Different times, same challenges
My favorite part of every morning is when we get to drop off our youngest daughter at school. Other than the obvious bliss of connecting and catching up with her during the short drives prolonged by Harare traffic, every interaction gives me an opportunity to hear and feel with the younger generation. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with the things I was learning until recently when our neighbor’s daughter joined the morning voyages.
“I’ll be a doctor,” she replied confidently when I posed the infamous question. She continued passionately, “Sadly, many people my age are unsure of what they’d want to do. It also doesn’t help when they’re given A’ Level subject combinations instead of choosing for themselves.” It hit me, at that moment I once again became that 16-year-old boy at Goto High School. A few decades apart but I could relate.
Leaving them to grope in the dark
It’s encouraging to note that there’s a general consensus about the importance of education. Parents and responsible institutions have done so well to try and make this a reality for children though other communities are still lagging behind, especially when it comes to the girl child. It goes without saying that we all can and should do more about this.
What’s also equally important is providing adequate care and guidance for children, especially at the forming age of 15-20 years. Mob psychology and peer pressure hit our kids fast and hard during those times, and through it, our kids get advice that is seldom sound or actionable. I won’t pretend to be a child education expert but as a people transformation agent who’s been privileged to champion programs that empower top executives to think, lead and execute, the gaps became more apparent.
While we’re on that, to think that we still have to co-create programs that help seasoned professionals to set goals or lead more efficiently, but expect young people to navigate that terrain unaided is simply criminal. Kids at that delicate stage of 15-20 years of age are agile and possess a high affinity for knowledge. Sadly, they’re also naïve.
Adults in waiting
It took me a while as a parent to understand that at that age, my daughter needed me to speak and relate with her as if she were an adult. Most parents, guardians, and tutors should also put their names next to this, I surely can’t be the only one. Technically, they won’t be adults but their minds and bodies want it so badly that if somebody or something else seems to show them that path, they’d jump on that ship within a heartbeat.
All this represents the seemingly gilt-edged opportunities presented by peer pressure and mob psychology. It’s the conversations they wish would be delivered to them raw by their elders but only accessed through their peers. By not having honest and open conversations with our children about sex education, for example, we’re setting them up for unprepared exposure to the very things we seek to protect them from.
When we don’t openly share our personal struggles with them and life eventually hits them hard, they’ll probably wear the blame cloak and wrap themselves in self-doubt because ‘mom or dad is so perfect and there should be something wrong with me to have experienced this.’
Starting with the man in the mirror
Before the jury comes through all guns blazing, I’m in no way saying I’m the perfect parent nor possess the roadmap to raise perfect children or members of society. I’m however adamant that we can prepare them better and we must. I’ve started with the man in the mirror.
Today, for the first time on public forums, I’m excited to announce that my team and I are launching LifeShepa to help young people make better-informed decisions about their lives. Over the past few years, we’ve been providing highly specialized coaching and mentorship programs for executives through Vertical Momentum.
We’re drawing from that experience of helping leaders to think, lead and execute, and with open minds, tailoring it to the needs of young people, firstly in the age bracket of 15-20 years old. LifeShepa will primarily have four pillars which are as follows:
…to think that we still have to co-create programs that help seasoned professionals to set goals or lead more efficiently, but expect young people to navigate that terrain unaided is simply criminal. Kids at that delicate stage of 15-20 years of age are agile and possess a high affinity for knowledge. Sadly, they’re also naïve.Victor Marawu
Career Shepa
We have created comprehensive programs that help young people to actively think about career choices as well as the suitable action steps in executing or pivoting those plans.
Many of our training methods are flexible, case-based, highly practical, and followed with adequate support throughout the child’s journey.
Health Shepa
The vices of our times are more stubborn and devastating. From cyberbullying, drug abuse, sexual and physical health, mental health, relationship issues, and more; our kids are attacked daily and from all angles. They need our help.
Health Shepa is a conduit of that help, and we’ll need many more. Our online platform will soon be littered with resources and support forums to assist young people in navigating these difficult issues.
Finance Shepa
Access to basic needs such as food, shelter, and education is still unfortunately elusive to many. This pillar is specially dedicated to rounding up resources and providing a fair chance for the underprivileged to make something out of their lives.
Personal Brand Shepa
The essence and foundational principles of etiquette, grooming, dressing, attitude, and independence fondly referred to as ‘adulting’ by Gen Z haven’t changed much but the playing field has.
The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) has meant that personal branding now has a digital footprint. Unknown to many, how they carry themselves on online platforms is visible to the global audience, future employers, and collaborators. These groups of people are using such information to make decisions.
Personal Brand Shepa is the home for many such issues and others.
Giving them wings to fly
A combination of training and coaching programs, online resource centers, and speaking events are the conduits through which we’re sharing and living the different pillars of LifeShepa with young people. At a later stage in my life, I got an opportunity to become a practicing lawyer, a decision which I’d have taken much earlier if I had known better.
No child should have to risk pursuing their passions later when they could do it now, unabated. We’re committed to helping with that.