Malawi: vocational training gets young people off the streets and creates future prospects

In Malawi, many children and adolescents are trapped in poverty because they were born with disabilities, have lost their parents, or their parents are unable to care for them. Children with disabilities rarely have access to school because the schools are overwhelmed. Street children and orphans also have little chance of escaping poverty.

Our project supports 380 children and young people in need, including street children, AIDS orphans and young people with disabilities or from families living in, or on the margins of, poverty. The girls and boys receive vocational training, e.g. in hairdressing, dressmaking or carpentry.

Your sponsorship makes a difference: Thanks to your sponsorship, disadvantaged young people in Malawi can receive vocational training. As a result, girls and boys can earn their own living to escape poverty and build a better future for themselves.

Living in extreme poverty makes education difficult

Poverty in the city of Mzuzu and its townships is high, at around 70 percent. Many children only go to school irregularly or are unable to complete their education or vocational training because they have to work in the fields or in households to contribute to the family income.

In addition, HIV/AIDS is still a major problem in Malawi. Almost a third of young people are either orphans or in need of protection. Many of them are compelled at a young age to assume responsibility for their siblings and, as a result, often have to sacrifice their own education.

Just over half of all children in Malawi complete primary school. Less than 20 percent of them go on to complete secondary schooling. Young people with disabilities are often entirely excluded because the schools are not disability-friendly.

Moreover, many young people have to contend with other issues, such as domestic violence or parental addictions and, as a result, face social exclusion. The lack of employment and income opportunities mean that young people, themselves, are at great risk of becoming addicted to drugs or alcohol or sliding into crime or prostitution.

Inclusive education for children with disabilities

With our project, we provide education and protect children with disabilities from exclusion. For example, we build ramps and inclusive toilets at schools so that children in wheelchairs can participate in regular school lessons or provide them with support tools. In addition, we train teachers and parents of children in inclusive education. This ensures that 130 children with disabilities can learn at a primary school and make friends.

Vocational training for youth at risk of poverty

We provide vocational training to 850 girls and boys in need (street children, orphans, children with disabilities) to enable them to go on to find a job or become self-employed.

To cater to a range of interests, we offer a variety of two-year apprenticeships: carpentry, masonry, dressmaking, housekeeping or gardening.

We also offer six-month training courses in the townships: hairdressing, tiling, welding, carpentry and masonry as well as bicycle and motorbike repair.

The young people receive a hot meal every day. The project is carried out in co-operation with local craft businesses that give young people the chance to do a three-month internship. The young people also attend literacy and life skills courses and basic business training.

We provide start-up tools to people setting up businesses and help them with loan applications.

At the end of training, the young people are awarded an official certificate that is recognised and certified by the state vocational training authority TEVETA.