A skilled Cameroonian welder who worked in a dozen African countries making giant beer barrels left his wife and seven children behind to come here and develop his expertise.
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“I came to Quebec to discover new technologies and develop myself,” Kenfak Djeubeng Antoine Blondo, who helped build breweries in Africa before being recruited by the truck manufacturer, confesses calmly to the Journal. -Tremcar tank, in Saint-Jean-sur-le-Richelieu.
At Tremcar, welders earn between $55,000 and $110,000 per year depending on experience, availability and evening bonuses.
“Maybe I miss the family every now and then, but it’s not that bad,” he says philosophically and puts his gloves on the table for the interview. In his voice we feel that his children are never far away. His youngest is eight years old. His oldest is in his early twenties.
Kenfak Djeubeng Antoine Blondo is a valuable asset to Tremcar, which produces stainless steel and aluminum tank trailers for the North American market. Photo Francis Halin
Like him, tens of thousands of them break away from their old lives every year to settle in Quebec.
Almost 10,000 kilometers from his hometown, Kenfak Djeubeng Antoine Blondo calls himself “Blondo” in the factory hall. His colleagues love him.
In his new city, the head welder lives in an apartment in Vieux Saint-Jean. He lives with “two brothers”, two welders from Cameroon who are good friends and have met on various African construction sites in recent years.
Kenfak Djeubeng Antoine Blondo does not have his first contracts abroad. He has traveled to a dozen African countries, making him an experienced welder. Photo Francis Halin
Accommodation is at your own expense. Tremcar helps you set it up and provides you with one car per employee group.
In 2018, Le Journal told the story of Tremcar, which, tired of turning down tens of millions of dollars in contracts every year due to a lack of workers, decided to rent a school in Tunisia to train about fifty missing welders.
These valuable welders are still working on the factory floor and others, like Blondo, have just set foot in Quebec.
French language
When asked how integration has been going so far, Blondo replies that he has been used to moving his life from country to country for around twenty years.
“I have previously worked on large projects in Gabon, Madagascar, Congo, South Africa, Guinea-Conakry, Equatorial Guinea… almost all of Africa,” says the 37-year-old father. “In a calm voice.”
“Cameroon is bilingual. “We speak French and English,” he concludes, before putting his mask back on to weld a part.
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