A second year University of the Western Cape (UWC) student fuelled by an ambition to defeat poverty and motivate others to aspire to greater heights, has started a car wash in the heart of the sprawling Kuyasa township in Khayelitsha.
Masiviwe Nohashe, 25, who is pursuing a degree in psychology, said the idea of starting the car wash came came to him and his friend, Yanga Mandoyi, when they noticed that most youngsters in the area we often loitering aimlessly.
“We felt that we could not allow ourselves to be despondent. Yes, we live in an area which suffers from massive poverty but people are doing things to survive,” said Masiviwe.
He said his studies in child development have taught him to motivate those who find themselves in dire straits.
Our main plan is not only to generate an income but to also motivate and show the local youth that you do not need to go to the factory or office to have a job but you can create something out of nothing,” said Masiviwe.
Yanga said they pooled their resources and bought the main products for a car wash, which is slowly receiving support from the people around them.
“As the car wash was getting busier we were fortunate to have the space to employ two more members to work with us.”
“In the long run, we hope they will run the car wash while we are at work and at school because our main aim is to
assist where we can in solving unemployment and drug abuse among the youth,” said Yanga.
He said they will boost their car wash by hosting events to attract new clients.