Hello everyone, my name is Werner. I am 30 years old, residing in Cape Town.
I grew up in the South of Johannesburg with a passion for rugby. I was well on my way to a promising career in rugby when at the age of 15, the doctors told me that this was no longer possible. I ended up having two hernia surgeries, and that meant giving up my passion forever.
I was completely shattered. It felt like everything just gave way under me. Everything I worked so hard for was ripped away from me and there was nothing I could do about it.
It was around this time that my parents went through a divorce. Things were really tough at home, and I ended up leaving school after Gr10 to start working to help put food on the table for myself, my mother and two sisters. This meant I had also given up the crucial requirement for most jobs in South Africa. Having Matric Senior Certificate.
Over the years I’ve been able to find jobs without a senior certificate, but as you can imagine they don’t always pay great. I’ve been blessed in the engineering field by all the experience I’ve gained over 10 years. An experience that I value so much. It’s given me a new passion, something I longed for after losing my career in rugby. Since I got into the engineering field, it’s helped me refocus, and allowed me to realize that I have the potential and skills to be successful.
When I started in the field, I was employed as an assembler for an aluminum steel company who make shop fronts. The company had brought in the best Engineering training company from Germany to train us in the new CNC technology. This training that I received opened my mind, and I instantly took to it. The company started to see my potential, and they promoted me to CNC machinist.
Thankfully I’ve been able to find employment doing CNC machining, but sadly I still don’t receive a great salary due to no matric or trade test.
I currently live in Cape Town with my wife. We live with her parents as we cannot afford to rent or buy a place of our own. This also poses its own set of challenges in our marriage.
It gets so frustrating knowing that I’ve worked so hard for so long, and I don’t have anything to show for it. Every place I’ve worked for, I’ve given everything I can possibly give of myself. I’ve worked most weekends without pay, in the hopes that the company I work for will take me seriously.
All I want to do is to be able to buy a laser cutter and engraver to start my own home business. I know that I have what it takes to make it a success. But we are literally living paycheck to paycheck. Sometimes even having to ask my boss for an advance on my salary just to get by. So there’s no way I could afford to buy the machine. I’ve resorted to receiving my salary on a weekly basis so that each week we can buy food.
I already know my target market, and I am confident that having this machine will mean some financial relief for us.
Please help me, I will be eternally grateful.
God bless you.
