Meet our People - Louis Carstens

  About five years ago, Louis Carstens got involved with Carryou Ministry and has since assisted in setting up accounting systems and continues to reconcile accounts and salaries so they meet SARS' strict requirements.
 In addition, the former full time professional musician trains and mentors Carryou staff members in bookkeeping procedures.
 "Years ago my daughter advertised accounting services and was contacted by Carryou," says Louis. "But later she was offered permanent employment elsewhere and asked if I would take over. I've been involved ever since."
 Louis has a long history with computer and accounting systems.
 "I studied engineering at university but music got in the way and I never completed the degree," he says. "As a result, I got a job with Olivetti, selling bookkeeping machines - this was before the arrival of personal computers.
 "At the same time I was a member of a professional band and, when we were hired to play five nights a week at the President Hotel in Johannesburg, I decided to become a full time musician.
 "We had gigs all over the country but when my eldest daughter started school, the lifestyle and travelling became difficult and I needed to find something more settled."

Personal computer

 It was around this time Louis bought an early-model HP personal computer.
 "I taught myself to program it," he says, "wrote a bookkeeping package and started setting up bookkeeping systems for companies.
 "I also bought a van, fitted it with a desk and had my HP computer in the back. I drove around, cold-canvassing, offering on site bookkeeping services and would park beside an office, run a power cable through its window and produce the reports required."
 Louis is still involved in music and on Sundays reverts to being a musician, when he is the cocktail pianist and singer at an upmarket game lodge near Krugersdorp.

Meet our People: Nandipha Mtambeke

 Nandipha Mtambeke (35) arrived at Carryou Ministry four years ago as an intern with the National Youth Service programme.
 "I started working under Mzi who encouraged and impressed upon me that, the only way to get ahead in life was to work hard and be passionate about what you do," says Nandipha.
 "I went on a Home Based Care Workers' Course and then worked in the field, taking care of patients for a year. Then I was moved into the office as a Home Based Care Co-ordinator, where my job was to collect, co-ordinate and report on data from the field.

Study further

 "But I realised I needed to do something more and was encouraged to study further."
 She signed up at Western College in Randfontein to study for a diploma in Marketing Management and has since successfully completed the theory component of the three-year course.
 "Now I need to do 18 months of practicals before I finally qualify," she says. "I have been able to do some practical work at Carryou Ministry but need to find an internship with a large corporate company.
 "I've sent out applications but so far have not found anything."
 When not working or studying, Nandipha spends most of her spare time with family and friends.
 "In the long-term I would like to do a degree in marketing management and then work for a large corporation," she says. "But right now I am focusing my efforts on finding an internship that'll allow me to complete my diploma."

Meet our People: Theolien Olien - a young woman on a mission

 Theolien Olien (22), the cheerful receptionist at Carryou Ministry's offices in Randfontein, is a young lady on a mission, who is going places.
 Despite major financial obstacles, she scrimped and saved so she could self-finance and complete her N6 studies as well as the theory components of a three-year Human Resources diploma.
 "I finished matric in 2009 and then applied to North West University to study for a degree in education," she says. "However, my school results weren't good enough and I was not accepted. I am very much a people person, so my second choice was to study Human Relations at Western College in Randfontein."
 But finding the money to pay for her studies was a constant struggle, although she was given a kick-start by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.

Kept going

 "There were many times I thought I wouldn't be able to continue," says Theolien, "but somehow, despite the obstacles, I managed to keep going.
 "In 2011 I was placed in a government learnership programme with Carryou Ministry by the National Youth Service and worked at the Toekomsrus Drop-in Centre. Later I was officially accepted as part of the government's Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP)," she says.
 "With the monthly stipend I received and the constant encouragement of the people at Carryou, I kept on studying. I've completed the theory component of the three year-long diploma but now need to find an 18-month internship where I can do the practicals.
 "My immediate goal is to find a company that will offer me an internship and then to do a university degree. In the long-term I would like to work as a Human Resources Manager in a large corporation."
 On weekends Theolien spends most of her time with her family and is involved in fund-raising efforts with her church.
 "I guess what I am most proud of is I am the first person in our household to get a matric and a tertiary qualification," she says. "My brothers pushed and encouraged me to do so and now, my achievements have inspired them to strive for the same."