Student Story: UWINEZA BENJAMIN

I would like to introduce you to Uwineza Benjamin. He is a 2012 secondary school graduate and was sponsored by Global Capacity for his last three years of school. He studied in the Physics, Chemistry, and Math section and finished with high marks to continue with a scholarship to university. He has been attending university and recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering.

When Benjamin chose this university program, it was only the second year that it was offered at any university in Rwanda. He was very interested in this subject and hopeful that he would quickly be able to find a job upon receiving his diploma since there would be minimal competition for jobs with such a new degree program. During his time in university, he was also able to take some additional courses to follow another passion of his: digital multimedia. As an artist, he is excited to use his talents in this way for advertising, television, animation, and other types of projects.

Benjamin is working hard to find a job upon completing his university program. Unfortunately, it has been more difficult than he anticipated to find a job in the biomedical engineering field. While much development is occurring here in Rwanda, there are still only a few hospitals with the equipment that would require the skills of a biomedical engineer for use and maintenance. He is hopeful that as things continue to progress and more hospitals and medical facilities are built that he will be able to find meaningful work related to this degree. He is also looking for opportunities in the digital multimedia job market here to use these skills.

Sadly, Benjamin’s mother (a widow) recently passed away and he is now the head-of-household and caring for his three younger siblings (one in university, one in secondary school, and one in primary school). His mama had been sick off-and-on for a little while but suddenly lapsed into a coma and passed away very quickly. It has been difficult for these children to mourn the loss of their mother and figure out what life will look like in the days ahead. Thankfully, they own their home and have several units within their compound that they rent to other families and have a little bit of income from. We are hopeful that Benjamin will be able to find full-time employment soon! We will continue to support and encourage this family and walk with them on this next part of the journey.

Thanks for your part in that, too!

Hannah Ingram
Program Director