When Briget applied to join Uncommon, she was young and recently married with a child of her own.
She supported her family by selling notebooks and ice-pops on the side of the road not far from the local primary and secondary schools.
We were inspired by her entrepreneurial spirit. When asked how she’d support her family if she were to join our full-time Bootcamp, she replied that she had already agreed with her husband that he would take over their stall so she could pursue her education.
After completing our crash courses, Briget chose to specialize in Digital Marketing and she wasmatched with a Mentor working for a fin-tech startup in Israel.
Upon graduating from Uncommon, we hired Briget as a junior Digital Marketing instructor where she taught our next group of students, developed her leadership skills and further explored the world of Digital Marketing.
After finishing our Resume and Interview Prep workshop, Briget began applying for jobs. With multiple offers, Briget was able to negotiate the deal that was best for her and her family.
We couldn’t be more proud!
Our goal is to impact 5,000+ lives in 2023.
In communities where our target demographic is surviving on just $3 per day, access to technology education & employment has the potential for significant positive change.
For the last 4 weeks, we have been piloting a partnership with Tofara Online, a Digital Marketing and Innovation Consulting Trust founded by one of our program Mentors, Tofara Chokera.
Eleven of our Uncommon students/instructors received 8hrs of group training and 2hrs of one on one mentorship where they learned how to earn money with the digital skills they’ve gained through our Bootcamps. In a depressed job market like Zimbabwe’s – unfortunately acquiring tech skills alone doesn’t necessarily guarantee employment, so teaching our students how to be entrepreneurs and monetize their skills is crucial.
Through our partnership, we were able to provide our beneficiaries with this awesome opportunity for just $25 per person. Today, we’re launching a campaign to raise $3,000 to allow all of our Uncommon students and staff members to get this training. If you’d like to help us reach our goal, please consider donating below.
Expanding into Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city, brought many challenges and opportunities for our team. With the support of Nedbank Zimbabwe (our Innovation Hub sponsor), Zara’s Center (our amazing host), and after a year of hard work, we’re excited to begin seeing our investment into the city pay off through the completion of our recent internship program, where students stepped away from the Hub to join various companies for one month, in-person internships.
Throughout the year, our students in Bulawayo – some, first time computer users – have been studying User Interface / User Experience Design, Front End Web Development and WordPress, and Digital Marketing & SEO. Getting the chance to intern and put their skills to the test alongside professionals in live working environments has been extremely valuable for our students.
Here’s what one of our students, Gracious, had to say about her time interning as a Digital Marketer.
“As an intern, I found myself surrounded by mentors who were dedicated to helping me succeed. After spending time in the work space, being exposed to a variety of skill sets made me realize how every sector is interconnected and how important being versatile is…I am more confident than ever before and I will recommend Uncommon and the internship program to my peers. I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience!”
Likewise, the companies that hosted our students got a lot out of the experience as well. Here’s what Mpi Ndebele from InnoTech Africa had to say.
“The students are able to understand what the client is thinking. They didn’t need to hold their hand, they brought fresh ideas and a new perspective on things. They had confidence and weren’t afraid to voice their opinions or ask questions, and they were willing to learn new things.”
Now that the internships are over, we have welcomed the students back to the Hub for their final module where they will focus on Job Prep as well as polishing up the areas that their employers identified needed improving. After that, we will support the graduates in their job search, though we have a feeling that many have already found a home after their internships!
Huge congratulations are in order for Beyond Bechani, Racheal Bulombe and Anesu Ndoro, who relocated from Harare to Bulawayo to launch our work there, as well as to the various team members who spent time visiting and working in Bulawayo over the past 12 months.
When clients choose to hire Uncommon.org, not only are they getting a great product at a great price, 100% of the funds we earn are used to further our education mission.
We were recently approached by Taylor’s Africa, a Zimbabwean based safari company that had previously hired us for web development work. Their business had grown substantially over the past few years, and they felt that it was time for a design refresh.
Beyond Bechani (Designer) and Milliscent Rufasha (Developer) took the lead on this project and were really able to capture the clean, simple design that the client was looking for.
Not only is the client very pleased with the project, they’ve told us to be on the lookout for a contact of theirs from the UK that wants to hire our team for their next project.
We believe there’s a huge opportunity for Uncommon.org and our “impact as a differentiator” business model. We’re really excited to continue improving this business and someday turning it into a major revenue stream for our nonprofit.
If you’d like to see a few more of our recent projects, please check out our Portfolio page.
