The Sunday Mail
FOLLOWING the successful launch of Orbit International Youth Organisation’s mentorship programme, The Sunday Mail Business spoke to the organisations’s director, Unique Zimuto. We publish here excerpts from the interview.
Q: Give us a brief background of your mentorship programme.
A: Orbit Mentorship Programme was birthed out of Orbit International Youth Talk Show. For the past year, the Talk Show has been giving a platform to the youth making a difference in Zimbabwe and beyond. These youth leaders talked of the importance of mentorship and how it was a lacking element in youth empowerment. Young people in Zimbabwe either lack self-confidence or they don’t even know which door to knock on when it comes to getting the right opportunities. Through this programme, the youth will get a chance to stand on the shoulders of giants as they work their way to the top.
Q: What is the vision of this programme?
A: The vision is to create opportunities for the young ordinary youth to get access to another influential young person that can guide them and mentor them so that they may be able to make better and wiser decisions for their businesses or chosen careers. So many times, young people have brilliant concepts or ideas yet they lack the right guidance for them to unlock their full potential and think critically about where they are coming from and where they want to go.
Q: What is the target age?
A: Our target age group is 21-30. We are mainly focusing on this age group because this is the time that will either make or break a person when it comes to decisions pertaining to one’s career. This is also the time when young people have so much energy, passion or brilliant ideas that they can either turn into lifetime successes or failure. So during this age, it is critical that youth are guided to create and build better opportunities for themselves.
Q: Tell us a bit more about the mentors.
A: Our mentors come from different sectors of business. To name just a few, we have Musawenkosi Saurombe, who is one the youngest PHD holders in Africa, Samuelle Dimairho of Chengetedzai Depository, Upenyu Makoni of TEDX Harare, Tawanda Chikosi of the Road Rules App, Tammy Godsall of the Happiness Consultancy, Marshall Chiza of the Billionaire Publishing House and a lot more. These mentors are coming from academia, technology, entrepreneurship, arts and entertainment, fashion and non-profit organisations.
Q: How long is the programme?
A: For each chosen young person, they get a chance to be mentored for six months. During these six months, the mentees get to have access and tap into the wisdom and knowledge of their mentors through one-on-one sessions, call and email or skype sessions. After six months, we evaluate the progress this young person would have made and how the sessions would have made a difference.
Q: What is the impact of mentorship?
A: Through the Orbit Mentorship Programme, we believe that we will help change young people’s mindsets. I remember my mentorship experiences, the way I thought about my business completely changed, even now I always get a new dimension of how my business can make more sense. Mentorship changed the way I looked at the world and how I do business. I believe that young people’s perspective on how they manage their business skills will completely change. They will be receiving guidance from successful young people who have also gone through certain challenges so they understand where they will be coming from. For starters, we will be taking a small number of young people who will be mentored and eventually we will grow. Mentorship either changes one’s life or they remain stagnant. Orbit Youth Mentorship Platform is here to change youth’s lives.
Q: What are your experiences with mentors?
A: In 2016, I was the first Zimbabwean to be part of Global Thinkers Forum, a platform that chooses only 14 young people globally to be mentored by the most influential people in their respective professions. I was blessed enough to be chosen as one of those young people and my mentor was Femi Oke from Aljazeera. She mentored me for a whole year and I cannot tell you how much her mentorship guided me to be a better person, especially in the media industry. I cannot even begin to tell you how many opportunities I managed to get through her guidance. That’s when I realised the power of mentorship. I have a few mentors who are in very influential positions and their guidance has really put me on different levels.
Q: Any parting words?
A: Mentorship is the first step any young person must take on the road to success. Mentorship is vital for every young person trying to grow their business or break through any industry. We can’t do it on our own, we definitely don’t have all the answers but we need mentors who have walked that path to guide us. Make it your top priority to get a mentor. Mentorship is not about the money, it’s about the wisdom you get. Get saturated with that wisdom. Because remember wisdom is better than silver or gold. Wisdom first and money will follow.
