The first graduates from the tailoring course - Photo: SOS Archives
|
Last May, an SOS Vocational Training Centre started operations in the same location as the SOS Children's Village Lilongwe, which has been in operation since 1984. 140 apprenticeship training positions were created for youths of the neighbouring community and the SOS Youth Facility, and this will help compensate for the blatant lack of training programmes in this area.
The youths who will benefit the most are not only those from the SOS Youth Facility, but particularly those from the local community who could not attain the Malawi Secondary Certificate of Education (MSCE), which most complete by the age of 16. Until now there never was a possibility for them to receive any vocational training in their locality.
Courses will be offered in agriculture and home economics, information technology, metal processing, tailoring, business management, carpentry, cabinet making and bricklaying. Crash courses and workshops will also be offered, and 24 participants can be accommodated on site at one time for the duration of the courses.
Computer course at the SOS Vocational Training Centre Lilongwe - Photo: SOS Archives
|
The SOS Vocational Training Centre, which will be officially inaugurated by President Helmut Kutin on May 6, will be a welcome addition to the social help already being offered to the community surrounding the SOS Children's Village. There is already a kindergarten, a primary and secondary school, a social centre focussed on counselling, caring for and following up on the progress of families affected by AIDS, and a highly frequented SOS Medical Centre.
In addition, a five-month long emergency relief programme has been running since December 2004. The beneficiaries include: families headed by grandparents or children, families supporting undernourished children or chronically ill members, those headed by single mothers and those who have taken in orphans. 2,170 families are now being provided with food and medication until the end of April.
Future student of the school in Mzuzu? - Photo: A. Gabriel
|
On May 7, a new primary school will be officially opened in Mzuzu where Malawi's second SOS Children's Village has been in operation since 2002 in the third largest city of the country. The target group are children between the ages of six and 14 who should be able to receive good quality elementary education in a children-friendly environment.
The school, which was completed in the beginning of 2005, has a capacity for 320 students divided into eight classes, and will cater to children from the SOS Children' Village and also from the neighbouring community. The building of this school was necessary, since the nearest publicly-run school is three kilometres away from the village. Classes are hopelessly overfilled, with between 100 and 150 children, and the quality of the teaching is therefore poor.