Henry PC Meyer's Podcast

THE POWER OF A TEENAGER'S PENAs part of my weekend reading ritual, I hopped over to my nearest newsstand in the city of Cape Town and invested in my favourite weekend newspaper; the Weekend Cape Argus. That was back in January 2001 when newspapers weren't available online. Yet, I had no idea that a desperate teenager's letter to the editor would challenge me to my core , and changed the trajectory of my life. Tania Van Aswegen, that’s her name; she hailed from Strandfontein Village, on the Cape Flats. Although she had passed her grade twelve with flying colours; coming from a disadvantaged community her parents couldn’t afford to send her to university to further her studies. Her only option was to seek gainful employment. That she did diligently for two years in a row; yet without success.  For more on how one teenager's pen can make a huge difference, please click on this link - Emerging Leaders Institute

The Power Of A Teenager’s PenAn unemployed matriculant’s letter to the editor of the Weekend Argus laid bare the need for Personal Development and gave birth to the Emerging Leaders Institute!  Instead of wallowing in her sadness, Tanya Van Aswegen, who had been job hunting for two years, penned her frustrations in an open letter. Disturbed by her story, the editor published the contents in his Editors Column.This is an extract of this determined young woman’s letter:  “I can’t be employed because of my lack of experience. Employers designed questions to make me feel inferior. How am I going to gain experience if no one will give me the chance? Don’t they realise I’m only one in a million? Is there anyone out there willing to help me/us?”Tanya’s desperate cry for help, prompted Henry, the Founder of this Institute to do something about their predicament. The more he pondered on her clarion call; the more he realized that Tanya spoke for the countless of unemployed matriculants. There and then, he committed to do something constructive about it. Rather than solving Tanya’s unemployment problem, Henry focused on the bigger picture; the masses of unemployed matriculants.