A fresh start in the vegetable departmen

A new start in the vegetable department
Armano Sheikh proudly walks across the vegetable department of Albert Heijn XL. Through Werkse!’s trial days, he ended up here. It was a good match right away. Not only for Armano, but also for the Albert Heijn. “When you get a job through Werkse! it’s usually a quiet start, with about three days a week, but I was able to start working full-time right away.”

It has not always been as sunny as the oranges in the vegetable department look for Armano. “When I was nineteen, I started studying junior account management. I was living with my mother. One day, we were taken out of our bed by the police in the morning. We could no longer stay in our house and were evicted.”

Chaos and instability
After that, a period of wandering began. Armano and his mother had temporary homes, from Rijswijk to Maastricht, and sometimes they lived nowhere at all. “It was a very intense time. I also quit my education. My life was so unstable. I had no time and space to study. I had jobs here and there, but never anything permanent. At one point, I was at a complete loss,” Armano says.

The kitchen is my playground
Through the municipality, he came into contact with Maaike from Werkse! “She saved my life. I was completely off the radar for a while, but she kept calling and contacting me. Eventually, through Werkse!, I got a job at the Firma van Buiten, a restaurant and catering company in Delft. There I found myself again. I discovered a passion for cooking. For me, the kitchen is a playground where I feel free to get creative with ingredients.”

Yet Armano was still missing something. “I also found out that I find contact with customers very important. That’s not there when you work in the kitchen. Werkse! then offered me trial days, in which you can work at a company for a short time and find out if it is something for you. I think this is a very good way to find the right job. I worked at different restaurants, catering companies and shops. The Appie was the absolute winner.”

Room for the future
Every day Armano starts at 6am. He does not find getting up early a problem. “I now have a permanent home again, close to my work, so I don’t have to travel far,” he says. It gives him peace of mind to live in one place and have a job again. Now I can think about the future again. Do I maybe still want to get an education or have a family one day? They are such normal life questions, but only now that my life is stable do I feel space in my head to allow those questions again.”

Armano would like to thank Werkse!, Perspektief and all the other agencies that helped him. “Because other people kept believing in me, I also believe in myself again. It is immediately the biggest tip I can give to others going through a difficult time. Don’t give up! The toughest moments make you the strongest person. My life is starting over now and I wish that to everyone.”