Pilot project of training in handling of heavy equipment

Since its deployment after the earthquake, the Japanese engineering contingency (JAPANCOY) of the Force of The United Nations Mission for Stabilization in Haiti (Minustah), has to its credit, numerous works, such as the rehabilitation of roads, the demolition of buildings and debris removal.

Today, the Japanese peacekeepers learn to 4 Haitians [2 women and 2 men] since July 12, to handle loader and grader, heavy equipments used in engineering.

The two women are trained mainly, with their loader to load sand into dump trucks. The two men, for their part, they maneuver the grader to spread the fill or leveling lands. In addition to the formation on the handling of heavy equipment, the beneficiaries have received a basin theoretical training in maintenance.

This intensive training, theoretical and practical is provided by a team of six instructors headed by the engineer Masaru Imade since July 12 and is part of a pilot project that could extend to larger numbers. The learning period extends over slightly more than two weeks and will end with assessment tests, attested by a certificate.

“I am proud to operate a loader. This training allows me to fulfill a dream because I always wanted to drive heavy equipments” welcomes Judete Delva, noting that there are very few women in the country, who are attracted by these professions.

According to one of two men in training, Jean-Pierre Fleuré [unemployed without profession], “there are no institutions providing this type of training in Haiti. By learning to use engineering equipment, we are better equipped to participate in the reconstruction of our country. In addition, this training offers us opportunities of jobs.” Jean-Pierre welcomes the availability of instructors and the teaching methods used to transmit knowledge “We learned a lot in a relatively short period of time. Elsewhere, several months are necessary to acquire all the knowledge that we have received in two weeks […] it would be a plus for the country if other entities could, as the Japanese, helping young people without profession to learn a trade.”