A JA adventure – by Fyona Seesurun

It was not plain sailing to prove I could be a successful young entrepreneur…The only business I ever ran was a mini shop with me selling mango leaves and rocks to my little brother. It was quite the niche market for a start. Anyhow this was definitely not enough and I knew I could amaze many- so when the wonderful team of Junior Achievement came into the picture- everything was falling into place, for they played a prominent role in shaping my unexplored business acumen and leadership qualities.

I was first introduced to JA in my early high school days (I was then 14) through the JA Notre Quartier programme. It was amazing how a simple map could teach you so much about the business world. The sessions made me understand the basics of money application and transactions along with how careful and thoughtful should I be as a young individual about coins and notes.

Another year, another adventure! My participation in the You Can B-b Inspired Camp grew new leaves to my tree of experience (and photos to my Facebook profile). I was teamed up with people I never met in my life and expected to complete an innovation challenge. That sounded crazy to me. However the JA team thought otherwise and they were right- at the end of the day, I could not sum up how wonderfully I’d manage to present a good project with friends who had been complete strangers to me in the morning.  You come  to understand that communication is the skill which gets you to socialise, Self-confidence is something you cannot expect to express yourself without and Team Spirit is something you may lack at first but which can be developed in a small matter of time. Could you believe a one day camp could give you all that?

My involvement with JA was not over yet (and I don’t think this will happen even today, being a JA alumni). I had  more to achieve with them and they had more give to youngsters. I embarked on the JA Mini Company Program as the CEO of a company my friends and I founded in early March 2015. I had power and authority, but few mentioned the stress and struggles of handling huge responsibilities- handling Rs 30 000 from sales revenue was definitely no Monopoly game. I had to make tough decisions in the pursuit of promoting fairness and equality in the organisation. The situation got worst when production did not meet deadlines or when we were short of raw materials but this would not be the end- “bounce back and improvise” was what I kept saying to myself and doing so, every thorn was removed off my path. I previously thought this was too much for me to handle as a young school girl. I pondered over what is actually the aim of JA into making me go through all the hardships of a real business person. The answer was right there; to turn me into an unrivaled entrepreneur who constantly look into innovation and progress, while being  a good leader who takes firm and mature decisions.  I made it till late nights at the carpenter’s workshop, my team and I traveled to school everyday during the vacations, got bruises and cuts while handling rough materials but none did ward off our spirit.

Hard work paid off and we topped the nationals and, even better, came second out of 13 African countries along with two excellence awards! I remember studying business reports and presentation scripts on the plane, while my friends tried to relax. I worried about the competition, the expectations, the outcomes and, honestly, of losing. There was this one thing which Mrs. Lionnet, the Director of JA Mascareignes would always tell me- “prepare to win with grace and to lose with dignity”. That was it. I entered every conference, workshop and interviews with a confident mind- I finally reached self- actualisation when jury members and other personalities from the competition expressed their amazement in how I brought my team to excel. You then realise how lucky you are to have been given the opportunity to perform on a highly competitive stage with other great leaders. Nothing can match the quality of the experience I received in Gabon. I was altered into a pragmatic individual who assumed big responsibilities at a very young age.

JA Mascareignes brought this young girl from this really small island of Mauritius to the big continent of Africa to present herself as the leading business woman. I had left my country with high hopes and I was not disappointed ,for , JA Mascareignes kept up to its words- to turn me into a young achiever.