Mechanic finds employment on the road

WHEN mechanic Vincent Kondo left his house on Monday, April 3, his only plan was to access his savings at National Superannuation Fund (Nasfund) in Lae, Morobe.
The father of one, from Ialibu, Southern Highlands, had been struggling to secure formal employment for at least four years.
He had completed Grade 10 at Ialibu Secondary School and pursued trade mechanical skills training from 2009 to 2010 at Don Bosco Technical School in Kerowagi, Chimbu.
Kondo secured employment with big companies like Ramu Agri Limited and Cameron Construction.
He said nothing was permanent as he was always part of the group that was made redundant in the companies he worked with.
Kondo’s last formal employment was with IPI Transport from 2015-2018 where he was again laid off with about 21 other staff.
Over the four years, Kondo offered his mechanical services on hire basis to earn an income.
“Every day, I would come into town and walk around to see if anyone needed their vehicle looked at or hope someone would recognise me and ask me for my help,” he said.
“Income was less but at least it was something to help my family; the nature of this job also did not guarantee that I would return home with money every day.”
On April 2, Kondo went to get his Nasfund savings but seeing the long queue, he went to rest at First Street instead.
About four minutes into his rest, he heard a loud bang and a vehicle skidded to a stop in front of him.
“A tire had popped out and the vehicle was completely immobile, stopping the entire traffic,” he said.
“After seeing that this was causing traffic congestion, I stepped in and offered help.
“I jacked the vehicle, inspected it and gave a list of parts to the vehicle owner to go buy.
“He returned with the parts and I fixed his vehicle.”
The vehicle owner, Theodore Tei, said his recently established SME picked up in business, so did his vehicle fleet.
“I was considering getting a full-time mechanic when fate brought me to Vincent,” Tei said.
“I was frantically calling for a mechanic on my phone when from the crowd he stepped out offering his services.”