Towards the end of 2017, I answered a phone call.  Not so unusual, because that's what happens - the phone rings and you answer it.

"Hello, Fie-ona, I hope you are well?"  There is only one person in the world who calls me that:  longtime colleague and fellow board member of a not-for-profit board I had had a longstanding relationship with.  For the first four years after we moved to McGregor, I continued not just on the Board, but in the Chair.  However, during the fourth year, and in my eleventh year on the board, I felt it was time to move on.  Even though I say so myself, much had been acheived in the seven years I was in the chair.  Originally called the Technical Colleges Students Aid Trust (TECSAT), the Access Trust provided bursaries and social support to youngsters at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges in the greater Western Cape of South Africa.  

Among the things I felt I had acheived was setting a course that anticipated the provision of free education, but without the social support so essential to the success of young people from marginalised communities where positive role models are rare.  The work had shifted from student "aid" to facilitating access to further learning and then to work.

Among other things, I was privileged to oversee the 10th Anniversary celebrations, a name change and a new logo* that reflected the maturity of the organisation and the services it offered.

Back to the telephone call, and after the mandatory pleasantaries:  "I am calling to ask if you'd be available to do some work.  We have decided to close the Access Trust, and we can't think of anyone better to write up a final report."

"I beg your pardon?"

"The Trust will cease operating at the end of December 2017, but actually ahead of that because of Christmas.  Can you help?"

My mind was in a whirl.  I was not surprised at this turn of events.  On one hand, the advent of largely free TVET meant that the Trust was becoming redundant.  On the other, there were internal staff issues which were, in all honesty, part of the reason for my resignation, not helped by a four-hour drive (at least) there and back, and an overnight stay - just to attend a meeting, because the board met in the late afternoon.  With increasing demands in McGregor and rising costs, and fewer reasons to go to Cape Town, and even less that I felt I could contribute from a distance, my time was up.  It was time.  At the time, I hoped that the incumbent chair shared a vision for the organisation which extended merely beyond bursaries, focusing on the desparately needed social support for young people, especially young women, from very poor and marginalised communities.

Seems he hadn't, and had abandoned ship leaving my colleague holding the baby and as a very reluctant stand-in, in desparate need of an Oscar.  My colleague and his fellow board members were of the opinion that nearly 20 years of good work, and investment from donors should not go unacknowledged.  I agreed.  

I was also moved that I had been the not-negotiable choice for the task.

Initially, it was intended to have been a "quick-and-dirty" as we call them in the trade, with a completion date set for mid-December.  A simple analysis and review of annual reports with a write-up of achievements.  

Well, it was certainly not quick and it ended up being quite messy.  The outgoing director was less than co-operative to the point of obduracy and obfuscation.  Records that should have been readily available couldn't be found and standard annual analyses not having been done for the last three years.  Historical records, like photographs that pre-dated the outgoing director, were nowhere to be found.  

Imagine my, and my colleague's frustration.  His was greater than mine as he was in the firing line as a volunteer leader and responsible for the nitty gritty of winding up the Trust.

We agreed to shift the deadline - essential if anything meaningful would come out of the project.  At first it was a strategy for dealing with the unnecessary roadblocks, but when the data we needed could  not be found, it was essential.  I had, fortunately, not destroyed my personal electronic archive, so had some records to draw on.  My colleague was able to find others that pre-dated my time with the trust.  We were back in business.  Sort of.

What had initially been intended as a simple consolidation and summary report, had turned into a bit of a nightmare with essential data mining to provide a sense of the real impact that had been achieved.  It was not insubstantial:

In its nearly 20 years, the Access Trust raised nearly R30 million and awarded 2,790 bursaries to deserving young people.   The funds came from individuals, corporates and from the colleges, themselves.  This last meant that the beneficiaries, through fees, also contributed providing bursaries for their peers.  All this in a time when South Africa's education and training environment was like quicksand and had to be carefully navigated.

More importantly, though, is the impact on our bursars.  Here are just two:

Natasha, a bursar more than 12 years ago, is now the Senior Accountant at a property company. She started the department when they decided to in-source this function. Natasha has continued studying and is now qualified in credit management and management development. In her management function, Natasha has also been responsible for employing staff and looked no further than the Access Trust to find and appoint a suitable candidate. 

Now married, Natasha has three children. 

Another remarkable young woman is Phiweka, who comes from Encobo in the Eastern Cape.  After she finishted her training as a management assistant in 2014, she joined the Access Trust as an intern. What few people know about Phiweka is that even before starting college, she was involved in working with vulnerable young women. Throughout her studies and her internship, she, and a group of other young women, were working with other young women and girls dealing with the challenges of school, teenage pregnancy, alcohol and drug abuse. To be able to continue her voluntary work, she holds down two part time jobs - one with Sistahood, and the other with an investment firm.  

And Phiweka is still studying.  

So, a report that, by rights should have taken less than a month has taken nearly six from concept to completion.  It's now done.  Sent off with the final invoice.  I can't quite believe it.

The final word though, goes to the trust's first intern, Kazlin, now in a responsible position in the training department of a large hospital group:

I would like to thank Access Trust for laying the foundation for the start of my career. It hasn’t been easy at times, but it was worth it. I would like to encourage young adults to never give up especially those in disadvantage backgrounds! The opportunities are there: you need to go and find it, it’s not going to fall in your lap and it is never too late...  

It's been a bittersweet project, and I am proud to have played even a small role in what the Access Trust has achieved, and as a parting shot, having written up its final chapter and to close the circle.

*designed by @jaynie in a past life

 

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