I (Simphiwe) was the secretary of the South African Youth Leaders Network – SAYLN (a network which has monthly Skype meetings; annual conferences and bi-annual managing diversity events) last year. CIELARKO was invited to be part of this year’s conference in May 2014. Initially I was concerned that the other participants assumed that I already knew what we would be doing and the exercise would therefore be easier for me. After all I work for CIELARKO and know what they do and how they do things. However, Dr. Layo Seriki took me as well as others by surprise! We spent half a day demonstrating what happens in situations of ‘diversity and change’, with the example of “fake” cultures, in which we felt at home surprisingly quickly! That whole morning I got to experience what generally happens in real life without us even knowing. We get so attached and comfortable within our groups that when a new person joins the group, it is difficult to accept and allow them in. I struggled and somewhat still struggle to accept change when it comes unexpectedly. The morning session was a way to bridge the gap between diversity and change and led to a reflection on how we, as young South Africans, deal with power and power differences. The exercise was fun, the insights interesting and somewhat shocking. We definitely started thinking and I don’t think we’re done yet…
