The day the contract ended and I was back home unemployed (and broke)…
After studying for a couple of years in Tshwane University of Technology, in 2010 I came back to my rural home, Elukwatini, with the hope of finding a job. I struggled for a couple of months to get the job, I decided that I would sell amagwinya to make money..and money I did make, however my parents felt disappointed that I had went to tertiary to study but now I am all over the place selling amagwinya… I left that “business” and continued to look for a job. After a couple of rejections I got employed in the local Department of Agriculture to do my internship around September 2012, the contract would end after twelve months. That was the happiest moment nonetheless–the fact that I was gonna earn R4000.00 every month end was just the nicest feeling.
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I was so fired up. Doing work that I loved and went to school for. I gave all my energy in the work I was employed to do. My job description included advising farmers on how to farm progressively, visiting farms to learn new systems…I did my job so much that sometimes I would even do other colleagues’ work when they felt lazy, And they would occasionally tell me that they had never “seen” an intern so hard working (after this, I was sure of getting “permanent employment”)…
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A few months into my work, it came to my mind that my contract would end soon. I came with a plan that I would put even more energy into my work with the hope that I would get “permanently employed” when my contract ended… I continued meeting farmers who would inspire me to start my own Farming project. As I was nearing day zero – I fell in love with being a Farmer outside the Department… With the money that I was saving, I bought one hectare of land and built my one room Wendy house (a wooden shack) with the plan that I was gonna start Farming…
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September 2013 came and I was back to being unemployed. I was back home and I had no income, heavily depended on my family. Now that was frustrating.
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I went back to the Department to volunteer to do the work I was doing but without payment, hoping that I would get employed if I worked hard enough… I worked there for a full year… No contract, no money… BUT I had access to information. I used those months to get information from all the Farmers I kept on meeting.
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When I decided to start Farming, my parents did not believe I could do it, in fact they did not want me to do it because they feared that I would fail… They kept on insisting that I look for a job. I started ignoring those “look for a job” advices because I had strong faith that I could create employment for myself and others whilst doing what I love.
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From 2013 to now, I have been a “hands on” Farmer. I have experienced so much failures yet I am happy that the contract did end because I would have stayed with the Department whilst not owning a business of my own…
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Our country is facing hard economic times. Sometimes, most times, the blessings appear as retrenchments, appear as job cuts, appear as “unemployed”…in the end, everything works out. Be patient, and have faith in your plan.
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