Jean Ngendahimana

Jean Ngendahimana is a Rwandan former radio journalist now based in Berlin. He writes about migration, entrepreneurship, business in Africa and international relations.  

His most memorable paycheck: When I was in my second year at the university, I wanted to have first-hand work experience. So I joined a media company as a volunteer. I did not know that they would reward me with anything at the end of the month. My colleagues who were on the company payroll started bragging about how they were gonna have fun when they got paid, but me, I was not interested in their conversation. In June 2012, the managing director of the company called me into the office and told me that he was glad that I joined and that my contribution meant a lot to the team’s work. He then handed me a check of 200,000 RWF, equal to €200. I was happy, and it gave me confidence in my career ambitions.