With icy temperatures and even snow in some places, South Africa is fully in the grip of what feels like a particularly harsh winter. When the cold really bites, the discrepancy between the haves and the have nots in South Africa is made even more clear – small wonder why winter is South Africa’s most obvious time of discontent.
First published over ten years ago, The World Happiness Report measures six key aspects that are considered to be a good indicator of national happiness. These are income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust, and generosity. If South Africa is to achieve higher levels of each of these, it is up to all of us to start thinking about how we can contribute to making South Africa a better place for everyone, on an individual, community, organisational and governmental level.
One of the ways in which this can be done is, in the opinion of myself and my colleagues at The LLC Academy, is through the implementation of what we call The South African Project. This project is built upon Educating, Empowering and Collaborating with our fellow South Africans in order to make our country a happier, better place to live.
Education serves as the foundation here. If our population is educated, they become empowered to change their own lives – and the lives of those around them – for the better. Through our involvement with youth development programmes and programmes specifically designed to upskill and uplift those previously disadvantaged, The LLC Academy has found that people who have been empowered use the knowledge and skills they have acquired to help those around them in turn.
Education empowers. But it can be all too easy to come into a space from an outside perspective and think you have all the answers. This is where the collaborative aspect of what we do comes in to play – by working with those we seek to empower, by taking the time to establish what it is that they need to succeed, by listening to their unique understanding of their personal context, the difference we can make in each other’s lives increases exponentially.
By educating, empowering and collaborating with each other, the South African Project is a building block in moving away from South Africa’s current position of discontent and towards one of happiness. If you and your business are interested in collaborating with other South Africans in making a better country for all, contact The LLC Academy to see how you can get involved – and invest in the future of your own business in the process.