On Monday the 11th of Feb. we had a Public SAP Mentor Webinar, where SAP Mentors could share the events that they’ve been involved with or upcoming
events.
Although I shared the African SAP User Group(AFSUG) Business Analytics SIG Meeting that took place last week (see blogpost about this event)…in Cape Town on the 20th of Feb & Johannesburg on the 21st of Feb. I tried to share this, until my cellular network connection packed up on me!).
The other event that I REALLY wanted to mention was the “Coders-r-Creative” event that I attended on Sat. the 9th of Feb.
It was organised by the Cape IT Initiative, as part of the CapaCiTI1000 Program. The program aims to up skill unemployed graduates (traditionally from a non-IT background) into Business Analysts. The programme includes obtaining a formal post-graduate qualification from the University of Cape Town and being hosted by a company for a year. It is truly an intensive program! I have volunteered as a mentor on the Programme since 2011.
The “Coders-r-Creative” event was organised as a team building exercise for the 2013 group of 40+ interns. This was the first time I got a chance to meet this
year’s interns and let me tell you it really was a heartening experience. The event aimed to shift perceptions about software development and remove the perception that there is no creativity in coding!
It was kicked off by Jenny McKinnell who introduced the concept of Green IT and how we can all ensure that IT plays an active role in the sustainability of our environment.
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The plan for the day was to take recycled, old, broken or otherwise unusable computer or mobile phone parts donated by various organisations and turn them into beautiful and innovative artwork. Another objective was to stimulate dialog, get them to work in groups and for the group to come up with a general concept. The groups were supported by an artist from Studio41 in Cape Town, artist Roscoe Reid Masters.
What I liked about Roscoe is that he didn't use artisty-type jargon. He tried to make sure that whatever he explained to the interns made sense and it was something they could relate to, i.e. "The way you put your elements together on a page needs to tell your story. It's about putting love, consideration and thinking into it! Every person is creative!" This made me think the exact same attitude can be adopted in our work environment, regardless of what type of work you do. How often do we really get or make time to think creatively? Sometimes we're so consumed by the day-to-day runnings or the operational tasks that we don't allow ourselves to think broader or get engrossed into a world of creativity and innovation!
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It was quite amazing to see how engaged they were, from trying to come up with suitable concepts that tie back to the "Sustainable IT" theme, to them scrambling and being extremely competitive when selecting the computer parts! I even heard one of the girls trying to take a chance, "Ladies first". I think anywhere else this would have worked, but the boys were just not giving in!
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I also managed to assist some of the groups with brainstorming their ideas. All in all, it was really a gratifying day for me, it was more than just about the artwork. I got to realise that some of the young people I was interacting with are the potential leaders of tomorrow! It made me understand that we all have a small part to play in helping in whatever way we can. Some of the students come from difficult circumstances, but when I looked at them in that environment, their circumstance didn't matter, they were living in the moment. All I saw was a group of young people with a lot of hope and enthusiasm for the opportunity they had been given. As I watched them put their artwork together it made me think if I can contribute to their success in even the smallest way I would have achieved my objective.
I hope with this blogpost I can inspire even one person, whereever you are to get involved in your community. Find someway of passing it forward, I can't tell you that you must volunteer your time, or contribute finanically, you know what your circumstance is, but just remember that even the smallest contribution will be received with the greatest of gratitude!