Progress Cembi

Progress is going places

“I come from Mount Frere, in the Eastern Cape. I moved to Cape Town in 1997 to seek employment. Before joining The Big Issue in 1999, I had several piece jobs in warehouses. I left a few months later after getting work as a cleaner at 2 Military Hospital in Wynberg. In 2008, I returned to The Big Issue.

I enjoy being a Big Issue entrepreneur, because it teaches one independence and how to work with people. I am now able to afford necessities and provide for myself and my family back home in the Eastern Cape. I have two boys whom I love so much, and it’s important that I provide for them, and set an example of a good father to them. Working for myself also gives me the opportunity to visit my family in the Eastern Cape regularly; my eldest son lives there.”