(MissionNewswire) After the Rwandan government partially eased the lockdown to prevent COVID-19 in the country, construction has resumed at the Don Bosco Technical School in Rango. The school is developing a new modern building that will host culinary arts and hairdresser courses. The construction was made possible by the Don Bosco Tech Africa initiative.

Don Bosco Tech Africa, which started six years ago and is committed to helping improve the quality of vocational and technical training in Africa, selected Don Bosco Technical School among the centers that will benefit from aid for modernization. The site’s construction company is providing work to 32 local people, five of whom are young students training at the Don Bosco Technical School.

Don Bosco Technical School was initially established to accommodate young Salesians preparing to become priests, living there and attending classes. Now it serves as the site for technical and vocational education for young people, a large number of them coming from poor families.

Father Jean Pierre Turabanye, the school’s director, noted that last year enrollment at the school increased from 65 students enrolled the previous year. While the school has been closed due to the pandemic, Salesians hope classes can resume soon.

Fr. Turabanye said, “Last year we had more than 100 students registered for classes who came to the school from around the region. They enrolled in six vocational training courses that the school offers including construction, carpentry, hospitality, sewing, hairdressing and welding.”

Students are offered lunch at no cost, thanks to the help of donors. Don Bosco Technical School also provides other forms of support for its students, as well as sports and student field visits. The school has 10 teachers, a deputy in charge of studies, a deputy in charge of disciplines and two German volunteers.

Salesian missionaries have been living and working in the Great Lakes region of Rwanda for more than 50 years providing education and social programs to give youth hope for a brighter future.

Many of the country’s orphaned children are the tragic result of a violent civil war. Half of all children drop out of primary school and 2.2 million people—22 percent of the population—face critical food shortages. Rwandans are anxious to move their country forward but need substantial help to do so.

After bravely overcoming the trauma of the 1994 genocide, Rwandans looking to transform their country have made remarkable progress. Still, much remains to be done. Close to 39 percent of Rwandans live in poverty, according to the World Bank. Rwanda is a rural, agrarian country with about 35 percent of the population engaged in subsistence agriculture and with some mineral and agro-processing.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Rwanda – Construction of new classrooms at Don Bosco Rango

Salesian Missions – Rwanda

UNICEF – Rwanda