Feature: Chinese Luban workshop injects new vitality into Tanzania's youth engineers

Students learn vocational skills in the Luban Workshop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, March 20, 2023. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua)

DAR ES SALAAM, March 23 (Xinhua) -- In Tanzania, a workshop named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban is providing vocational skills training for local youths who are brimming with excitement as they work in an automobile workshop wearing blue overalls.

Operating under the state-run National Institute of Transport (NIT) in Tanzania, the Luban workshop under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has already attracted 39 students, mostly those pursuing automobile engineering and locomotive technology studies.

Twenty-one-year-old Odhiambo Joseph Awino, one of the beneficiaries of the Luban workshop training project, told Xinhua in a recent interview that the Luban workshop has exposed him to a lot of skills from China.

"The skills and knowledge I am getting from the Luban workshop will give me more exposure and experience in the automobile field," said Awino, a first-year student at the NIT studying automobile engineering and locomotive technology.

He said the Luban workshop training project was not only exposing him to automotive skills but also to Chinese culture, as he was learning the Chinese language as part of the program.

Awino, a resident of Mwandege village in the Mkuranga district in the Coast region, said he welcomed more projects like this in Africa, adding that since the world has advanced in technology, Africa should not be left behind.

"If we get enough skills, 10 or 20 years to come, we should not rely much on external aid," said the young student, who also hoped that the training could be extended to other disciplines apart from automotive engineering. "I thank our Chinese partners. It has been an honor, and I feel very lucky to be part of this Luban workshop training project. I thank China for not being selfish and bringing this training project to Tanzania."

Awino's fellow students Lewis Leonard Ntabwa, 20, a resident of Mabibo Mnarani in the port city of Dar es Salaam, and Isaya Edward, 18, a resident of Tegeta, also in Dar es Salaam, told Xinhua that they were thrilled to be part of the Luban workshop training project.

"We are looking forward to being skilled engineers after we complete training under the Luban workshop project," beamed Ntabwa and Edward, both first-year students at NIT studying automobile engineering and locomotive technology.

With the training they were getting, mostly online from the Luban workshop, they were confident that they will become employable anywhere in Tanzania after completion of their training.

"We thank China for showing their cooperation with Tanzania, and Africa in general, by deeds and not words," said Ntabwa, adding that he was looking forward to getting employed in the standard gauge railway currently under construction.

Faraja Nyangassa, assistant lecturer in automobile engineering at NIT, said the Luban workshop training project was introduced at NIT in October 2022 to both teachers and students by learning the Chinese language before they moved to learn automotive skills.

Nyangassa said the difference between the Luban workshop and traditional workshops is that the Luban workshop is dealing with the assembling and disassembling of modern vehicles, and it is more practical than traditional workshops.

"A student who completes training with Luban workshop can assemble and disassemble modern vehicles singlehandedly," he said.

Jefferson Benjamin Maisson, a lecturer in mechanical engineering and automobile engineering at the NIT since 2019, welcomed more Luban workshops to Africa because they will bring more benefits.

"The Luban workshop is introducing to Africa new automotive engineering technologies. These new engineering technologies will help Africa to develop," said Maisson.

The China-Tanzania Automotive Luban Workshop and China-Tanzania Automotive Academy were jointly established on Feb. 16, 2022, by China's Zibo Vocational Institute, NIT, and Sunmaker Training Institute.

The project aims to provide more high-quality education and teaching resources for Tanzania's automotive engineering and other related majors, and to cultivate talents proficient in automotive-related majors.

Students learn vocational skills in the Luban Workshop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, March 20, 2023. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua)