BUJUMBURA August 28th (ABP) – The Union of Young people Engaged in the Self-Development (UJEAD-Future Burundi) offered certificates on Saturday August 24, 2019 to 80 laureates having followed a training in the manufacture of solid soaps, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
The knowledge gained during the training focused on blue saponification, white saponification, scented saponification, liquid saponification and powdered saponification.
Before the granting of those certificates, a professor at the University of Burundi, in the Faculty of Sciences, explained to the laureates the difference between the degree, knowledge and life. Assistant Master Prosper Turimubumwe, speaking on that occasion as a consultant, said that the three elements are parallel. According to him, the degree is a simple paper certifying a level of knowledge or skills acquired after studies or after passing an exam. According to him, after having obtained the degree, one retains it and stays with the acquired knowledge and skills.
As for life, Mr. Turimubumwe indicated that it differs from the first two elements because it is otherwise oriented. He gave the example of someone who does not live at the expense of the field they followed at school. He also said that young people today are mistaken in believing that by finishing the studies, they buried “hoe and poverty.” For him, the end of the academic curriculum should be a moment of awareness on how to face life.
To the laureates who were awaiting to be certified, Consultant Turimubumwe asked them to use with professionalism the knowledge acquired during the training, to be innovative entrepreneurs and especially to make the internet their intimate friend because, he enlightened, all the opportunities are in that tool.
On his part, the legal representative and trainer of the UJEAD-Future Burundi, Mr. Saidi Vianney Baseka, who returned to the professionalism, said he will be satisfied when he learns that those laureates have benefited from the knowledge acquired and achieved much in society. According to him, since the manufacture of soap requires the use of certain chemicals that may be harmful to human health, he urged the beneficiaries of training to be cautious and above all to properly apply the knowledge they have had to not harm the health of their customers and lose confidence.
By sharing his knowledge with those young people, Mr. Baseka said that after finishing his university studies at the University of Burundi, he hoped to enjoy the delicious fruits of his degree. That’s how he was hired in the Zebra electronics company, with a salary that was not at all less, he said. Unfortunately, the situation of “milk and honey” only lasted the time of the dew because one day, while traveling, he was hit by a car and had to spend six months in a comatose state. God helped him and came out of that state but with his right arm unfit and his contract terminated.
Following that situation and the advice of his friends who reassured him that with one arm one can achieve what the two arms cannot achieve, the young Baseka did not lose courage at all. This is how he turned to entrepreneurship by founding the UJEAD-Future Burundi which makes beauty soaps from natural products.
Mr. Baseka has already participated in several national, regional and international trainings. This includes Young African Leaders Initiave (YALI), a 2010 President Obama initiative that took place in Kenya. Mr. Baseka is currently the laureate of Tony Elumelu Foundation’s (TEF) Entrepreneurship Program, where he recently completed his 12-week online training from Lagos, Nigeria. That training will be rewarded by a seed capital of 5000 dollars for the reinforcement of his activities.
On the side of the laureates who had just finished the training, it was the total satisfaction. Ms. Catherine Nsozera, who spoke on behalf of her colleagues, said that this training is timely because, according to her, Burundi currently needs young entrepreneurs to curb the issue of unemployment that waves the country. To that end, she affirmed that they have had sufficient knowledge that will be useful in their daily lives, especially in the manufacture of soaps. Ms. Nsozera thanked UJEAD-Future Burundi, encouraging that association to continue in that good way.
