"My training is helping me in my work": ACES students encourage others to join courses

As applications draw to a close for the first ACES courses of 2026, the Clean Cooling Network asked former students to reflect on their experiences and share what they have gained through their training.

Last year, ACES trained more than 700 students, including in refrigeration, solar energy, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI), and more. The team is aiming for more than 1000 students in 2026.

"What I gained from this training, I shared with my colleagues"

Joyeuse Habimana, an HVAC technician from Kigali, said: "Before I came to the training, I worked installing ACs and things like that, but without having advanced knowledge about how to handle flammable gases, what global warming potential is, or how to do brazing."

Joyeuse has now completed 12 courses at ACES, including the Introduction to Refrigeration course, the Foundation in Cold-Chain course and the Phase Change Materials course. "What I gained from this training, I shared with my colleagues," she said. "Not only do they benefit from those skills and knowledge, but also the whole community learns how to deal with refrigerants which are harmful to the environment."

Since December 2025, Joyeuse has been working at ACES as a refrigeration technician. She said she used to think it was "impossible" for women to become refrigeration technicians. She added: "As time went by, I started seeing that these things are possible for me as a girl."

She said that many women don’t consider work in the refrigeration sector because of biases, both internal and external. "Some communities don’t allow girls to be in work that is mainly for men," she explained. "If you find yourself in that community, you start doubting yourself and becoming less confident."

She added: "ACES tries to support us, and as time goes, I am sure it will improve for women technicians."

"My bosses are happy that I had this training"

Patience Niyigena is a flight technician and cold-chain manager for Zipline, a US drone company which has been delivering medical supplies across Rwanda in collaboration with ACES, the Rwanda Biomedical Centre, and the University of Birmingham.

Patience heard about ACES training through a group chat in early 2025 and decided to apply for the Cold-Chain for Global Health course. "Some people were from the central vaccine stores, others from RBC, others from Rwanda Medical Supply," she recalled. "To interact with people from those different areas – that’s something I couldn’t take for granted."

Patience also attended a 10-day course on refrigeration systems at ACES. "I got a chance to do practical things like filling the refrigeration system, evacuating it, recovering the refrigerant, and performing brazing," she said. "I really enjoyed that because it was my first time doing practical sessions on refrigeration."

Patience has been working on maintaining and improving Zipline’s cold-chain across Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. She said she came up with a big project to improve Zipline’s systems while studying at ACES. She gathered data from Zipline’s 14 distribution centres in Africa, to better understand the challenges they are facing.

"One of the things that emerged was [the need for] spare part hubs in Africa," she said. "We have been ordering cold-chain spare parts from the US and Spain, and it was contributing to the prolonged downtime of our cold-chain equipment."

Another issue Patience highlighted was the lack of trained cold-chain technicians. As a result, she proposed that team members from each of Zipline’s distribution hubs attend the Train the Trainer course, to ensure they can resolve common issues without needing to call in external cold-chain technicians.

"My bosses are happy that I had this training," she added. "Getting this training [for other team members] will contribute to the improvement of the existing cold-chain and solve some of the challenges we face."

"I was pushed by my interest in cooling technologies"

Uwitije Jean Modeste, a post-harvest technology specialist, said his ACES training "is highly needed in my work and my daily life."

Trained as a food scientist, Jean Modeste worked in food production before joining the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) in March 2024. He said his interest in the courses offered by ACES "was pushed by my interest in cooling technologies."

He has now completed the Foundation in Cold-Chain and GESI in Cold-Chain courses at ACES, and is nearing the end of the Train the Trainer (TTT) course. "I have done different courses, and they are now helping me in my work," he said.

Jean Modeste said RAB is currently training farmers on technologies that address post-harvest losses. He added: "After doing some modules in the TTT programme, I am now helping farmers and manufacturers obtain certifications, like in international food safety management systems."

He said his GESI training has had a big impact on his work: "In the past, I have participated in projects where mostly men were included," he explained. “Now, we are trying to include more women and people with disabilities."

He has also been applying his solar energy training, helping farmers in rural areas to install solar equipment and small cold rooms. "I would like to recommend training at ACES to people working in the public or private sectors," he added. "They should join ACES because they will gain valuable knowledge and skills."

To see what courses are available and apply, click here.