At the brink of dropping out from school due to financial challenges, Jacques Bikorimamana was admitted as a beneficiary of one-year dual training in the welding trade under the sponsorship of the TVET-BiWe Partnership Project in the Intake of 2019-2020.

Despite the COVID-19 breakdown which delayed the training, Jacques Bikorimamana had the endurance to complete his courses. He attended online courses during the lockdown period and did an apprenticeship in different companies afterward.

Following his successful training completion, he got a professional internship at one of the Chinese companies in Rwanda where he was assigned to build roofs. After one year, he joined a Kenyan’s construction company, based in Rwanda, to perform the same duties.

“In July 2022, I was selected among the best employees of the company to represent this company to perform the same duties. We spent almost two months in Bujumbura, the Capital City of Burundi to build the roof of one of the prominent church and we did it well.” Jacques said.

During two months in Bujumbura, Jacques managed to work with various sub-contracting companies until he returned back to Rwanda. From now on, Jacques is working with a Kenyan company where he is leading the project of constructing roofs for the Soft Packaging Industry in Ndera Sector, in Kigali. Jacques is planning to buy a plot in Kigali city as a reward for his hard work.

“I work hard to prepare for my future and for my family. I encourage my fellow young people to do their best in order to tap each and every opportunity and to be competent on the labour market.”

He added that the moment TVET-BiWe Partnership gave him the opportunity to learn welding, he knew that he had to grab it and change his story and that of his family. He said, “I had wished to get this opportunity and it came right on time. I regained my confidence and self-esteem as l got a new way of my life.”

The TVET-BiWe Partnership Project is implemented since November 2017 with the funds of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through sequa gGmbH and under the management of BildungsWerk der Baden-Württembergischen Wirtschaft e.V (BiWe)"