Vocational Training and Skills Development
carrie miller / CRS Staff
Vocational training and skills development through communitybased training In order to increase its reach to adolescents unable to board or commute, ORAP offered community-based trainings. Training options varied by location and trainer availability. To select the skills offered at a given location, ORAP field officers spoke with the girls to determine their training interests and assessed the availability of local micro-entrepreneurs who could serve as trainers, often on a voluntary basis. Typical skills offered through community-based train-
Mr. Khumalo provides life saving information to trainees at Siganda training center.
ing included sewing, apiculture, woodcarving,
MR. KHUMALO
nutritional gardens, building, and poultry produc-
Mr. Mthandazo Khumalo is an Environmental Health
tion. On average, community-based training cost
Technician with the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare.
US$80 per trainee.
He visits the Siganda training center every Wednesday to
Despite these challenges, at US$80 per trainee,
teach trainees about health, hygiene, sexually transmitted infections (STI), and HIV and AIDS. When talking about the
community-based training cost less than center-
program, Mr. Khumalo explained, “the only assistance that I
based trainings, reduced risk associated with
think is better is like this one...where [adolescents] are being
commuting to a training center, offered a wider
empowered. Because if you teach them...definitely they will
array of skills, required less capital investment by ORAP and/or the project, and increased commu-
do something. I feel there should be more trainings of this kind to give them skills.�
nity participation.
Apprenticeship Phase After completing six months of training at Siganda or in the community, girls between the ages of 16 and 19 began their apprenticeships phase. Girls were matched to private sector companies with whom ORAP had developed relationships, including both larger employers like Milazi Fashions and private tailors in Bulawayo and other locations. Child protection was critical during the apprenticeship phase, when girls moved away from their rural communities to work with these employers in the cities. Informed consent laws were respected, and corresponding paperwork was completed. During the apprenticeship phase, girls were required to live with extended family who were vetted for safety and appropriateness. In addition, ORAP visited apprenticeship sites quarterly to ensure they were safe and non-exploitative and kept in frequent contact with business owners. They also ensured that safety standards were met and the trainees were being paid a reasonable stipend, which included lunch and US$100 a month.
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