What a time to be alive! Much gratitude is given to our Bokke team for bringing our nation together and delivering the cup back home, for the fourth time! A new dawn of hope is what this win has brought to every living being in South Africa. A series of just “one more point” is what has earned us our top position in the Rugby World Cup 2023.
The Bokke team had every reason to give up when the odds were against them, but they chose not to. Roots and Wings mentees; their journey is so relative to ours in so many ways. You’ve spent the last three quarters of the year rumbling and tumbling through multiple disciplines of becoming a new version of yourselves. You probably started this journey with so much anxiety and low self-esteem because you were most probably comparing yourselves to your esteemed mentors, however, look at how far you have come.
The mentor and mentee journey is always a beautiful story to tell – it upholds so many opportunities that are created by people who enter into an agreement and are intentional about each other’s growth. Mentees, I would also like to pick one more dimension of the strength demonstrated by the Bokke team that resides within you: at the start of every game, they were most probably shaking in their boots and nervous as a long-tailed cats in a room full of rocking chairs nevertheless; they never stopped any match but instead, pushed through their commitment as a team and in the last three matches got one more point to make it through their next level. Can you relate?
There’s a book that expresses the African Proverb “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” written by Victoria Odoi-Atsem. This speaks so much about the importance of collaboration and embracing the fact that every part of the body is imperative for its wholesome mobility.
The journey is nearing an end for the 2023 cohort, and we are now all looking forward to mentees taking us through amazing presentations on their take-outs and importantly, how they can barely recognize their former selves because of the incredible contribution of their mentors.
Not so fast though mentees, the end of the formal sessions end this year however, your reinforced expedition within the insurance industry starts almost immediately, you have a lot to offer to the younger generation, let no one stop you from starting your own mentor journey with them. We are proud of your commitment to yourselves and especially, your mentors and can’t wait to be blown away by your presentations – please don’t forget to bring us a box of tissues on the day!
#BreakTheMould!
The Roots and Wings programme will eternally be grateful to our long-standing great partners; Insurance Institute of Gauteng (IIG), Discovery Limited, Sasria SOC Limited, Chubb, Emerald Risk Transfer (Pty) Ltd and Howden Broking (Insurance)
Article written by: Thuso Mafumo
