Building Bridges, Creating Connections

(And being seen)

I learned how valuable and important I am, and the power my voice has. During my 3 years as a mentee with IseeU, I was inspired beyond measure, equipped with tools to last a lifetime, and I explored what I could only have dreamed of. It was not just an adventure but an opportunity to start walking a path to a different life

Aqeelah

Alumni

Who we are

Mentorship and skills development for women in the Cape Flats

Every morning young women from the Cape Flats face an overwhelming challenge – they wake to a community with some of the highest rates of gangsterism and drug addiction in South Africa. They also face an epidemic of gender based violence alongside a failing education system. It is from this environment that our young women begin to formulate their identity, their sense of potential and their dreams for the future.

IseeU Trust was launched eight years ago in Cape Town by two women who overcame hurdles to opportunities through mentors, skills and a professional network. IseeU offers a three-year mentorship programme supporting young female students from Grade 10 to 12, who are from the Cape Flats.

The name of the organization was inspired by one of the young women participating in the programme in the early years – she explained that she felt seen, for the first time in her life. Building a future starts with feeling seen.

Build her future.

What we do

Inspire.

We inspire our mentees to dream. We inspire purposeful living. We inspire self-belief & agency. We inspire possibility.

Equip.

We equip mentees with tools, skills and self-knowledge to navigate post-school life, as well as knowledge about opportunities and how to connect to them.

Explore.

We expand our mentee’s world view by encouraging them to explore all the opportunities available to them.

152

Young Women accessed our three year programme

7

Full time trained, weekly
volunteer mentors

39

Job shadowing
opportunities in 2023

IseeU provides a three-year strategic intervention for young women from the Cape Flats, which begins as these learners enter Grade 10 and concludes as they matriculate from Grade 12.

With the aim of increasing their social capital, we connect our mentees with our growing network of partners thus increasing their potential access to available opportunities.

During the weekly sessions, we introduce and encourage the development of Self-Awareness. We provide the tools for creating a personal vision for their lives and identifying the goals they require to achieve their vision. We challenge our mentees to think critically, and encourage them to find their voice.

The second year creates a space for mentees to focus on their future, and life after matriculating from school.
During this year, we build on the foundations of self-awareness and goal-setting. We provide Psychometric Assessments and Job shadowing opportunities to assist them with future decision making, and encourage self-care and resilience through mental wellness to successfully navigate the decisions that they need to make for their future.

In the final year, we consolidate the learnings and concepts from the previous two years, and support our mentees in maintaining their focus on their goals. They explore practises and habits that would assist with achieving goals, and those that hinder their goal achievement. The emphasis is on persevering and finishing well.