A young man born in the Eastern Cape, King Williams Town, finished matric and struggled to get money to study further. He couldn’t find a job and so was forced to move to Cape Town to live with his brothers. There were opportunities for employment and studying further in the city – or so it seemed at that time.

The struggles of unemployment and not going to school added to just some of his worries. His two brothers, whom he was staying with in Cape Town, had to take care of him. The brothers tried to motivate him, telling him that he will find a job and they even tried to help him but it was very difficult.

The young man felt as thou a dark cloud was hanging over him. Negative thoughts occupied his mind and he felt frustrated and sad that he could not find a job or go to school. He had little faith and no hope of finding a job during this time. Being supported by his sister also had a negative effect on his ego; his pride made it difficult to accept what his brothers and sisters were doing for him.

Every day he would wake up very early in the morning and clean the house, while thinking of ways to find a job and keeping busy. There was nothing positive he could think of. He started feeling sorry for himself, asking questions like why couldn’t he find work or even something to do. He started to pray and ask God for answers.

“God will never give you what you want, but he will give you what you need,” Thando, one of his older brothers said. Thando believed, and he worked hard trying to find his little brother a job. He could see that he was losing hope and had a lot of doubt.

His brother believed in him, and knew that there must be something he was good at. It was then that his older brother was told of a training course for young people. It had been almost the end of February 2015, when his brother found out about training. They wanted young people who had matriculated but were not accepted to universities or couldn’t afford university.

The training course was called Career Readiness, offered by World of Works Skills Academy, known as “WOW”. The course prepared young people for the working environment and business world. The young man enrolled for the training, with little hope and faith. He felt a sense of relief and as though a heavy burden has been lifted off his shoulders.

The days that followed were a blessing and the young man’s brothers could see that he was happy. It was during that time that the young man knew his purpose.

The young man knew then that he had a greater and higher purpose in life.

He met a lady by the name Yonela Nella Khetsheza, the Co-ordinator of CYD child in youth development, who was the CEO for “WOW Programme”. This lady was one of the people who motivated and encouraged the young man during the training. She often said “In life you never know the door that can be opened by the key you have, this is why we should keep on trying and never give up. But most importantly one must believe in themselves.”

They were taught a lot of things during that time and he started believing in himself more than ever. He had so much faith and hope for himself. His brothers and sister were happy for their little brother.

The young man completed the training and graduated top of his class. He got motivated to do voluntary work, which he became good at doing. It was then that he saw Nella again, his mentor. Some of the people who he was training with were negative towards the decision to be a volunteer. Some were saying he was wasting his time, volunteering was not going to give him money, that he should rather go look for proper jobs.

He was motivated to complete his volunteer work, while being mentored. The one thing that kept him going was the thought that volunteering work will be give him great experience. After two months of volunteering at the centre he was appointed, on the 22 June 2015, as a Facilitator in child Care and Protection.

The young man was happy. With tears in his eyes, thankful that his brothers and sister believed in him, he thanked God for the Job.

The End