loveLife call centre groundBREAKERs onboard for 2011

The groundBREAKERs are loveLife's national body of more than 1200 full-time peer educators who are assisted by volunteers known as Mpintshis.

Among the 10 new vibrant Call Centre groundBREAKERs are Ntsoaki Dube (20) and Spha Thula (20) who showed up for their first week, ready to change the world. Dube from White City, Soweto was an Mpintshi at the Jabavu Clinic when she got wind of the exciting position at loveLife's call centre. She was overwhelmed when she made the cut for the 2011 Call Centre gB intake after an appealing interview, and from this opportunity she expects to gain call centre experience and have the ability to deal with difficult people and situations.

A bonding experience

"I'm enjoying my first day of training; I have been able to bond with the other new gBs, and now I feel a part of the team," says Dube. "I like the trainers as they made me feel important by wanting to know my name (and the rest of us). They are on point with the information; they make sure that everybody understands before they move to the next topic," she continues.

The ambitious Dube is interested in gaining a degree in human resources and her goal for this year is to save up enough money to get her driver's license. She urges young people to believe in themselves and do things because they want to and not to please anyone.

Fellow Call Centre gB, Thulo from the Goba Clinic in Katlehong is the first Mpintshi from his site to be recruited as a Call Centre gB. He was continuously motivated and encouraged by his fellow Mpintshis and gBs to go for the opportunity because they believed in him and realised his potential. Thulo is currently doing his second year in Veterinary Surgery and dreams about helping young people and saving animals.

'Go for it!'

"The first day of the training was fun, super-good and outrageous," he says. From this learnership programme he expects to learn how to work under pressure and be a good and patient listener. "My advice to the youth is: you have the capability to do it, go for it, shoot for it because it's not that hard; yet it is challenging, just believe in yourself because you can," he concludes.

The Call Centre gB programme offers a package of skills which includes peer education, basic marketing skills, coaching, programme implementation and loveLifestyle HIV prevention programmes, personal leadership development, telephone etiquette, customer service management, data capturing, information dissemination, publication ordering, outreaching, event and project management and stakeholder management.

Call Centre Trainer Nontlantla Mkwanazi says that it is interesting having so many individuals from interesting backgrounds in the programme. "They are all new and willing to learn. It is an exciting year and we are looking forward to pushing them to their limit so that they grow within the call centre. This programme will also help them gain formal working experience," Mkwanazi says.