Meet Eric Majindi. When he first joined the Strengthening Foundations Program, he was quiet, often keeping to himself. But in the first three weeks, Eric gradually begun to step out of his shell, engaging more with others, contributing to discussions and finding his voice within the group.
From the trainerโs perspective, this kind of growth is exactly what the program is designed to nurture: โ๐๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ค ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ง๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ตโ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด, ๐ช๐ตโ๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ.โ โ Nora Rapana.
Eric demonstrated strong commitment, maintaining consistent attendance and showing genuine willingness to participate in activities.
One particularly powerful moment came during a group exercise designed to build empathy and understanding. Participants traced their feet, wrote personal reflections inside them and then exchanged with others, symbolically โ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด๐ฆโ๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด.โ
The aim was to encourage participants to reflect on the experiences of others and build deeper emotional awareness.
At the end of the activity, participants were invited to share their thoughts. When it came time for Eric to speak, he bravely opened up: ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐ก ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ.
This moment resonated deeply with the group. It sparked a wave of empathy, with participants openly expressing their feelings and support for one another. It was a strong reminder of the shared experiences that connect us all.
The success of moments like these is made possible through strong leadership and guidance. Special thanks goes to program Mentors for their ongoing support, strengthening the impact of this program.
As the program continues, stories like Ericโs highlight the true value of the Strengthen Foundations Program, not just in preparing individuals for employment, but in building confidence, compassion and community.