West Nile youth get new lease of life through skilling 

Youth in Yumbe and Terego districts are becoming self-reliant after acquiring vocational skills from a project established by in 2016.

Mr Alfred Lodule, a refugee at Ariwa 3 settlement in Rhino camp, Terego, said on Monday that life was difficult when he joined the settlement in 2012.

“We had been depending mainly on food rations from the World Food Programme but getting other necessities was a problem. I had a plan of continuing with education but I could not proceed due to lack of resources,” he said.

It was at that time that  Welthungerhilfe, an NGO operating in the settlement, placed adverts asking youth to enrol for skilling.

Mr Lodule joined and today earns Shs25,000 daily from jobs such as roofing, fixing doors, windows, making furniture, among others.

Ms Harriet Awinjeru, 28, another beneficiary in Odupi Sub-county, who pursued tailoring and garment cutting course at Siripi Skills Training Centre in 2016,  is grateful for the support.

“Before I joined the skills training, I had been fetching water for people for money and selling firewood because I didn’t have the required skills and knowledge to earn a living,” she said.

But upon completing the training, Ms Awinjeru was given a sewing machine as a start-up kit. “I began working on torn clothes while saving some money. I did this for about a month until I had saved enough money to buy materials such as clothes and rolls,”  she added. Ms Awinjeru earns at least Shs30,000 daily depending on the clients’ demands. 

Mr Hamidu Adiga, 32, from Yumbe, who completed training in 2018, said after his graduation, he was given start-up and established a workshop at Siripi Trading Centre.

“I had no capital to start the business but my father gave me two goats and I sold them at Shs200,000, which I used as capital. I started buying materials such as timber and nails, among others, to make some items, and the business has kept growing,”  he said.

Mr Adiga makes between Shs400,000-500,000 as a profit monthly depending on the demand of the materials.

“I have bought my own tools and employed about five youth. I have also opened a shop in Yumbe,” he said.

Speaking during the fourth graduation at Siripi Training Centre on Monday, Mr Jamal Abdi, the Yumbe senior education officer, said improving access to education and training is key.

“The biggest challenge is completing the circle, whether it is primary, secondary or tertiary level. We are enrolling many learners in different sub-sectors of education but what happens to those who don’t complete the circle? ” he wondered.

Mr Abdulmutwalib Asiku, the Yumbe chairperson, advised youth to embrace vocational training. 

“The best engineers are not those who go to universities after completing S.6 but those who start from certificate level maybe after P.7 and continue advancing. When you look at the population of the young people in West Nile region, there’s a lot of redundancy,” he said.

Background

Welthungerhilfe, an NGO, with funding from German Cooperation started implementing a project in skills development in 2016 at Siripi Youth Development Skills Centre in Terego.

The programme targets youth between 15  and 30 years who have basic reading and writing skills and have dropped out of school. The organisation provides free training but learners are required to pay a commitment fee of Shs20,000 and meet their accommodation fees.

Mr William Omara, the project manager for Yumbe sub-office, says the project benefits refugees and the host community.

“We conducted a market labour scan in the West Nile Sub-region and the recommendations informed the choice of the different vocational trade being taught at the skills centre. We have so far passed out 75 youths after attaining the skills for six months, but we intend to train about 210 youths until the end of the programme in 2023,” he said.