Big day at Iwawa as over 700 graduate

Other than let her youth plunge into a life of drugs among other social vices, the government set up a rehabilitation centre at Iwawa Island, off Lake Kivu. Today, 752 people, once considered delinquent, will graduate from the centre well equipped to positively contribute to the economic, social and cultural development of the country. According to Serge Guillaume Nzabonimana, an advisor in the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth, they will graduate in five vocational training skills “The number graduating in commercial farming is 156,231in construction, tailoring 101 in carpentry 108 and 157 finished a course in bee keeping,” Nzabonimana summed up. In February 2010, the Rehabilitation and Skills Development Centre at Iwawa Island, Rutsiro District was set up. Over one thousand youth were taken off the streets for rehabilitation. Young men between the ages of 18 to 35 live at the centre and are provided with a second chance in life for a fair fight on the job market. Didier Munezero, the Director of Partnership Building in the Work Force Development Authority, said that the youth acquired skills they can use to earn a living. “An assessment was made and those who passed will graduate today. Those that didn’t will have to repeat the courses,” Munezero explained. The programme is an initiative of the Ministry of Youth and other stakeholders to help street dwellers become responsible and productive citizens. Charles Kabanda, a parent of one of the youth at Iwawa Centre, said that the success of the process depends on re-integration with their parents. “When children turn out to be delinquents, their relations with their parents are severed. There will be need for reconciliation not only with the parents but with the community as well,” Kabanda, who also chairs the committee of parents and guardians with children at the centre.. “The youth at the centre testify that they have reformed especially in behaviour,” says Kabanda Ends

National

Big day at Iwawa as over 700 graduate