Yes, the Youth are Making It

There is an old African proverb saying “mountains don’t meet but they meet through their shadows” meaning “if it looks impossible it does not mean it’s impossible”. This sums up this story of a young man born and bred in the under developed township of Alexandra, Johannesburg. Julius Olubudun, a veteran ORT SA maths facilitator recognised Clement Moroka’s talent when he learned of the difficult environment that Clement came from and yet, against all odds, he succeeded. “

After matriculating and then obtaining a certificate in computers, his job prospects were very slim. Clement applied at ORT SA, an implementation partner for the Youth Employment Services (Yes) programme tailored for unemployed youth. Olubodun added, “When Clement mentioned that he mentored kids in his neighbourhood in maths and science – that clinched it for me. He was the person we needed on our team and he was assigned as an intern maths tutor to assist me in after school maths classes that ORT SA run.”

A month into the programme an opening arose for an ORT SA Coding  facilitator. He was interviewed and landed the job – a full-time position on the ORT SA staff – no longer an intern position. “What looked impossible became possible,” said Clement

“In this journey as a youth and my first time in a professional working environment, I have learnt a lot from my colleagues as well as the projects we are involved in. I’m very blessed for it’s not always the case for a young person to run into such luck, especially in a country where youth unemployment is on a high. My gratitude goes to ORT SA, YES for Youth and Nedbank for changing my life in the manner they did. THANK YOU ORT SA, Yes and Nedbank,” said Clement Moroke.

By Thabang Mphahlele, ORT SA Yes Intern.