Mrs Karishma Naga-Govinda

1. As the Mentor of GreenBiz, how do you feel after your team’s success at the Regional Competition?

Proud, very proud. I am very happy for the kids. Their hard work has paid off.

It has been an enriching experience for me, as a mentor, and for my students. They have understood what it means to be entrepreneurs on a global level and have acquired a better understanding of the World of Work.

The competition has also allowed our students to grow as individuals. They have become more confident and are better able to express themselves. If we look at Adjmal and Nivesh, they are two extremely bright kids but who always had trouble expressing themselves. Now, it was with great pride that I saw them confidently delivering their speech in front of an international audience.

2. What is your overall feeling of your team in the JA Mini Company Program, this year?

Happy, obviously. One of my best memories was when we were announced as winners of the local competition. I always say to them “Always do your best”, and “it is the experience that counts”. When it was announced that we had won, it was a great feeling and I was happy for the team.
As for the regional competition, I must say that honestly I have mixed feelings. That is because we were so close to winning this competition. Swaziland was very good, and deserved to win it, but there was not much between us.

As I like to say, “we tried our best, but there was better than us”.

3. GreenBiz is a team made up of people with strong personalities. While this is one of their biggest strength, this has also often nearly caused their demise. As their mentor, how did you deal with this?

Well, first of all one has to recognize that to compete at this level it helps to have people with  strong personalities. When you look at someone like Fyona, the General Manager, or Daran, the Financial Manager, they are real fighters. It was important in tough times. When we had to deal with negative critics, at first we thought that it was unfair but we were able to use it as a source of strength and bounce back.

You need to learn how to manage these strong temperaments as they can sometime impact the group negatively. You need to get them to agree to compromise. I managed to win their respect and trust and this allowed me to talk to them and make the right decisions during the difficult times.

4. What were your thoughts on the competition in Africa?

Very impressed. There is this bad misconception in Mauritius. People think “it’s Africa, this should be easy for us”. It is NOT!!! The competition is harder in Africa than it is at National Level.

The young Africans have a completely different mindset. Our youth seriously lag behind in terms of creativity and innovation. The African Youth have this ability to re-invent themselves and respond to a “need” in their society. In Mauritius, most of the products which were presented at national level were decorative items which was directed at a “Want”. It is probably the “difficult conditions” which they live in that enable them to identify a product/service that would make a real difference in the immediate environment.

Our students are able to cope, but we still need to work hard at national level to catch up and one day become the champion of the Regional Competition.

5. What would you say to other students or mentors about the JA Mini Program?

It is a good experience for the students. As teachers, we must make them leave their “comfort zone” and stop all the “spoon-feeding”. JA Mini Company will make them stop focusing only on what is in their textbooks and see what the real world is all about.