Silver linings: Alain Gatungo
Silver Linings
Before their paths crossed ours, they were already on an incredible journey. The alumni and participants at Blue Road Academy have countless stories. Stories full of strength, perseverance, and hope — stories that deserve to be told.
This time, we are sharing the story of
Alain Gatungo, a young man whose life took some dramatic turns before settling down in the Netherlands.
Kampala, Uganda
“The story of Congo is a very sad one. It is one of the most beautiful countries ever. The rainforest, the animals, the mountains… The richness and beauty of Congo — it somehow became its curse. Gold, diamonds, uranium, coltan, cobalt… Things that should benefit the people, actually harmed them. So much beauty, and nobody is able to enjoy it.”
Alain Gatungo was still a kid when he had to leave Congo behind; he was only twelve years old at the time. From a young age, there have been many dramatic changes in his life, but today, he is finally living a very happy life in Amsterdam - only fifteen minutes away from his parents. Here, he is able to work on a promising career. It has been a decade since his life was uprooted for the first time. The journey that led him here was emotionally difficult. “I don’t think a lot about these times in my life, because the outcome didn’t continue to be bad. However, it is still a part of me.”
Rainy days
Alain grew up in Congo, a place troubled by war and conflict for centuries. As a child, he grew up in the eastern part of Congo, where he lived in Uvira with his family. He comes from a big African family with five siblings — four brothers and one sister. At one point during the war, the family was separated from their mother. For years, nobody knew what happened to her. Together with his stepfather and siblings, he fled to Uganda. It was an extremely difficult time. Not only was it difficult to process the separation, but it also took a lot of effort to adjust to the new country. Growing up in Congo, the family spoke French. In Uganda, one of the major issues for all of them was learning English. Alain, as a young boy, also had to navigate a new educational system. Something that was not easy for him. He always had an interest in technology, studying his neighbors’ phones and computers, trying to figure out how it all worked and how to connect it to the internet. “In Africa, people have less knowledge about tech. I wanted to know how it all worked.” Years later, this curiosity led him to study computer science at Bugema University in Kampala.
Completely unexpected, after five years of being in Uganda, Alain’s mother finally located her family. After they were separated, she found her way to the Netherlands and has been living there ever since. Since most Congolese fled to Uganda, she had a feeling they would be there, and she sent people to look out for the family. Alain’s brother was working in the city at the time. They found him and for the first time in years, the family had contact again with their mother. After years of not knowing what had happened, it did not even seem like a possibility anymore to be reunited. In Alain’s mind, there was no chance to ever see his mother again. The family was reunited in the Netherlands, and so his life drastically changed for the second time.
Mount Kahuzi, Congo
Bright future
Starting a new life in Europe, Alain was full of questions. It was a confusing time, and he had to figure out again what his life was going to be like in another new country. Again, he had to overcome a new language barrier. The first years were all about learning and doing exams. It was an overwhelming time where he not only had to study hard, learning Dutch at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and take integration courses; as a young adult, he also had to find a path in life and explore who he is. Alain first joined an IT program taught in Dutch, but his language skills were not sufficient at the time and he had to quit. After a while, he found a startup, Integri, that believed in him. They wanted him to join a program where he would be trained in Salesforce, receive payment, and end up with a job offer. It all sounded very promising, like a dream come true, until another setback happened: Covid. Since Integri was a startup and it was unclear at the time how the pandemic would affect their company, the offer fell through. Luckily, Alain found Blue Road Academy. Despite the pandemic, the program still continued, and Alain was able to move forward again. He successfully finished the program in the fall of 2020. Quickly, he had the chance to join one of Blue Road’s recruitment partners: Valtech (formerly Appsolutely). He started working at the company as an Administrator in March 2021. Since then, he has grown a lot, and he strives to become a Developer in the future. Alain envisions a bright future and a very promising career. “There are a lot of things in the job that are very exciting. I like to keep the path open and explore all the opportunities there are.”
Alain does not have a very strong connection to Congo anymore, unfortunately, since he left when he was young. One day, he hopes to return and explore the country where his roots lie. “I am very happy where I am now, in the Netherlands, where I am able to see the future.”
Mount Nyiragongo, Congo
