The news came from far… loud and clear… accompanied with an echo of applauses… JCI Mauritius has won one, two, three awards at the JCI Africa and Middle East Conference in Bamako, Mali in May 2011. The excitement in JCI Curepipe was great, and became wild when further news confirmed that JCI Curepipe had won two of these awards, one for its Community Development project and the second one for its Individual Development Programme over the whole year of 2010.
Many have asked the secret behind this Individual Development Programme (IDP), and how did it also win the JCI Mauritius award in its category in December 2010, as well as the overall Best Local Organisation Project for 2010. The answer, and that’s no secret, is simple, JCI Curepipe endeavoured through its IDP to put its members ahead. One of the aims of our organisation is to prepare young active citizens to be the leaders of tomorrow, and what better way to empower them than to nurture them and make them grow in a healthy manner?
It all started as early as December 2009, when with the collaboration of the then 2010 JCI Curepipe President elect, Prashant Lallah, a brainstorming session was organised to discuss the forthcoming projects of JCI Curepipe. Members were given the lead and they gave a list of training and skills which they would love to acquire during the course of the year. The objective was to ensure that members were interested in the Individual development programme being proposed, and it was a wonderful idea to ask them what they wanted. After all, this is a Members’ organisation and everybody has the right to be part of the decision making!!
Hence, as a result of a second brainstorming session, a list of tentative individual development sessions was generated. And so began this wonderful adventure….
The 2010 JCI Curepipe IDP started in February 2010, with a full day awareness session of project management and presentation skills (PMPS). The event was a great success, with more than 40 participants. Success, however is not a free commodity; it comes at a price, and the price here was concerted effort and sustained collaboration from all project team members involved in the event. Some brought knives and forks from home, others brought paper and pens; some brought ideas and some brought their sweat in carrying tables and chairs on the D-day; some were worried that the catering would not be to the expectation, all brought their goodwill and great vibes…. Special thanks to the team members: Pricilla, Clarel, Arvind, Prashant, Yudish, Kamal, Nisheel, Kevin, without whom the success would not have been there.
The taste of success brought on renewed energy for more. The next event was an awareness session on Stock Market and Stock Purchase (SMSP). The theme required specialists speakers and JCI Curepipe secured the kind collaboration of the Director of CIM Stock Brokers, and his assistant, to give us insight about this complex, yet hugely remunerating sector. The event took place in March 2010, in the exquisite Board room of the Industrial and Vocational Training Board (IVTB) in Phoenix. A special word of thanks here to the Director of the IVTB who immediately agreed to help JCI Curepipe in its noble cause. The event was a “sold-out” and once again the food was delicious!! We had to refuse bookings as we could not accommodate more than 35 people in the Board room… But each one of those who booked for a seat found a special place in our heart… and it is their conviction in JCI Curepipe’s Individual Development Programme which gave us so much strength to push forward for more… Kudos to the project team members: Karuna, Kamal, Arvind, Deepika, Clarel, Lenita, Zubin… we have had so many participative members that it’s hard now to remember all the names…
The 2010 JCI Curepipe IDP continued on its way… next came a challenging event: Hold people’s attention and maintain their participation for 4 consecutive weeks. The event: Tips, Tricks and Techniques in Photography (T3P). The 2010 JCI Curepipe IDP reputation was such that all seats were fully booked within 1 day of opening of the booking. The collaboration of the renowned JR School was obtained and some lucky 22 members and aspiring members were instructed on photography. For 4 full weeks, the talk of town was “aperture”, “focus”, “shutter speed”, “light control”, “rule of third”… and the excitement was increasing each week, as more and more techniques were mastered and participants felt more at ease in clicking photos. It was fun to hear someone’s wife tell him: “Why don’t you sell your car and buy me a professional camera?” Several members worked on this project, among whom Yudish, Pravish, Arvind, Prashant, Sabrina, Jacques (who gave up his seat to someone else, as he already had some knowledge of photography). The icing on the cake: the delicious catering offered by JR School, from its in-house School of Cuisine.
The next event of the IDP? Grooming, Aromatherapy and Relaxation Massage (GARM). The resource persons: experts with long experience in the field of relaxation massage and spa in Mauritius, and registered Trainers in the field of Beauty care and Therapy. The event took place in the calm and soothing atmosphere of Helvettia and had an attentive audience of 30 members and aspiring members. Some wanted to know how to relieve tension and headache after a touch day, others how to dress up, and others still wanted to know what essential oil to use to create a feeling of relaxation… All were satisfied at the end of the day, though the one phrase that summed up this event was “We want MORE!”. Special congratulations to Hashama, Deepika, Renuka, Michäella, Nirvana, Jacques and Arvind for making the event shape up so nicely.
2010 JCI Curepipe IDP has been a pleasure, because it was about meeting the expectations and wishes of the members and aspiring members. The individual development sessions proposed were things they wanted, and topics which interested them. One regret, though, has been the inability to organise an awareness session on Negotiation Skills in 2010, due to unavailability of dates. My sincere thanks to the 2011 JCI Curepipe Individual Development Vice President for having taken this up as the first IDP event of 2011.
Individual Development in 2010 at JCI Curepipe has been a great adventure. I found it to be time well spent, and the many smiles and satisfied participants to the various events a wonderful reward to the hard work put in. Winning an award at National level is great, winning an award at International level is thrilling, but we should realise that the reason we are in JCI is not to win awards… they come as a by-product. The reason we are here is to create positive change and the pleasure comes in knowing that our endeavour is being appreciated and somehow we are succeeding in bringing our small contribution towards creating better skilled leaders of tomorrow.
Kiran Bhujun
2011 JCI Mauritius National Secretary
2010 JCI Curepipe Vice-President (Individual Development)