MPower

The other day I was chatting to my colleague Maanda about how we both ended up working for McKinsey. I always thought my story of finding out about the job while dressed as a vampire at a Halloween Party was pretty good, but I have to admit that Maanda’s story beats mine easily:

Maanda was born in a small village in Venda, northern Limpopo, and grew up living in his mothers homestead. Like many kids in rural areas, Maanda had to walk about an hour (one way, sometimes barefoot) to the next primary school every day, where he was badly taught by teachers who could hardly read and write themselves. This could have led Maanda into a very depressing existence, but fortunately the local priest “discovered” him and decided to pay for him to go to a better boarding school in the next town. Ten years later, Maanda graduated top of his class.

The priest, by then his mentor, encouraged Maanda to apply for a scholarship to go to university. When Maanda went for the interview in Johannesburg, it was the first time that he had left Venda and the first time he had seen a lift (!) in his life. Fortunately Maanda was not too overwhelmed by all these new impressions and passed the test. He went on to study Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town.

After four years of working late in the labs every day, Maanda graduated and got a job with a management consultancy. Two years later, he applied to McKinsey and has been working for the firm for the past six months.

While he was working, Maanda continued studying and recently completed his Masters Degree in Business Studies. During his first years, he bought himself an old car; the rest of his money went towards supporting his family back in Venda – paying the school fees for his sister, sending his mother money so she could buy medicine and building a four bedroom house for the family….

Now that’s what I call a goose bump story…

American Dream, go hide in the corner! Long live the South African Dream!