Benito Mwanza
I’ve been coming to JET for a number of years now, ever since I moved to Newcastle. Since completing ESOL for Jobs and Work UK, I’ve had a number of paid and voluntary jobs, including support and interpreting work at the North of England Refugee Service and the Rights Project. Right now I’m about to start as a paid Teaching Assistant at Excelsior Academy in Denton, in the west end of Newcastle. I’ll be working mainly with students who have come over from Africa and are having difficulty settling into life and education in the UK, often because of language barriers. It was through the Interpreting Service, an organization I’d previously worked for, that I came into this job. They realized that my knowledge of French, Swahili, Lingala, German, Portuguese as well as English, would be a real asset to a school with so many students from overseas. My previous teaching experience back in Congo will also prove extremely useful in this new role.
JET has helped me so much over the years and are in my view one of the strongest organizations in the west end. I’ve been coming here ever since they opened offices in Cruddas Park and continue to make use of the IT resources available to clients. This has been particularly helpful in recent months, as I’ve been putting together plans for my own business. At the moment, I’m just looking forward to starting my new job at the Academy, but starting a business is definitely something I’d like to do in the future.