Chadrack: a teen with big dreams
Despite the obstacles, Chadrack is determined to succeed in life and start an information technology business.
- Français
- English
“I thought my life was over,” says Chadrack Sivi, aged 17, remembering the day when he had to leave school, just after obtaining his certificate for completing Primary studies. Chadrack was unable to progress to Secondary studies as the school fees were too high.
It was not until October 2019 that Chadrack began believing in his dreams again, when he received ICT training in a UNICEF-backed centre in Kimpese, a town in the Kongo-Central province.
For 6 months, Chadrack was trained in new forms of ICT. He remained motivated throughout, despite having to travel 10 km a day without a wheelchair. “Three years ago, my wheelchair was destroyed in a crush at a football match,” explains Chadrack, who has been able to make use of the training centre’s car to complete the majority of his journeys.
In front of the computer at the training centre, Chadrack allows no one to distract him. He wants to take in every single piece of the course material. From Windows to installing different apps, information and communication technologies and mobile phones, he wants to know it all. This course was started for the benefit of children who left school early such as Chadrack.
This course was started for the benefit of children who left school early such as Chadrack. For this reason, the introduction to information technology is supported by a range of general education classes including literacy, reading, writing and citizenship.
Chadrack is determined to make the most of this opportunity to acquire the necessary competencies before starting “his business”, as he enjoys calling it.
“I’ll soon have my own ICT company where I will handle and print documents, install mobile apps and configure WIFI and telephones.”
Like Chadrack, more than 500 out-of-school adolescents took part in this accelerated training programme supported by UNICEF. Today, the training having finished, Chadrack continues to complete exercises on an old computer to avoid forgetting what he has learned. He does all this whilst waiting for his completion kit containing an Android phone and some starter telephone credit in order to launch his business.
