A youth vocational scheme trainee learning tiling
We do not wish to leave out young people aged 16 years and above that have dropped out of school. Many of the young boys are forced to resort to gambling, financial fraud, thuggery and other criminal acts just to survive while the girls are falling into teenage prenancy and child marriage.
We have designed a vocational training programme to ensure that these young people are positively engaged and stay out of trouble. Through this porgramme, they can learn a trade and obtain skills to enable them to earn a living and help their families with household costs. Some young people are currently being trained in tiling, hair-dressing and painting. Their training is financed by some of our generous supporters, including a member of the Amaimo community.
This is Chiamaka. one of our trainees learning hair dressing and makeup. Chiamaka has been provided some training kit and paired with a local tradesperson for training and mentorship. We also pay her a monthly stipend to help with personal expenses.
We keenly follow Chiamaka and all our trainees' progress through our periodic and mid-term reviews with plans to help them to set up trade after completing their programme. It costs about $350 to train one young person for up to one year, including training fees, training gear, tools and equipment, and a monthly stipend. We seek assistance from well-meaning individuals to support more jobless young people to learn a trade; this will enable them to earn some income and bring economic development and prosperity to their community.
We celebrate Chimaobi, our first painting and paint-mixing trainee who graduated in March and is now qualified to start his own trade as a professional painter. Every Village Matters has bought Chimaobi his first set of tools and provided some cash to start work, and he has the option to continue to work for a short time with his trainer until he develops his own customer base.
