In the previous article we shared three ‘bean stories’. Each participant in the twelve-week ‘Communication Skills’ training course was given five dried beans and asked to come back to the next session with a presentation incorporating all five beans. Their instructions included reflection using the beans as a metaphor for Growth. They were to see what lessons or stories they could develop.
Here are three more colourful stories from a different group currently engaged in a twelve-week programme.
I divide my 5 beans into 5 important people in my life:
Friends, family, community, neighbours and colleagues.
I’m also using 5 different colours to identify these people:
Glitter, green, pink, black and red.
Friends - glitter
Family - green
Community - black
Neighbours - red
Colleagues - pink
[1] Friends
My friends are very important people in my life because they are always there for me, when I am in a sad situation they come and comfort me. They carry my problems and find the solution; they make me feel like nothing wrong has happened. When I am in a happy situation they are also there with me. I can even ask advice, they give me good advice. That is why I refer to my friends as glitter because they are shining.
[2] Family
My family are the most important people in my life because they made my future become brighter. They take care of me when I’m sick. They send me to school. They taught me about god, my culture, when I have financial problems they take care of me even if I don’t have any problem they are always with me. I refer to my family as green in colour because the care they give me leads me to green pastures.
[3] Community
The people of my community I live with are important to me because I share some ideas with them of how are we going to develop our community. I refer to them as black because we are and we fight development.
[4]Neighbours
My neighbours are also important people to me because if I need emergency help my neighbours are the first people to give help, although sometimes they cause problems, some of them are jealous. That is why I refer to them as red in colour.
[5] Colleagues
My colleagues are also important to me because they make my job easier. I stay with them from 8h00 to 16h30, from Monday to Friday sharing the tasks of the department, without them I would not do my job properly. My colleagues are all ladies. I refer to them as pink.
Zethu, thank you for this delightful contribution.
5 BEANS
- GROWTH
To be able to grow anything, you need to make sure you know how you are going to go about getting the correct results. When growing beans you first have to soak them in water until you see little sprouts from the bean. In life to grow you need to nurture your talents and your God given gift. By doing this you nurture your talents and gifts and then you are sure to get the best results ever. - VALUE
If you have one bean in your hand, you must not just see one bean; you must know that, if you plant that one bean you will get a whole lot when it is time to harvest. Often in life we don’t realise that the things we have hold such great value. You might not realise it at that time but this teaches us to always value what we have and we must take what we have and think outside the box as to what we can do with what we have, or maybe we don’t really have to think outside the box, maybe we need to realise that there is no box. - OPPORTUNITIES
There are a lot of farming opportunities in our country and people can start farming projects in their communities. Beans are easy to grow and when you plant one seed you are guaranteed to get more out than you put in. - I would then plant my one bean.
- The last bean reminds me of my mentor at work, Zanele Mbeje. During month end in our department it gets very busy and she always says “Eish, people times are hard, beans on toast…”
Ntombikayisa, thank you for your colourful and provocative contribution.
- White
It is a clean and elegant colour, most designers prefer white when they design their things. White can be mixed or matched with any colour. Most churches use white in their church uniforms. - Blue
We are surrounded by the sea, it is blue and the sky is blue too, if you look up in the sky where there are no clouds you just feel happy and warm and say, wow the sky is clear. Blue is the loveliest colour for the baby boys. - Green
It is the source of life, everything we eat that comes from the soil is green. Green is a natural colour. - Orange
I remember when I was 10 years old my grandmother bought me a 2 piece dress for Christmas it was a skirt and a shirt. I like orange because it reminds me of the good memories of having a grandmother, she used to tell us stories some of them were nice some were too scary but we enjoyed them. I real miss her a lot and sometimes I feel like crying when I’m thinking of my lovely grandmother. - Lime
It reminds me of my friend who was knocked by a car on our way from school, we were doing grade 6 and she liked the colour lime. Every time she wore something lime she liked to ask us to guess what colour underwear she was wearing. Then when we guessed many colours that are not the same as hers, she used to say “oh my friend I’m wearing my favourite colour which is lime and she pulled her uniform up so that we can see, so we laughed and enjoyed that.
Nomasonto, you have painted some vivid ‘word-pictures’ for us. Thank you!
Isn’t it fascinating how beans can be a wonderful metaphor for Growth?
If you’d like more information on our Communication Skills course (twelve sessions) or any other training or coaching that we offer, please contact Brenda Eckstein on +27 82 4993311 or brenda@146.66.90.172