STUDENT BECOMES TEACHER!

It is an incredible testimony that a former student of our social action project ‘Nyawonhle’ (which empowers unemployed men with a skill in shoe repair) is now a facilitator of the project. Thobeka Justice Manqele (‘Thotho’ as he prefers to be called) was an excellent student of the February 2024 cohort and is passionate about this skill he has learnt, having gone on to open a small business. Not only is he good with his hands, but is also a motivational speaker living with a disability. He says that being unemployed is no reason to “be lazy and starve. One needs to use God given mind and hands to put a meal on the table.“

Thotho offered to be our facilitator in June, when we started the project in yet another impoverished community at Bonginkosi in Sweetwaters. He successfully mentored 20 unemployed men.

We travelled out to Cato Ridge last month to visit Thotho at the site of his small business venture which he on the side of the town’s busy road. Through the generosity of our donors, we were able to sponsor him a gazebo, a table, chairs, and material to keep his business going. 

The transformation in Thotho is visible and we will continue to follow-up on him, with encouragement and support. As we continue to train these men, we are happy to see change in them. In the course of the remaining months of the year, we are planning to visit all the groups we have trained during the year to see how they are doing and how their lives have been changed. We believe that we will receive feedback that will encourage us to do more and will most certainly share this information so that we can all celebrate the little changes that we are partnering to achieve in these communities.

“As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”

1 PETER 4:10

Gavin John – Communications Manager| South Africa