Great Lakes Hospitality Institute
practical skills TRAINING
Opportunities
Rwanda is growing, both in prestige and in opportunities. The number of international hotels and restaurants continues to increase. Along with this increase in number, the service in Rwanda is rising to international standards. This means that skilled personnel in hospitality are in great demand, especially those with excellent communication skills in English.
Great Lakes Hospitality Institute is a program that the Cornerstone Foundation has set up and has been supporting since 2017. It is a TVET (Technical Vocational Education and Training) Institution, accredited by CTH (Confederation of Tourism and Hospitality) from the UK and RTB (Rwanda TVET Board). Great Lakes Hospitality Institute offers shorts courses in Hospitality Practice and Customer Service of 10 months that give a foundation in all the practical skills needed in hospitality and customer service.
The course gives a foundation in all the practical skills needed in hospitality, with the focus on Food & Beverages service (restaurant service), Basic food Production, Culinary Arts, Front Office, Entrepreneurship & Marketing, English Speaking for Hospitality industry, Communication Skills, Life Skills, Job Coaching, and many more.
The program was set up to train young women from the Compassion International program, but it has been so successful that we have opened the training to everyone who has a passion and ambition to succeed in the Hospitality sector. Students who successfully complete this training, will be highly skilled hospitality personnel, able to find work in international hotels, restaurants and other service industries inside and outside Rwanda.
The Bridge program
Before the start of the short course, Great Lakes Hospitality Institute offers a Bridge program of 6 weeks. Because we comply with international standards and quality, it is important to lay a good foundation before the start of the Hospitality Practice and Customer Service course.
We train students to get a better level of English required to take and understand the program and we will focus on ICT skills so that we ensure that the students have all the skills needed to work with various computer programs for doing their homework, assignments, presentations etc.
The Bridge Program also emphasizes student-centered learning and small group tiered instruction. In tiered instruction, which is a method of grouping students during classroom instruction, assignments can be adjusted in the following ways: level of complexity, amount of structure, materials given, allotted time, assignment pacing or steps required, and level of independence while tiers can be created by level of challenge, complexity, resources, outcomes, process, or product.
In this way, students can reach their maximum potential in groups during class time and maintain motivation depending on whether or not the assignment needs to be more, or less challenging. After finishing the bridge program, students will receive a certificate.
Graduation
At the end of the course students take exams. Completing them successfully indicates that the students are competent in both Hospitality skills and English (speaking, listening, reading and writing).
By the time a student finishes the course, and the last 2 months of internship, she/he qualifies for a certificate in Hospitality Practice and Customer Service.
And then?
It is of course important that students find suitable employment. This is why the students are taught how to find a job as part of the course during Job Coaching. They practice this when they apply for their internships.
We are happy to report that a significant number of our students who completed the course have found suitable work, while others have gone on to further their education at university.
A recent survey conducted among former students found that none of them had had work/income at the start of training. Currently (June 2023) 75% of them have jobs, more than half of them in the hospitality industry, and 25% are doing a follow-up study.
the Team
We work with a highly specialised team, with each member focused on a particular subject or field.
We are a mixed team of different nationalities, all with experience in the Hospitality business or education.
Why do students join this program?
practical skills
The Institute distinguishes itself from other educational establishments by its emphasis on practical skills training. The graduate will have skills to compete in the hospitality labor market, in hotels, restaurants and other service related industries in and outside Rwanda.
English language studies
The students receive intensive English language training, with a particular focus on the language used in public speaking and various hospitality settings. For instance: in different restaurant situations, at the bar, at reception, and customer service. The training is practical and allows the student to acquire the necessary listening and speaking skills needed in the industry.
Our Role
As cornerstone foundation we work closely with the team of Over The Moon in Rwanda in the field of organisation, education and finance.
The aim is to involve more local people in the project, so that in the future they will take on these tasks themselves, and our role will be reduced.
Scovia’s Story
I finished high school in 2010, and spent several years at home helping my parents. But in 2018 my sister sent me to the Great Lakes Hospitality Institute. When I went there, they welcomed me as parents.
I thank the Great Lakes Hospitality Institute, because since then my life has changed. I have learned many useful things, which have helped me enormously in my life!
First of all, I’ve learned to be confident. I learned to speak in public. They also took us to the Marriott hotel and the Convention Centre. It was the first time I was there, and we really enjoyed it – a new world opened up for us. We were allowed to meet the staff and ask them questions. It has greatly increased my self-confidence to be part of the program.
Why do I say all these words? I have managed to gain a good position, not in the hospitality industry but in ‘Reach the children Rwanda International’, an NGO. There were many candidates with many qualifications, and I had my Senior 6 certificate, the Certificate of Food and Beverage from the Great Lakes Hospitality Institute and other certificates. I was able to do my interview well because of the English I had learned, and was hired for the job as an administrative assistant.