Gaining invaluable experience as a Rwanda Housing Authority intern: A Q&A with SHE-CAN Scholar Assumpta Gasana
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The SHE-CAN staff chatted with scholar Assumpta Gasana, junior at Bucknell University, about her summer internship with the Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA) in Kigali. RHA is an institution that was established by the Ministry of Infrastructure to ensure the implementation of national housing, urbanization, construction and government assets management policies. As a civil engineering major, this internship is a good fit for Assumpta’s career aspirations because she hopes to use her education to contribute to Rwanda’s economic growth and participate in Rwanda’s infrastructure development.
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SHE-CAN: How did you land this internship? Did SHE-CAN or your mentors help you or did you apply for this on your own?
Assumpta: I used different connections I had in Rwanda and Patricie, a SHE-CAN alumna, helped by putting me in contact with the right people. The contact she gave me provided me with guidance on where to start my career in Rwanda and in my field of civil engineering.
SHE-CAN: What attracted you to interning at the Rwanda Housing Authority?
Assumpta: I wanted to do something that can help the people in my home country specifically in the rural areas and risk zones. I knew I needed to be in Rwanda to understand the challenges my country faces and what Rwanda is doing to help those people so I decided to intern with RHA in the Affordable House department that is in charge of these cases.
SHE-CAN: As an intern what were your responsibilities? Can you describe a typical day?
Assumpta: I was assigned a specific project of putting together a plan to relocate people in high-risk zones. I worked closely with the architect and civil engineers team that designed the houses that we provided to the people we were moving. My other responsibility involved writing a report that provided an action plan on how this process was going to take place and how they should sensitize the population. I even worked on the field to estimate the value of these people’s properties to determine how and where they would be relocated.
Usually I arrived at the office around 7 a.m. and my days ended at 5 p.m. I worked five days a week, and I spent most days working on my proposal and attending planning meetings. Sometimes I visited other affordable housing projects to see if they could be applicable to my project.
SHE-CAN: What was the most challenging part about your internship?
Assumpta: Besides working in a very male dominant field, the most challenging part of my internship was working on projects with a European system while I study in the American system. At first it was a struggle, but now I’m grateful to have gained two very valuable perspectives.
SHE-CAN: What has your internship taught you?
Assumpta: Along with having the self-discipline to start my day on time, I have learned how to navigate the workspace in an engineering department and how to negotiate and supervise the implementation of a project.
SHE-CAN: What’s the most memorable moment from your internship?
Assumpta: Going on site trips with my coworkers who were eager to teach me a lot about the field and the institution itself. My other memorable and empowering moments were attending very important meetings and realizing that I’m the only woman in my field sitting at the table surrounded by very intelligent male engineers, architects and other professionals in similar careers.
SHE-CAN: What are your future goals after graduating from college, and how does interning at RHA help you achieve these goals?
Assumpta: When I return home after graduating, I want to be part of Rwanda’s infrastructure development – especially the bridges. By interning with RHA, I’m learning a lot of policies that construction companies use in Rwanda and making valuable connections which are very beneficial because I want to own my own company one day.
Also, as a young woman majoring in civil engineering, I hope to inspire other women to not be afraid to study STEM or pursue a predominantly male career!
Assumpta: I used different connections I had in Rwanda and Patricie, a SHE-CAN alumna, helped by putting me in contact with the right people. The contact she gave me provided me with guidance on where to start my career in Rwanda and in my field of civil engineering.
SHE-CAN: What attracted you to interning at the Rwanda Housing Authority?
Assumpta: I wanted to do something that can help the people in my home country specifically in the rural areas and risk zones. I knew I needed to be in Rwanda to understand the challenges my country faces and what Rwanda is doing to help those people so I decided to intern with RHA in the Affordable House department that is in charge of these cases.
SHE-CAN: As an intern what were your responsibilities? Can you describe a typical day?
Assumpta: I was assigned a specific project of putting together a plan to relocate people in high-risk zones. I worked closely with the architect and civil engineers team that designed the houses that we provided to the people we were moving. My other responsibility involved writing a report that provided an action plan on how this process was going to take place and how they should sensitize the population. I even worked on the field to estimate the value of these people’s properties to determine how and where they would be relocated.
Usually I arrived at the office around 7 a.m. and my days ended at 5 p.m. I worked five days a week, and I spent most days working on my proposal and attending planning meetings. Sometimes I visited other affordable housing projects to see if they could be applicable to my project.
SHE-CAN: What was the most challenging part about your internship?
Assumpta: Besides working in a very male dominant field, the most challenging part of my internship was working on projects with a European system while I study in the American system. At first it was a struggle, but now I’m grateful to have gained two very valuable perspectives.
SHE-CAN: What has your internship taught you?
Assumpta: Along with having the self-discipline to start my day on time, I have learned how to navigate the workspace in an engineering department and how to negotiate and supervise the implementation of a project.
SHE-CAN: What’s the most memorable moment from your internship?
Assumpta: Going on site trips with my coworkers who were eager to teach me a lot about the field and the institution itself. My other memorable and empowering moments were attending very important meetings and realizing that I’m the only woman in my field sitting at the table surrounded by very intelligent male engineers, architects and other professionals in similar careers.
SHE-CAN: What are your future goals after graduating from college, and how does interning at RHA help you achieve these goals?
Assumpta: When I return home after graduating, I want to be part of Rwanda’s infrastructure development – especially the bridges. By interning with RHA, I’m learning a lot of policies that construction companies use in Rwanda and making valuable connections which are very beneficial because I want to own my own company one day.
Also, as a young woman majoring in civil engineering, I hope to inspire other women to not be afraid to study STEM or pursue a predominantly male career!