DISPLAY AND SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY LAUNCHES INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME

Patience Lunika has joined Sprout Performance Partners, a well-known programmatic display and search marketing agency, as part of the Sprout Lite internship programme.

She started in April and over the three-month placement, will be trained in Google Certifications from Analytics to Basic Campaign Management. She will also gain SEO knowledge and practical skills as she will be assisting the SEO team on a daily basis with various SEO tasks, such as working with Websmaster tools, plus SEO Account Management.

Sourced through Girlhype (girls who code), Patience has already proven to be a remarkable team player. She has a positive approach to life, and a great sense of humour, which is exceptional considering that as a young girl, she was diagnosed with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (Brittle Bones Disease) and is bound to a wheelchair. Even still, she is committed to helping people with disabilities in her community.

Her disability has not held her back and revealed that the challenges that come with her disability have just made her stronger. In 2003 she attended a Youth Exchange Programme with PeaceJam, and had the opportunity to meet and work with eleven Nobel Peace Prize Laureates; namely The Dalai Lama, Arch Bishop Tutu, Shirin Ebadi and Aldolfo Perez, and many more. She has travelled to Denver Colorado and Los Angeles for a conference and book launch, and her most outstanding moment was when she was nominated by Parliament as the youngest Eminent Person to attend the 2016 SONA.

According to Angela Lopes, HR and Admin Manager at Sprout, “South Africa is already hindered by its digital skills shortage, and so we launched Sprout Lite to help upskill individuals with a passion for, and an interest in digital. We’re training for the jobs of the future.”

Patience shared that she’s currently learning how to interpret website traffic data produced by Google Analytics and Search Console. Her role will expand to monitoring website traffic on a regular basis, compiling traffic reports and providing insight. Commenting on the experience so far, she said, “Working with the Sprout crew has been amazing. It’s an awe-inspiring environment where their staff are goal driven, have a positive spirit, are focused and very helpful. I am learning new things everyday and being here has made me want to learn more.” Sprout Lite will help Patience to implement the skills that she has learnt to achieve her future goals, which include running her own business one day.