Tebogo Assagaai made the most of opportunities offered through Afrika Tikkun and the Global Skills Initiative. It’s paving his way to economic freedom.
When Tebogo Assagaai, 27, came to Afrika Tikkun in May 2020 to enquire about our Career Development and Placement (CDP) Programme, he had little knowledge of programming but a huge a passion for working with computers, a love for graphic design and a willingness to tackle the detail involved in coding. He found his home at the Belron Training Centre under the guidance of Senior Facilitator, Nji Adoufa, completing a course in Software Development.
In addition to the hard knowledge gained in his course, it was the teamwork within the programme that left an indelible impression on Tebogo. “Friends became family,” he says. “We saw the bigger world the tech industry offered. I realized that studying alone was not good; we needed to validate the information together, identify and discuss difference sources and accept the importance of a second and third opinion.” Although it was natural to have disagreements within the team, team members always put aside their emotions and egos to ensure the task was complete to a good standard and quality.
As the implementing agency for the Global Skills Initiative (GSI), Afrika Tikkun made GSI registration and study easily accessible. Tebogo grabbed the opportunity. He chose to pursue GSI’s online Microsoft Azure Developer course as it represented a component of software development that would complement his studies at Belron at the time. “I knew becoming more familiar with Azure would complete the life cycle of an application,” says Tebogo. Tebogo wrote and passed his exam for Azure in March 2021, proud to have achieved 79% in one component of the exam – Develop Azure Complete Solutions.
With the knowledge gained at the Belron Training Centre, his Azure Developer certificate and most recently, the skills gained through completion of an Oracle Certified Professional qualification at Boston College, Tebogo is ready to pursue economic opportunities with vigour. “This has been the greatest thing to happen to me,” says Tebogo, referring to his decision to study software development through Afrika Tikkun. “Things make so much sense now. I’m still working with my team and we’re interested in building projects and approaching companies willing to support the development of our ideas.” We’re excited about where Tebogo’s journey will take him next. He’s well on his way to economic freedom.
