The Story of Morine Auma
According to 2014 LQAS findings, 82% of youth in Busia face the challenge of unemployment and poverty, with girls being the most affected. This called for a deliberate plan targeting out-of school youth with opportunities to improve their skills, and access gainful employment. Busia Area Communities through the “Youth vocational training chance a means to self-reliance” has the objective of preparing out of school youth for gainful employment. The focus is to equip vulnerable Young people with practical vocational skills, increase their employability and social and economic resilience through partnership with existing government departments, local artisans and vocational institutions to promote youth livelihood support.
Morine Auma is one of the youths who benefited from the youth livelihood program, she is 27 years. She comes from a family of 10 children (7 girls, 3 boys) who depend on subsistence farming for livelihood. Morine is a senior six drop out, who later joined secretarial studies at certificate level but could not proceed further because there was no one to support her education. Left with no other option she got married and currently with 3 children. Tragically, she lost her husband to when he got involved in accident. Morine now live as a single parent trying to make ends meet for her children. She tried a small business of selling fuel (petrol) in small bottles so as to provide for her family and other siblings, but this did not work out, it was unsustainable because if she spend a day without selling, her family used go without a meal for a day.
How Morin was supported
Morine heard about BUACOFE plan of enrolling vulnerable out of school youths for vocational skills training. She applied and was selected. She trained in hair dressing and successfully completed in 2013. On completion, BUACOFE supported them as a group with startup tools and right away got a room in Lumino Town where they were transacting business.
After her training Morine raised capital from sale of fuel, purchased equipment and opened up her own saloon which employs other people. She has also opened up a restaurant which equally employs 3 ladies. She now earns between 40,000= to 50,000= every day. This has made life easy for her and can now ably support her children both at school and home.
“Am so grateful for the support offered to me by BUACOFE, I feel much empowered, marketed and positively exposed to the big world” says Morine.
Lessons learnt for replication
For effective training and support to youth groups; programs need to take into consideration proximity, effective monitoring, capacity building of youths through shared learning, use of cluster approach to enhance team work and easy marketing of group products. Mentorship and counselling of the targeted groups which is ever in transit. And Partnership with government and technical agencies or institutions for quality assurance is important. Professional market survey guide the youths during enterprise selection for marketability and employment opportunities. Sensitization of stakeholders supports in role clarity hence reconciling expectations during in project cycle.
