We empower young people, parents and guardians with the education, skills and resources needed to take up productive livelihoods and employment opportunities within their own communities.
A large proportion of the slum’s community is illiterate and lacks professional skills. Most jobs available are in the informal sector which means casual or unreliable work, no job security and low pay. Youth unemployment is also a big issue in Uganda with the unemployment rate for young people ages 15–24 at 83%.
To try and address this, we have launched several programs designed to give skills to the young people and caregivers of children on our programme. With caregivers we are primarily working with women as many of our families are female-headed households and women are more likely to spend their income on the basic needs of their family.
What We Do
Provide
We provide a safe place for older children who are not part of our sponsorship programme to learn and gain skills.
Educate
Facilitate
We facilitate opportunities to improve the income and financial independence of young people and adults in the community.
Support
Vocational Training
Some of the older children we support, identified through our sponsorship programme or throuh the afternoon programme, are supported to vocational training where they learn a specific skill and are prepared to work a specific trade or occupation.
Recently we have had young people attending courses in hairdressing, mechanics and catering.
Jewellry & Female Empowerment
Our women are talented artisans and the Beads Project helps them provide for their families. Skilled in making paper beads, our women turn strips of paper into beautiful jewelry. Our unique products are made by these incredible women and 100% of the proceeds go back to funding programs that benefit them and their families. When you purchase YCSN products, you empower these women and support their livelihood!
Candle Making
We build the skills, knowledge and capacity of single parents through community-based groups, to engage in participative processes of needs assessment, drawing up and implementing sustainable strategies to enable them to overcome conditions of poverty. These approaches involve the implementation of various income generating activities/projects at either individual or group-level for the beneficiary single parents. We aim to empower beneficiary poor and disadvantaged single parents to provide an additional and reliable income for their households through the proceeds realized from their projects, to enable them meet the costs of basic needs such as: household utilities, food, fuel for lighting, clothing, and costs of their children’s schooling such as uniforms & books.
