Ntombi’s Story of Hope and Transformation
Sometimes we would like to believe that pure coincidence doesn’t exist. Ntombi stumbled across Themba Training on a Tuesday morning, whilst waiting for another shop in the area to open. As she is a curious individual by nature, she decided to explore the area. Her words were: “You never know what you might come across.” This was the beginning of Ntombi’s journey with Themba Training.
Immediately, Ntombi was drawn to the Woodwork Training. She is someone that is eager to step out of her comfort zone and learn a skill that will challenge her. She also came to the realization that woodwork is a very concrete skill that she can use right away, jump on the creative wagon and start to make products that she can sell. A true entrepreneur and innovative thinker indeed. She also realized that computer training is something that can benefit her in any working environment and will help to elaborate her skills-set even more.
When you look at Ntombi, a big smile and cheerful eyes are what you see. However, Ntombi has faced several challenges in her life and is still faced with daily obstacles. Her way of hiding these emotions and challenges is to rather smile and be a positive light. She prefers to be surrounded by people so that it distracts her from her difficult circumstances. From a very young age, nothing came easy for her and she always had to find an alternative way to make progress in life. After finishing only 5 months of her Unisa degree, she had to terminate her studies due to financial challenges. Since then, it was a continuous day-to-day battle to get food on the table. She travelled across the country after jobs, even if it meant that she had to leave her children behind with other family members. In 2010 her partner passed away, she was a single mother and also had to make enough money to send to her children. Ntombi is passionate about education and it was important to her that all her children get educated. She encouraged her eldest to enroll at Cape Peninusla University of Technology, which meant there was another financial burden on her. She didn’t give up and made a plan in order for her daughter to complete her qualification. Her persistence to create a life for herself and her family, is truly an inspiration.
Ntombi has been a computer trainee at Themba Training for almost 2 months now. Even though Ntombi has never worked on a computer before, she is showing incredible progress and grasps concepts very quickly. She asks insightful questions and always make sure she understands something fully before she moves on. She has completed 3 modules already in this short period and is excited to start the woodwork training in the beginning of next year.
According to Ntombi, there is never a time to relax and just sit at home. Even though she is currently still a part-time employee at Game retail store, she wants to take her extra time to learn something new in order to generate a further income. Her work-ethic, positive mindset and persistence is an inspiration to us all.
Odwa first came to the Agape Educare Centre at PATRIZIA Child Care Western Cape, when she was only ten months old. She was given loving attention at the centre and received support in her early childhood development until she entered primary school.
She was always a quiet child but was considered self-confident by her classmates – always doing her schoolwork as expected and like all children, she loved to play. Playful learning is important at the center.
In Agape, the ability of children to learn in the first six years of life is promoted through a holistic method that places emphasis on children’s physical, emotional and psychological well-being.
In the meantime, Odwa is in year five of a state-approved private elementary school, which is only possible because her father has set money aside for her schooling every month, since she was born.
Odwa is happy at this school. She has made many friends and is delighted that she can learn something new every day. Her favourite subject is mathematics, but she also likes handwriting and games, especially netball and swimming. In fact, she has already won prizes for her sporting pursuits, as well as an award for outstanding achievements in mathematics. Her dream is to one day be a pediatrician.
