Minority groups usually get the short end of the stick and must work much harder to also get a slice of the training pie.Ramarwaneng Bodibe, entrepreneur and founder of Lala Entrepreneurial Training, wants to change this for the deaf community starting in Gauteng and soon the whole of South Africa through entrepreneurship education.
“Entrepreneurial skills and an entrepreneurial mindset will open many doors for marginalised people. Once you have acquired and mastered these capabilities, you don’t necessarily have to start your own business, but you could become a sought-after and well-paid worker who leads themselves.
“Self-leadership and a growth mindset are essential skills in the new world of work. I believe the deaf community could benefit greatly from training in these areas.”
Deaf prospective entrepreneurs, however, face many challenges, including a lack of business education, training, information, and communication. People who are hearing-impaired must also deal with negative social attitudes towards them.
“I have approached a company owned by a deaf woman, an agricultural project run by a group of hearing-impaired people in Randfontein on the West Rand. We will start by training two people – who already work at one of the five facilities of the West Rand City Local Municipality’s Agri-park. They will be trained in entrepreneurship development first to be trainers, and later continue training the deaf community with them. It is crucial that before they can eventually be lead trainers that a seasoned trainer holds their hand for a while,” said Bodibe.
He is excited about this one-of-a-kind project but needs some funding to kickstart it. “I’d love the opportunity to talk to big businesses in Gauteng and the whole country to obtain the financial means to transform the lives of deaf people. I believe it will have a possible ripple effect throughout our country. This is only the beginning,” concluded Bodibe
