Employees cheerful for employment opportunities at the Don Bosco Gatenga Hospitality Center

By Ange de la Victoire DUSABEMUNGU

If no changes, in November 2022, the Salesians of Don Bosco in Rwanda will begin hosting guests at the remarkable Hospitality Center under construction at Don Bosco Gatenga Youth Center in Kigali.

The construction Work for this environmentally friendly center was resumed in February 2022 after it was halted by the COVID 19 pandemic.

This Hospitality Center will be a model in modern infrastructures that are environmentally friendly.

Construction workers are happy for the employment that they have got at the difficult times mainly due to the effects of COVID 19 that have slashed down the number of employment opportunities not only in Rwanda, but also across the world.

Any of these employees can tell you how he or she is benefiting from this construction site. Broadly speaking, this hospitality centre is another face lift for Gatenga Community

Quotes from Interviewed Workers at the site

“My name is Niragire Jeannette. This employment has contributed a lot in my development, especially as we emerge from the effects of COVID 19. The money I earn helps me deal with household chores”

“We can now have employment opportunities. We get the money to support our families, we get the money to pay for health insurance, and we pay the school fees for the children. In brief, we have no problem,” said Jean Claude

“These employment opportunities are alleviating us from poverty. We are able to get health Insurance fees and school fees as well, for sure we are fighting poverty”

Between 75 and 170 employees are currently employed at the construction site, thanks to the funding from the German Ministry of Development and Economic Cooperation donated through Don Bosco Mondo, the leading arm of the development of the Salesian Institutions.

Once completed, the Hospitality Center will provide employment and training opportunities for students of Culinary Arts and hospitality at Don Bosco Gatenga Vocational Training School.

Through this project, the state of arts Classrooms for Culinary Arts and Hospitality students have almost been completed at the center.

The German government sponsored the project to advance practical skills among young people, where students study but also find a place to apply what they have learned in theory.

This is also part of the education system that addresses the issues facing the Labor Market, as defined in the new Salesian education model.