In the Kirehe Parish, the Lutheran Church of Rwanda has partnered with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America to build and maintain a welding school. Beginning in 2012, this school has provided unemployed and at-risk youth with the skills to join the workforce and contribute to our county’s development. We have already graduated our first class of students, and we currently have 35 students
The 1st class of 19 youth was graduated in 2013. These youth today some have employed themselves other employed by private companies working in metal industries . Thanks to ELCA for supporting this program
We believe in the equal opportunity for all people to learn skills to contribute to their livelihood. Even though welding is seen as a traditionally masculine career, we are currently training four women.
We have high hopes that this project will continue to grow and serve youths interested in a career in welding. Our goal is to train 100 students a year by 2017. We are also hoping that the graduates of our welding shop, who are mostly self-employed, can create a cooperative by which our future graduates can network with previous students in order to find employment. But most importantly, we hope to continue to provide unemployed and at-risk youth with the skills and opportunity to support their livelihoods.
