“With my dad as part of government, he was scared for us. He did not want to put us in any danger. Back then, it was dangerous…. Our family had to split up. Each of my 7 siblings went to a different part of the world. Some went to America and Europe. I had a chat with my wife. This is a big change, we were born in Congo and lived there our entire lives. We decided on South Africa. My one brother decided to come with us, as he was not sure where in the world he wanted to go. I’m sure he also just wanted to be with family. I’ve always wanted to go to South Africa. It looked so beautiful .
We found ourselves in a new country, new lifestyle, new everything. I had no idea what I was going to do to make a living. Firstly, I needed to learn English. I could say hello and how are you, but that about that. Now, it’s time to look for a job. I need to feed my family. At that stage, it was only myself and my wife. (we now have added 2 kiddo’s in the mix)
I studied Financial Accounting and I could not find a job with that in South Africa, as their accounting systems are completely different. I was stressed! I needed to find a job! My wife said “just take anything. You have to keep busy”. I got a job as a security officer at a large Meat supplier. This was thanks to my big and muscular build.
After a few months, the owner really had a liking in me and decided to promote me. To be honest, I don’t even know what I was promoted to, but I had an office and I did the runs to the bank etc. I guess I was his personal assistant. I worked there for a few years and then notice that this guy is a gangster and bad things was starting to happen to people close to him.
That’s when my wife said I need to find something else. Where could I possibly go?
She did some research and saw that there is a very big demand in IT. She found me a school – actually a good friend of hers referred her to MasterGrade IT.
I went to the training centre and was allocated my own account manager – that already impressed me. I mean, an expert assigned to help me. Wow.
After our appointment, I went back and discussed the options with my wife. I decided to study Web Development. I will never forget my first day. The instructor was amazing. I mean, I didn’t know anything, he helped me so much and with so much patience too!
I studied the whole Web Development track. To my surprise, MasterGrade IT had an opening in their web development team and when they offered me a job – a newbie – I was elated and couldn’t and wouldn’t dare say no! It’s been almost 2 years. What I have learned, is unmeasurable. It changed my whole life.
