By Nontokozo Gemani
- Selwyn Hopper, 45, enrolled in a free paving course at the MLT Institute in Tsakane after losing his retail management career and battling depression.
- His instructor says her older students are her best. Hopper has been named student of the month and scored the highest mark in one of his exams.
Selwyn Hopper spent years managing stores for Mr Price and Markham. When that career ended, he did not just lose a job. He lost his footing.
“I felt like I was not where I wanted to be in life,” he said. “I had doubt and fear.”
At 45, Hopper was struggling with depression and convinced his best chances had already passed. Then he saw a Facebook advert for free paving lessons at the Madiboneng Lucia Tsotetsi Compliance Skills Technology Institute (MLT Institute) in Tsakane, Ekurhuleni. He almost did not apply. His wife pushed him to go for it.
“My biggest challenge was teaching my brain to adapt to a new environment of learning,” he said.
He chose paving for a practical reason. He looked around his community and saw driveways and yards that needed work. He saw a skill people would pay for.
“I saw paving as a need in the community because a lot of people need paving done in their places,” he said.
The MLT Institute is a non-profit that offers free training to unemployed residents in Tsakane and surrounding areas.
Hopper started the paving course in February. He is now the top student in his class, named student of the month and scored the highest mark in one of his exams.
His instructor, Makhutso Mahlake, says she is not surprised.
“The older ones are actually my best students. They are usually more disciplined and don’t give me trouble in class,” she said.
Hopper has always been drawn to practical work. As a child he helped his grandfather with jobs around the house. Later he did handyman work with a neighbour. None of that felt like a career path at the time. Now it does.
He is not finished yet. The course is still running. But he already knows what he wants to do when it is done. He wants to start a programme for people leaving rehabilitation centres, teaching them practical skills so they have something to come back to.
“When people come out of rehab, they go back to drugs because they have nothing to do,” he said.
“I want to change that.”
He has a message for anyone who thinks they have left it too late.
“Do not get stuck in your ways and only look at life one way,” he said.
Pictured above: Selwyn Hopper, 45, is the top student in his paving class at the MLT Institute in Tsakane, Ekurhuleni.
Image source: Supplied
