Students say ‘Yes’ to thinking big

• Published date: 16 June 2022
• Author: Judith Lacy
• Publication title: Guardian, The

Thet Min Cho Aung and Patricia Cucu are participating in the Young Enterprise Scheme (Yes). They have founded S.E.L.F + to acknowledge, accept and lift people who need it. The 15-year-olds want to eventually offer an employment agency, housing assistance service, and accommodation

S.E.L.F stands for secure, empathy, liability (a trustworthy service), and future.

Thet Min Cho says they hang out together at weekends and feel guilty seeing homeless people and people asking for money in central Palmerston North.

Last year, they both gained NCEA Level 1 business studies. Patricia says they saw Yes as an opportunity to work on starting a social enterprise and provide support for people in need.

“We just want to help,” Thet Min Cho says.

They have started by researching the need and developing contacts. Step two will be approaching potential employers and finding out what those seeking employment are keen to do.

They plan to start with a trial of a small group of jobseekers to see how their ideas work and get feedback from employers.

Thet Min Cho says their target market is homeless people but they would need a housing facility so are starting with the employment agency concept.

Their idea is to take 10 per cent of what job seekers they matched with employers earn and reinvest in the social enterprise.

The business partners are keen to focus on agriculture as an employment opportunity, saying it is easy to learn and provides the opportunity for people to feed themselves.

The housing facility would also offer physical and mental therapy, and basic education (reading, writing...