Ummeli

Ummeli is an application on the phone and a website that you can download, or go to, to find jobs in Africa. I found a news article that talked all about the dedication African's have to find a job, and the lack of employers that try to hire these people. This news article is from BBC News and is called South Africa's huge unemployment problem. 

 In the news clip, it shows many men and women in Africa standing on street corners carrying signs of what they are capable of. For example one man they interviewed was shown holding a sign that said "plumber". The mans name is Rudzani Richard and he states that goes to the same street Monday through Friday looking for any job he can get. It is known that these people only know the basic skills, and that it is unlikely that they will receive a job, but they try to make ends met. Rudzani says that he rarely ever gets offered a job, and when he does it is only for one or two days a week. Do you think that it is only offered to him one or two days because they realize the kind of skills he has, so they let him go? He is only twenty nine years old. This just goes to show that the rest of these peoples lives really can be ruined forever if they lack the skills they need. A quarter of South Africa's population is unemployed, and 70 percent of those are people under the age of twenty five.

A women named Shiko Gitau studied in South Africa and saw first hand the people who stand on the streets looking for jobs. She didn't like what she saw, thus creating the app/website called Ummeli. She went to a city in South Africa and spent several months observing how the people live. She worked with one specific women, whom she thought to use the internet on her phone. The first thing the women looked up on the internet was "Jobs in Cape Town". This is what inspired Shiko to create the website. The women showed just how much of an issue unemployment in Africa was. The website that was created asks twelve questions and the answers to the questions are immediately sent to local employers.

Herman Mamabolo in a man who lives in an Africa township who used Ummeli. He says that ever since he has used the app many employers have contacted him. This application has brought many hope to the people living in Africa that they will soon be employed.

People in America can do a lot to help African unemployment. Shiko Gitau did not just help Herman, but his family too. She gave hope to may Africans that couldn't find anymore hope. This news article really goes to show how much youth unemployment in Africa is an issue, but also how much other people can help out, and change the future for the youth in the work field.