I lost my job but discovered my shoemaking talent.
Samuel’s is a story of a total turnaround. He lost his job as a teacher during the early days of the pandemic. Faced with the stark reality of unemployment, he took inspiration from the CoRe Programme and turned to his talent as an alternative source of income. He shares how it happened:
My name is Samuel Owusu Addo, a YIEDIE beneficiary and a member of the Machine Operation mentoring group under the CoRe Programme. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I was a dance teacher in a private school called Brainy Bairn International School, West Land, off the Haatso Road, Accra.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the attendant restrictions really affected me. I lost my job as a teacher, and my world literally came tumbling down. I felt hopeless and wondered what I could do to earn an alternative source of income. I had never previously considered the possibility of doing anything else and so was left totally perplexed.
I chanced upon the CoRe Programme through my YIEDIE network and decided to sign up. I found the e-Learning aspect of the programme very convenient. I listened to episode after episode, and they helped me to bounce back big time.
The key turning point for me was the realisation that I had a hidden talent within me, that is, the making of slippers and sandals. I jumped at it with both hands as an income lifeline to sustain myself and my family. I kick-started the business, and now it is doing very well. The future is great.
Not surprisingly, my favourite e-Learning sessions were the series on Talent with Rev. Albert Ocran, the Time Management session with Nenya Nuamah and the one on dealing with the unexpected by Dr. Erica Dickson. I have been fortunate to learn the following key lessons from CoRe:
- How to Discover My Talent.
- How to Do Business with My Talent to Make Income.
- Doing Business in The New Normal Way.
- How to Deal with An Unexpected Pandemic.
- How to Deal with Loneliness and Anxieties.
- How to Use My Time Wisely and Start My Day Early.
I intend to apply the principles I have learned to help me grow and expand my business. I would also like to train some YIEDIE students who have not discovered their talent or learnt any skill for free. That would be my little way of saying ‘thank you’ for such a life-changing opportunity.
I am very grateful to CoRe Programme.