Strengthening early-stage enterprises and young entrepreneurs in Westbury
WYC in partnership with MashUp Community Development aims to empower the youth through skills development programmes which include both the creative as well as the entrepreneurial side of things.
“When you give the youth a gun, people die, we know this because we have the funerals every weekend, but what we do here is that we replace a gun with a mic, spatula, keyboard, camera…” these were the words of centre manager of the Westbury Youth Centre (WYC), Reginald Botha.
These words were spoken at the launch of the Westbury Economic Inclusion Incubator on March 14 at WYC. WYC in partnership with MashUp Community Development aims to empower the youth through skills development programmes which include both the creative as well as the entrepreneurial side of things.
The organisation has been in existence for the last seven years. One of the most known projects which the organisation has is the Hostel Programme for the Grade 12 learners of Westbury High School where the learners stay over to study and get assisted with their studies.
Botha said in his speech, “Gone are the days where we can complain and say that we cannot participate in the economy. Understanding inclusion in the context of complex social-environmental challenges faced by our communities, it requires more than just a standard definition. I will share with you a popular definition: ‘diversity is inviting someone to dance, while inclusion is asking someone to dance’.
“We are not raising awareness but we want to get people actively involved in this initiative, we want everyone to have a fair chance.”
The launch was about the Southern Africa Innovation Support (SAIS) who will be taking WYC to new levels with their partnership.
According to the website: www.saisprogramme.org, “SAIS is a regional initiative that supports the growth of new businesses through strengthening innovation ecosystems and the promotion of cross-border collaboration between innovation role-players in Southern Africa.
“The programme focuses on strengthening early-stage enterprises and young entrepreneurs, connecting innovation ecosystems, and promoting innovations serving socially or economically disadvantaged populations”.
Ilari Lindy from SAIS could not make it to the launch but Skyped in to say a few words.
Lindy revealed that out of 150 submissions and after two rounds of evaluation, WYC came in the top 12.
He also added that the MashUp organisation can now be doing their programmes on a larger scale and can even bring in more parties to get involved in making the community better.
In conclusion, Botha quoted, “If people are given a chance to succeed, they are likely to participate in the workforce, pursue education or engage in other activities that lead to economic growth.”
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