Mandisa is one of the most warm, positive people I’ve met in a while. Always ready with a laugh and a smile. She is also the Work4ALiving branch manager in George, helping to equip and upskill the unemployed into being successful individuals and quality employees.
Her path crossed with Work4ALiving more than seven years ago, when she, herself, was jobless and enrolled to do the organisation’s “job readiness” course. After completing the course, she was offered a position at the organisation’s original Port Elizabeth branch and two years later, in 2018, she took over the managing role at the George branch.
But what is Work4ALiving and why should you know about them?
Work4ALiving was Founded by Ena Richards, with the goal of empowering the unemployed to become excellent employees. This is achieved by the two main course streams offered by the NGO. Students can choose to either do the “Job Readiness Program” or the “Wired4Business” course.
The Job Readiness programme is a 14-day course, costing a mere R150, in which students have contact sessions during the mornings, focussing on CV writing, interview skills and soft skills necessary to be an outstanding employee. An “upskilling” programme, including “hard” skills, like merchandising, office administration, cashier, barista and computer skills, runs concurrent with the Job Readiness programme and students who opt for the combined option, do online classes during the afternoons, on computers made available at the Work4ALiving centre. According to Mandisa, they also run a crash course on entrepreneurship during the 14day course. Each student receives R50 on day 3 of the course and compete to see who can make the most money by the end of the programme. Some students have been so successful in their efforts, that they continued with their business endeavours long after the course has ended.
The Wired4Business course, consists of online classes and takes the students on a 20 session journey, teaching them how to start and run their own business successfully. This is followed-up by 10 sessions of group-based mentoring.
At the moment, Work4ALiving has 30 centres throughout South Africa and, according to Mandisa, there are plans to open two new centres, in Knysna and Mossel Bay respectively. The job placement rate of students, on successful completion of the job readiness programme at the George branch, is about 70%. This is a great statistic, but takes a lot of hard work from Mandisa and her team, as well as the students, as long term, successful relationships with employers can only be built if the programme, and its students, proofs to be outstanding.
Work4ALiving cannot guarantee students job placements, but definitely assist in this process if and when they can, by building strong relationships with local businesses and employers. “We do not want to transform minds and send them back to where they came from. It is difficult to disciple a hungry person”, Mandisa says when asked about students’ job placements. Mandisa tells of a very shy girl who completed the job readiness programme and found work at Checkers afterwards. “I didn’t think she would be able to perform well in an interview, but there she was in Checkers’ bakery, waving at me, so proud of having been able to get a job, shouting: ‘Mandisa, look at me! I’m working!’”. Another success story is that of a homeless man, who somehow found the money to do the job readiness course while staying in the night shelter, and, after completing the programme, managed to find work as a computer technician.
When asked how her work at the organisation has impacted her life and faith, Mandisa says that seeing how God works in peoples’ lives, even those who do not know Him, strengthens her faith and reminds her that she is doing the right thing. During the job readiness programme, the students start each morning with Bible study and praying together. They also get divided into small groups that meet on a regular basis, even after the programme has ended, in order to support and pray for one another. “It is amazing to see people coming into the course, not having a relationship with the Lord at all and then seeing, by the 5th day of the programme, how they enjoy the small group Bible discussions, even sometimes reminding me that we haven’t prayed yet”, Mandisa tells.
In a country with an unemployment rate of 29.95%, leading to an array of socioeconomic issues, Work4ALiving is bravely battling to counter this statistic, but they need the support of the local community if they really want to succeed in their goal of seeing more economically inactive people upskilled and employed. At the moment they are in need of the following:
• Local businesses or employers who are willing to offer job opportunities to their students.
• Laptops, so that students can continue with the online upskilling courses during loadshedding.
• People who are financially able or willing to sponsor the unemployed to do the job readiness programme
• Bibles. Students who enter the programme and do not own their own Bible, are given a Bible to take home, because, like Mandisa says, “The Word of the Lord are for everyone, and for free”.
If you feel moved to support Mandisa and her team at Work4ALiving in any way or would like to know more about the work they do, please visit them at their centre on the corner of CJ Langenhoven and Palm Lane in George or visit the organisation’s website or Facebook page.
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