Not so disabled after all
NORTHCLIFF - Stanley Hutcheson and Associates gives disabled pupils a push up the corporate ladder.
Not so disabled after all
Lesego Maja
lesegomaja@caxton.co.za
Management consultancy firm Stanley Hutcheson and Associates (SHA) has developed a call centre learnership for the disabled in Northcliff, sponsored by Bankseta.
The one-year pilot learnership consists of four months of in-the-classroom training and six months of practical training at various companies.
SHA has enrolled pupils with various disabilities, 26 of which are based in the Northcliff office and 20 more in Durban
Training manager Avril Peddie is exhausted by all the bad news published every week and felt their story needed to be told.
“There are so many sad stories in the news and I thought this is actually an uplifting story.” said Peddie. “This is a group of disabled people who wouldn’t have had this opportunity if we hadn’t found them and recruited them into the qualification.”
Pupil Princess Manqele who is in a wheelchair said it has been a wonderful experience for her and she has grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
“This place feels like home and they have done their best to accommodate us,” Manqele said, referring also to the renovations that made the office a friendly environment for those living with disabilities.
Ipeleng Khunou is grateful for the opportunity and has already been placed at a company for the second phase of the learnership. Khunou was diagnosed with diplegia, paralysis that affects symmetrical parts of the body.
“Mine is a rare case because diplegia affects the brain and I am still fine. The only thing I struggle with is my balance,” Khunou explained.
One pupil who did not let an aweful accident control his life is Mduduzi Masango.
Masango was categorised as a T12 paraplegic after an unfortunate accident and accepted the situation right away. “Nothing has changed much because I am still able to do the things I used to,” he shared.
The first group of pupils enrolled in the learnership will complete their qualification by March 2014.
“We hope to get all of them placed in companies and not only at call centres. We are also going to employ some of them here at Stanley Hutcheson and Associates,” said Peddie.
Details: Avril Peddie 011 678 1226
