Testimony of hard work

At NewDay, we love investing in people and hearing how our students’ lives have been transformed in the years after completing our courses.

We were thrilled to hear from Ashwin who came on our Work For A Living / Job Readiness programme in 2019 and is now training as a chef at the International Hotel School – wow!

Ashwin enrolled in our W4AL course after seeing NewDay advertise jobs. He had been unemployed for 3 years and made the long journey from Hout Bay to Khanyisa each day – often being the first in and the last to leave.

He said: “When I first came into Khanysia, you didn’t know me but gave me a warm welcome. I used the skills and teaching to go and look for a job.”

One of the things the W4AL programme encourages is the value of volunteering to improve a CV and future job prospects.

When the course finished Ashwin volunteered with the NSRI and as a firefighter, whilst learning to build boats as a stop gap as he looked for other work. Despite the challenges of Covid-lockdown, he found employment as a trainee chef in a hotel. Whilst working there, management was so impressed by his work ethic, they decided to invest in him and enrolled Ashwin at the International Hotel School to begin formal training.

Ashwin credited all that he learned on the W4AL course with helping him find work and has been sharing his story and testimony at church. He says: “God has changed my entire life.”

We are so proud of you Ashwin!