Nothing can keep this driven woman down
ESCAPING the clutches of drug abuse, gangsterism and unemployment is a daily struggle for thousands of people on the Cape Flats.
Even though she’s only 17, Allison Peterson of Mitchells Plain is all too familiar with the conflict, having already seen friends falling into this trap.
So when her dream of studying architecture fell through because of a lack of funds, Peterson was determined not to go the way of some of her peers.
Instead, on the encouragement of her headmaster at Oval North Secondary School, she applied for a position as a trainee service mechatronic in a joint initiative between the Don Bosco Salesian Institute Youth Projects in Cape Town and local Porsche importer LSM Distributors.
Over three years, 75 young men and women from socially disadvantaged backgrounds will undergo training not only in the art of servicing vehicles, but also life skills.
At the end of the course, students will be offered job opportunities in the Volkswagen group — locally as well as overseas.
“I can’t believe I have this opportunity of a lifetime and I am excited to be taking on this new challenge,” Peterson said.
“I’m doing this not just for myself but for my younger siblings. They look up to me and if I can do it so can they.”
South Africa is the second country to undertake this project after a course was introduced in Manila, in the Philippines, in 2008, with most of those students currently employed in the Middle East.
Locally, eight women and 16 men — after having undergone an interview and aptitude test — will participate in the first year of training, which is being conducted at a property owned by the Catholic Church in Green Point.
The former orphanage is now home to two seminar rooms and a training workshop — which includes cars for trainees to work on.
For Father Francois Dufour, provincial Superior for the Salesians of Don Bosco, the partnership with Porsche is a welcome chapter in the church’s 100-year history at this property.
“We are trying to break the system of poverty and give value back to society.
“For students who do not have accommodation, we have a hostel where they can live while studying,” said Dufour.
“It is about empowering the youth and giving them the chance to have a selfdetermined life.”
The plan is that the training programme will be able to fund itself from its fourth year, while at the same time the sole responsibility for the training will be transferred to the Salesian Institute Youth Projects.
Porsche and the VW Group will continue to supervise the project and will be responsible for enhancing the curriculum as well as employing the graduates.
In a previously maledominated industry, Peterson is determined to make the most of this one opportunity that has come her way.
“Maybe one day I will get to work for Porsche in Germany.
“After all, a woman can do whatever she wants.”
Maybe one day I’ll get to work for Porsche . . . a woman can do whatever she wants