My Mentor – Nene Niane

Mentorship is training with education. If someone trains you without educating you then they haven’t mentored you. They are the same as those people you ask for directions when you are lost, and you can’t find your way to somewhere. Every journey takes you somewhere and not everywhere, but the question is; is that somewhere the place you want to go? The people you ask for directions from, can simply give you the direction you have asked but you can’t take them with you wherever you’re going. They won’t be with you always but when you have directions you will certainly reach somewhere.

Mentors educate you into your training. They don’t only want you to know what to do, but they also want you to understand what to do. Should a situation arise when they are not available, they would have raised another mentor in you and through you.

My journey in Toastmasters has been made bearable with the help of my mentor Nene Niene, the area director for area Z3. Starting up with a desire to learn communication, public speaking and leadership, I would have not been able to walk graciously in the path of my desire without Nene. Her guidance in pathways made it possible for me to finish level one and start level two within the few months of joining Toastmasters. This would not have happened without her mentorship and much more, something which a lot of other Toastmasters who don’t have mentors are having challenges in dealing with.

She has mentored me to a point where I am slowly becoming a mentor to other people. She has taken the time to educate me and train me into and in Toastmasters, I even feel the sensation of ‘master of the toast’ already.

She has made me enjoy Toastmasters, a journey which I never thought I would ever walk because I thought it was only preserved for a selected few individuals.

Through her mentorship, I have come to the understanding that, Toastmasters is for everyone who has a desire to learn.

She has taken personal time in making sure that I fully understand this path has made my dream unfold in a more clear and precise way. This makes my success both in Toastmasters and outside Toastmasters possible and a reality which I admire for myself every day.


I therefore strongly and highly recommend and advice that everyone should and must have a Nene in their Toastmaster journey because as such, the dreams become possible, desire becomes tangible and results become evident.

Olly Moonga P L1

Eagles Toastmasters Club Zambia