Aziim and Nawfal: An example to follow

Born and raised in the suburbs of Port Louis, Aziim and Nawfal choose to not allow their backgrounds impact on their lives in any adverse manner. The two boys have recently bagged the second place of the SICOM Youth Excellence Awards 2016. They share their inspiring story with News On Sunday.

Aziim Imrit, 25, and Nawfal Koheeallee, 24, did not have a rosy childhood. They both stem from low income families. As their parents were hawkers, during their school holidays, they stepped in to help with the family trade. Despite these hardships, the two young men persevered and today, they have become successful entrepreneurs. Runner-up of the SICOM Youth Excellence Award 2016, Aziim and Nawfal are all set to achieve their dreams.

Both young men have a master’s degree in Virtual Reality & 3D Development. This has led Aziim and Nawfal to launch their own business, and Bevirtual Services was born. The company specialises in creating digital applications. They create “virtual reality” and “augmented reality” applications, as well as software. 

“Our project is based on creating mobile applications which include a new technology called Augmented Reality. We had an exposure to that technology last year during our studies on Virtual Reality at the University of Mauritius. Despite all the options at our fingertips, we chose to make AR applications as this would enable the public to experience the application through their smartphone. The project is based on providing the public with a better picture of what the company is actually selling. The idea is to create 3D models of the products and make them appear on your smartphone virtually, whenever you hover your phone over the company’s business card,” says Nawfal.

Inspiring journey

Both young men have an inspiring journey. In his quest for success, Aziim has worked as a hawker since he was in Form II to help his family and finance his studies. “My father did not enjoy a good health and I had two sisters who were in school. I had to work to help my family. However, I never gave up studying. While in Form III, I took training courses in computer repair and networking. After completing my secondary school studies at the Islamic College in Plaine Verte, I completed ACCA Level 1. later, I pursued my university studies in Management (Minor Business Informatics) at the University of Mauritius. Then I obtained my master’s degree in Virtual Reality & 3D Development,” Aziim confides.

Nawfal also underwent a similar situation whereby he had to work and study simultateously. “My parents have struggled a lot in life. Many times, there were moments when I wanted to quit my studies and start working. But when I thought about the difficulty in landing a decent job with only my Higher School Certificate, I decided to forge ahead,” he says.

Career guidance

Aziim and Nawfal provide free IT training in three training centres located at Vallee Pitot, Tranquebar and Plaine Verte. “The centre has a total of 18 computers and the primary objective was to help students with their project work. Internet access is free. A university student can come and complete his thesis while college students can come for their school projects. There are supervisors to help and guide them. We are acting like guides for the youth. We want to motivate them to achieve their dreams,” Aziim says.

Upcoming projects

For these budding entrepreneurs, the sky is the limit. They have some interesting projects in the pipeline. They want to create an application for persons living with dyslexia which would allow them to read newspapers and books, among others. They also plan to come forward with apps to help people with mental disorders. 

“We are living in a technology-driven society. We have to adapt ourselves to technology. I want to set up an interactive digital centre. In other countries, we already have digital centres. It will be accessible to the general public.