not catered for; you should have seen the disappointment on my face.
After lunch we went back to the office and decided to give the girls a chance to tell us a bit more about themselves outside of their school environment. It turns out they were normal girls, faced with the same challenges that affected the rest of the girls in our country. It was comforting though, to come across a group of girls who chose to rise above all these obstacles and equip themselves with knowledge in order to better their lives and make the most of the opportunities presented to them.
It was indeed a great honour to spend the day with these young minds. Thank you Cell C, The Innovation Hub and all other stakeholders for making this day possible. We will be looking forward to hosting another group of girls next year.
Author: Kagiso Hlabahlaba, CoachLab
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