SLA and the Fight Against COVID-19
It is no secret The COVID-19 pandemic has literally disrupted everyone’s plans for the year and STAR Leadership Academy was no exception. However, the STAR students and administration leaders have held up to the value of tenacity and have pushed through the pandemic, making sure that the STAR experience is still a life-changing one for all.
When news of the first COVID-19 case in southern Africa reached our students, as servant leaders, they decided to do something which surely benefited masses during the tough times before they left for their homes. The Academy’s young leaders started a hand-washing campaign, but this one wasn’t just one of those uninspiring, dreary and soul-destroying ones. They leveraged on the large pool of diverse individuals from different backgrounds and languages to make it an engrossing Multi-Lingual Hand-washing Campaign. The hand-washing campaign was done in five languages, that is; English, Shona, IsiNdebele, Kirundi and Sesotho. It was an informative idea which taught people how to effectively wash their hands, what to use, when to wash their hands and general health tips and guidelines as to how to keep safe and healthy during this crisis. The presentations were in form of videos which were distributed on the academy’s various social media platforms and we are proud to say the initiative had a sensational reception! Link to videos
“When the first lockdown announcement was made, we decided to take our operations remote so that our students wouldn’t be affected.” This statement by one of our Co- Founders Ms. Tanya is arguably the statement of the year, and one which also made us feel much more safe and secure in the hands of the Academy. The young leaders only had a two-week long holiday, after which they began remote learning. At first, we didn’t see the importance of remote learning, but as the lockdown progressed, we grew to appreciate its value in our intellectual development. We also had Mentorship sessions with Mrs. Masiyiwa, Toastmasters sessions, Conservation classes, Volunteerism classes, Hebrew 101, Leadership 101, special Public Speaking lessons with a renowned actor, Ms. Tshiwela, and most recently, Ndebele lessons. Besides these and through the Higherlife Foundation and Delta Philanthropies network, the students were exposed to a lot of high-profile webinars with amazing panelists. These were inclusive of the Young and Dynamic Saturday sessions and The Friday Power Hour sessions, only to mention but a few. Students have been receiving data allocations for remote learning and some students have actually been relocated to the Shawasha Campus where the environment might be more conducive for learning.
The Academy also understands that the pandemic has brought some emotional and psychological problems along with it too therefore a special one-on-one session has been introduced to allow students to share some personal issues which might be bothering them. This has gone a long way in helping students achieve emotional and mental balance allowing them to work at optimum levels. The Academy also introduced monthly reports which have helped students reflect on the time they have at their disposal and how they can use it so as to not “waste a good pandemic”.
