The incredible story of Bahati Shaban, a refugee changing lives of fellow youths through carpentry

AGGREY NYONDWA

A large number of the over 1.3 million refugees in Uganda are youths who fled war and deprivation to safety.

Some left school, jobs, and families. Bahati Shaban, 34, a refugee from DR Congo is one of many who had to leave behind a good life and flee to Uganda.

He arrived in the country in 2013 with his mother and siblings after his father and younger brother got killed in Congo.

“The journey to Uganda was very challenging because we didn’t come with anything. We just found ourselves in Kampala and at that time we had no idea that there were refugee settlements in Uganda. We stayed in Kampala for over two months before OPM [Office of the Prime Minister] relocated us to Kyaka II refugee settlement” Bahati explained.

After reaching the settlement in south western Uganda, Bahati and his family were allocated a small piece of land to stay and start a life. He says this wasn’t enough because they needed to have enough food and space to accommodate everyone as they had come.

They tried farming but it never paid off because the land was too small. It’s then that Bahati started thinking about how important it was for him to move out of the comfort zone.

“When we arrived, many refugees had started constructing their small houses and it was an opportunity for me to start. I moved around looking for some jobs to work as a porter and help those who were building. I got a number of opportunities and started earning something small for my family," he said.

This however, wasn’t going to last forever. After a few months, demand for his services went down as the number of refugees constructing houses declined and many other young men were competing for the same jobs.

This is when Bahati realised that it was time to move on to something else. Something better and more permanent, something he loved, he had learned, and something that would make him a boss of his own. This had to be carpentry.

Having Bahati’s father was a carpenter and he taught him most of the basics in this trade.

Bahati used the money he earned from working as a porter to start his new business - once he got started, there was no looking back.

“I had managed to raise about Shs 60,000 ($16) from building, so I bought my first hand plane, tape measure, hammer and started hunting for carpentry jobs” he said.

‘Bahati’ is Swahili for luck, and just like his name, Bahati was lucky to immediately get a customer who contracted him to work on his doors and windows for a small fee.

He didn’t mind the fee because he was sure it was going to be a great opportunity for him to start. Having worked on this client’s items after some time, he started attracting other clients.

“I had started to establish myself now. The only challenge was that I had no place to work. I couldn’t continue doing my business at this client’s place, but after talking to him and explaining my situation and how much I needed to work, he let me keep the place for some time before we started paying him some rent. I got a few more youths to work with and the business started growing.” Bahati recalls.

One day, Bahati was sighted by a prominent carpenter and business man who was visiting the settlement. The businessman offered him a contract to work with him in Kisasi, a Kampala suburb.

This is how he got back to Kampala and was forced to learn Luganda to be able to effectively communicate with clients.

After a two years stay in Kampala, Bahati returned to the settlement with a goal of developing fellow youths by creating employment opportunities for them and equipping them with skills. From his earnings in Kampala, he bought better tools and raised enough rent.

He named his workshop Vijana Twendereye (Youth development) with a sole goal of redeeming his fellow youths out of poverty and unemployment.

"After this, I was sighted by World Vision who surveyed my business and found the place fit to train more youths. I was given some money to buy a few more items and this is how I got more trainees on board. I was supposed to train them for only four months but from my experience this wasn’t enough time so I offered to train them for as long as they still wanted to learn," he said.

From the lot that Bahati trained working with World Vision, including David Muhindo and Jean Havashimana, the former was retained at the workshop where he still works up to now whereas the latter moved on to start his own carpentry shop from the learning he had got.

“I didn’t know anything other than farming. I was then enrolled by World Vision into this programme which has greatly improved my life. I can now join timber and wood to make beds, chairs and tables for people. With this work, I am able to afford to buy some soap for my family” said Muhindo, a beneficiary of the Vocational skills training programme, and Bahati’s former student.

Muhindo also praises his teacher cum boss for his persistence and patience when dealing with his students or employees.

“Sometimes I fail to learn something the first time, and maybe not even the second or third but Bahati never gives up. He is always willing to continue teaching, always focusing on the positive side, with the hope that one time we will all learn and be like him, or even better than him. This has only encouraged me to work harder.” Muhindo added.

Ending youth unemployment and transforming lives

Bahati’s vision is to see all youths in the settlement and in Uganda wake up and do something on their own without waiting for the government to give them jobs.

He believes there are many opportunities that the youth could grab to grow and develop themselves.

“The challenge with the youth in Uganda is that they wait for jobs to find them, forgetting that it’s all about pro-activeness. They are lucky that it’s peaceful here, no bullets or bombs like the case in Congo, and this is the most conducive environment for youths to work,” he said.

He recalls a youth, Phinesi Maombi who was addicted to drinking and using drugs but is now a totally changed young man doing his work and earning some money at the workshop.

Phinesi, 20, confirmed to us how meeting Bahati greatly transformed his life.

“I came with my mother and little siblings. After failing to find what to do, I resorted to drinking and taking drugs. This was my kind of life until the night I was so drunk and staggered into a restaurant looking for what to eat. I didn’t realize that I was stealing food. I was beaten up so badly and it was Bahati who rescued me. He locked me in his workshop store that night and the next morning we started working. I didn’t know anything but he taught me. He became my friend since then and I am a changed person now, all thanks to him” Phinesi confessed.

Saving and Loan association

Bahati didn’t stop at that, he introduced a savings association among his boys at the workshop to encourage them to save the little they are able to earn from their works.

They meet every week after splitting their weekly earnings. Each one of them is required to save Shs 20,000 ($5) every week with the association.

“I noticed that whenever the boys get money, they end up using the whole of it on unimportant things because sometimes it’s little. We therefore decided to come up with a mandatory saving culture which has greatly helped. They can now save enough to do bigger things at their homes and in their lives.” Bahati said.

The association also provides small loans to other youths to attract a profit from interests. ‘Vijana Twendereye’ Workshop is located in Bukere trading Centre in Kyaka II refugee settlement.

According to Bahati, the business has over 20 dedicated customers and his plan is to grow it better through expansion of staff, man power and the kind of machines and tools used.

Uganda’s internationally acclaimed refugee policy allows refugees like Bahati to startup businesses whenever and wherever they want.

Charity organizations like World Vision are trying to exploit this opportunity by empowering refugee youths to startup their own business through vocational trainings.

In Kyaka II alone, over 100 youths were trained in carpentry, motor vehicle repairing, welding, hairdressing, and tailoring.