May 8, 2022
News
Tháer Hazem Aziz, a 25-year-old newlywed, is also a father-to-be. Despite the fact that he was born and raised in Ramadi, he and his family live Al-Heet today. He was studying before ISIS attacked, but after ISIS he sometimes would his father fix heaters, refrigerators, and cookers. Thaer was unemployed before to enrolling in the Livelihood Initiative, but he had a strong interest in refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment repair and wanted to learn more about it. Thaer was able to work in this field thanks to the Caritas Czech Republic and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Thaer's involvement in the effort to improve his life
A graduate of Anbar University's College of Education, Thaer holds a bachelor's degree in English. They are a family of 10 members. He and his father are the only ones who are employed. On Facebook he discovered the existence of a job-placement in the area. He went to the Al-Heet Youth Center (registration center) to learn more about the registration process for this initiative, and then he registered for it.
He is the only member of his family to participate in the project, and he had to wait three weeks before the Caritas Czech called to tell him he had been selected. Mustafa, the owner of the equipment maintenance workshop in the region, provided him with on-the-job training and three months of instruction in the field of refrigeration and air-conditioning device maintenance.
Some of Thaer's initial experiences working with his hands, such welding refrigeration pipes, were challenging, and he only mastered how to do it by returning to his employer. He is still employed in the business, where he is always learning new things about his field of work. To launch his own business, Thaer saved a portion of his monthly stipend from the Caritas Czech over these three months, but he now hopes to gather more experience and expertise before doing so. The remainder of his earnings were put to good use taking care of his family.
Thaer was offered a job at the business when the training completed, and he currently works for the owner of the business where he was trained.
"My family's needs were met as a result of this project, which improved my quality of life. As a result of this project, I gained valuable expertise and knowledge in the field of refrigeration and air conditioning device repair," said Thaer.
"Thank you to Caritas and the UNDP for this chance, and thank you to Mr. Mustafa, the owner of the workshop, for supporting me and teaching me this profession and the expertise of maintaining air-conditioning and refrigeration machines," he added.
The project is implemented by UNDP Iraq in partnership with Caritas Czech Republic in Iraq with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) provided through Kfw Development Bank.
Interested in more stories like this? Read more:
- Kamal launched his own sweets shop in the Al-Kubaisa sub-district (charita.cz)
- Yasmine was able to open her own salon thanks to the Caritas Czech Republic and UNDP (charita.cz)
- Rana opened the first private educational institute in the Al-Muhammedi Sub-District (charita.cz)
