Like the other member countries of the Ploutos project, EMN, the Belgium-based partner, has just finished six weeks of business language courses. Indeed, since January, Third-Country nationals have followed courses to understand how to create a business or find a job in Belgium. PLOUTOS will facilitate TCNs’ access to financial services through language and community interpreting courses, entrepreneurship and financial literacy training, and innovative technological tools specially designed for them.
As per the grant agreement, PLOUTOS seeks to ensure that TCNs become productive members that contribute to society and thus promote the welfare and growth of the area they live in.
The business language courses took place in Brussels on the premises of Microstart, the Belgian leader in microfinance. The participants came from Brussels but also from Flanders, the Northern part of the country.
Participants took the train to attend the course twice a week. During the course, they developed a special relationship with each other and with the trainers. They always asked their questions during the class but also during the break or at the end. The classes were interactive throughout the six weeks.
The participants also started to support and help each other. They supported Achille, one of the participants who is starting a business selling Sweat Shirts and Tee Shirts by asking him to present his products to the whole class and also to buy his products.
The story of Carine, a young Congolese woman who struggles alone to run a restaurant specialising in African gastronomy, was particularly touching. To support her, her classmates decided that, on the last day, all the participants would have lunch at her place.
The course was a success. This is proven by the fact that some of the participants are even thinking of creating a co-business space where they could share the rental fees. They aim to become a bus driver, create a chain of high-class African restaurants, build a fashion house, and sell African products. These are among the dreams participants wish to realise in the months or years to come, but this is for the future.
Today, thanks to the PLOUTOS project, these participants have formed a community by creating links that will continue even after the courses.