Vocational Skills Training

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION TRAINING

Poverty is another devil that has wrecked the Rwenzori region.  High poverty levels have caused girls to drop out of school, resulting in high rates of early pregnancies, early marriages, high unemployment rates, and high transmission rates for HIV/AIDS, which negatively affect the development of the area.

A case study is  Buhuhira and Bwesumbu sub-counties located in the great Kyabarungira zone in the eastern Kasese district. The area in question is regarded as the least developed area of Kasese in terms of education, economy and civic engagement. Due to the high poverty level, many parents in the rural communities of Kasese can no longer handle the small fees required by schools to top up the government contribution to both primary and secondary levels, and their children are unable to continue their education.

Rural Focus Initiative – Uganda is currently practically empowering the youth, especially young mothers and girls who have found it hard to finish school and have become single parents. Vocational Skills Training helps young mothers to raise their children while earning some independent income from the skills they acquire. They are able to advocate against early marriages and pregnancies during their peer interactions.

According to the new curriculum for lower secondary schools recently introduced by the Ministry of Education and Sports, those in school are now required to train in vocational skills. Therefore, vocational skills are no longer regarded as being for those dropping out of school or academic failures, but rather as a way for everyone to be equipped with skills as the only option to self-employment.

OVERALL GOAL
To support self-reliant and self-sustaining young mothers and girls

CHALLENGES
Accommodation. It has been and is still the main challenge to provide accommodation for young mothers and girls from far away places who have no relatives living near our training workshop. This is because we are currently housed in a rental premise with limited space.

SUSTAINABILITY
Train-Produce-Sell is our sustainability plan. We train young girls and women, and the goods they produce are sold to raise funds that continue supporting our project. The producers also earn some income to take care of their children, since most of them are single mothers and the bread-winners for their families.