“Better to water all plants because you never know which one will give fruits before the other”, assert Burundians. Révérien Nimbona, from Butaganzwa Rusengo zone in Ruyigi Commune, did Pedagogy Section at Nyamutobo Communal Lycee. Nowadays he is a tailor.

Nimbona tells us that when he was in pedagogy third year, he saw that he cannot live upon one job and then he started thinking another thing he may learn apart from school instead of wasting time in unnecessary things. That is why he decided to go learn sewing clothes. “Studies helped me because I was courageous at school, and due to that I searched for something else to do so that money doesn’t come from just one source”, says Révérien.

After finishing his studies, he failed to get a job and he saw that the unemployment rate was very high. So in order to survive and develop himself, he started to make his profession of sewing clothes. Now, he tells us that him and his family live upon that profession. “I live on this profession of sewing clothes. We get food, we get monthly rent, and we really get other necessary needs thanks to my job.”

Révérien tells us that it was not easy at the beginning. “When I started I didn’t have my own sewing machine, I used to borrow from others. I then joined associations of saving, lending and borrowing money. I did my best to save money each week and after a year, we shared and I got money to buy my own sewing machine.”

He also says that he used to face an issue of the lack of clients. “Clients would not give me their clothes for fear that I might sew them in a wrong way because they were not used to me. But I continued because there were few people who trusted me, and once their clothes were well sewed, they had to go and tell others until I overcame that issue.”

Today, he has bought a more expensive machine than the former one which does multi-services and he has also bought a place where he works now.

He wishes, in five years, he may have built his own house, and a big sewing company in his province and another company for training other people who need to learn. He says he has already started training some people and they are now good at sewing.

He advises youths. “Life is difficult. There is no need to wait for a handout. But rather sit and think of what to do to develop yourselves and others.”