Guinea

IT School

"I learned a great deal during my time in the Netherlands." Gonotey L. lived in the Netherlands for five years before he returned to his hometown in Guinea.

"I enjoyed the football club in the Netherlands and I learned carpentry at the care farm. But it was not an easy time. I could not carry out my plans, I suffered from a lot of stress and wasted my time." Gonotey stayed in an asylum seekers' centre in the North of the Netherlands and with a host family in another small town. For the last nine months, his home was in Ter Apel, while he waited for travel documents to be able to return to Guinea.

Going back was not easy. "I was very uncertain. When I left, I had problems with my family but luckily they were happy that I was returning and they have really helped me. I met the local partner organisation in Guinea. They advised me to open a shop with the financial support I was getting from the project. I was also able to follow a computer course. I obtained the right diplomas there."

Since 2015, Gonotey has been developing a plan to open an IT school. There are no opportunities for the people in his village and the surrounding area to train in IT. The classroom is ready. He has arranged the computers and a printer with the support of his Dutch host family. Gonotey is ready to train his first students.

It is particularly interesting to know that Gonotey is going to give the IT training with another Guinean, someone he met at the asylum seekers' centre in Ter Apel. "My future colleague recently got his travel document and will return to Guinea in a few weeks' time. And that is not the only good news waiting for him. "I'm getting married next year!"