Ernest’s Story

Creating sustainable futures through vocational skilling

Ernest* began coming to the streets during the day to collect scrap to sell after completing his primary education. He had been attending a cheap government primary school in his community, and was a top performer. He loved education but he knew that his mum, a single parent, would never be able to afford school fees for him at secondary level. At first, he thought he could earn enough to pay for his own education but he soon realised this was an impossible task.

One day, during a street walk, our social workers met Ernest and began to learn about his home situation. We carried out a home visit and got to know his Mum and hear about her daily struggles as a single parent. It was clear that she loved her children and she saw value in education, but she could barely afford more than one meal a day for her family, let alone sending one of her children to secondary school.

Seeing this, we decided to enroll Ernest into our Education programme and support his mum through our Business Empowerment programme to give the whole family the chance of a brighter future. Ernest was able to complete his primary education and then chose to go on to do a vocational course in Carpentry. Ernest gave his course his full attention. He enjoyed learning a new skill and was determined to make it a success. He listened to everything his trainer taught him, worked hard, was trustworthy and showed up on time every day. He was a good networker, building relationships with customers and potential customers. At the end of his course, his trainer was so impressed with him that he took him on as a permanent member of staff.

Ernest has continued to go from strength to strength. He is now earning a good wage, able to support his mum and even help send his siblings to school.