Project Goal & objectives
The project intends to improve access for female candidates to more profitable vocational skills training and improve learning and working environment for female trainees enrolled in traditional male dominated vocations.
Specifically, the project aims at the following:
1. To fight against gender stereotypes related to TVET within the community;
2. To enhance the learning opportunities for boys and girls for acquiring relevant skills through integrated and gender sensitive TVET program;
3. To improve TVET graduates’ access to financing and self- employment.
4. To document the effectiveness, relevance of integrated, and gender sensitive TVET program for contributing to policy influencing at national level.
Project main Activities
1. Community awareness raising on gender stereotypes related to TVET: Under this thematic area, community sensitization campaign was organized targeting different groups including youths, parents, local and opinion leaders, private sector and Microfinance Institutions. The objective of this campaign was to convince these different groups that young women are able to learn successfully traditional male dominated skills and use them profitably as their brothers. The sensitization campaign contributed to the creation of a conducive environment for female involvement in traditional male dominated vocations which are more profitable than traditional female dominated vocations.
2. Skills development for girls and boys through rural TVET: Under this component, 60 youngsters including 30 girls and 30 boys were selected and provided with career guidance and counselling before enrolment in a six months training program in bricklaying, carpentry and welding. These three vocations were identified as the most profitable vocations in the community. The TVET training was made female friendly as possible to allow female trainees to successfully learn traditional male dominated vocations. The technical training was coupled with role modelling sessions where trainees will be exposed to successful female TVET graduates for experience sharing. Both girls and boys were empowered on gender equality and self-esteem concepts. The training aimed at equipping TVET trainees’ relevant skills for self-employment and it was awarded by an attendance certificate in the chosen vocation at the end of the training.
3. Financial and business literacy for TVET graduates: Under financial and business literacy, TVET trainees were trained on different approach of development including Self-help group approach, cooperatives and business clubs/groups. Trainees were allowed to choose themselves the approach that is suitable to them and will benefit from an accompaniment by Bamporeze for the implementation of the selected approach. Beneficiaries were trained in business plan development, saving, access to loan and loan utilization, marketing skills, networking and developing strategic linkages for access to financing and market. The aim of financial and business literacy was to enable TVET trainees to develop ability to understand, analyze and use information about financial decision in day-to-day life and to plan for the future. The ultimate goal was to enable them to sustainably initiate their businesses as a group and become self-employed.
Expected results
1. Improved social support system for children within their own communities: The trained mentors and caregivers will support OVC through home based OVC counselling; they will improve their lessening skills to OVC, and provide OVC with psychosocial support as well as material support. Through this, the community will take responsibility of taking care of its own OVC through the community-based mentorship approach. The support group committees, sector committee and umbrella committees will play a leading role in advocacy for OVC related issues.
2. Improved economic and survival capacity of child headed households and poor female headed households taking care of OVC: the project will train child headed households and female headed households in organic farming techniques and support them with starters kit to apply the learnt skills on their own plots of land. This will enable them to produce enough food for household’s conception and earn income from selling the surplus and animal. Since the households will be able to fulfil their basic needs, they will be supported to shift from subsistence agriculture into market-oriented agriculture and agribusiness through cooperatives of organic farmers to earn more income.
3. Improved child rights provision: In addition to ignorance of child rights, the situation of poverty prevailing within the child/female headed households does not allow the sibling to enjoy their rights to education, health, nutrition and shelter. By empowering them social economically and training them in child rights, basic nutrition skills, health insurance scheme HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and reproductive health they will be encouraged to use the income generated from organic farming related activities to improve child rights provision in terms of education, health, nutrition and shelter.
4. Community members change behaviour as a result of community sensitization campaigns: he community awareness creation campaign on child rights will improve the knowledge of the population on child rights. So, child rights will be considered, violations stigmatised and all cases of child rights violations will be reported, through referral mechanisms and reporting system that will be established within the community. The community members, parents and local authorities will become aware of child participation rights within all child-related issues and policies.
5. Children are not engaged in child labour: For their survival, OVC living in child headed households and female headed households are often involved in certain kinds of work which disturb education or health. Child headed households and female headed households after being empowered socio economically they will be able to meet the basic needs of their siblings. As the elder OVC or vulnerable youth and woman heads of households will be sensitized on the principle of “the best interest for child” they will make sure that their siblings are just doing certain kinds of child work which don’t disturb education or health. But also the improved social economic situation for the households will limit the number of siblings leaving rural community of Rulindo district to seek the job in Kigali city, where they are engaged in child labour.
Achievements
• 3 meetings conducted with sector authorities for introduction of the project and criteria for selection of TVET candidates.
• 1-day meeting organized for 48 opinion leaders, representatives of private sector and MFIs (16 participants per sector) from Cyinzuzi, Ngoma and Ntarabana sectors of Rulindo District
• 24 community awareness rising sessions organized at village level and secondary schools reaching approximately 5,182 parents; 9,575 youths and 48 opinion leaders and representatives of private sector and Microfinance institutions. The community awareness raising sessions have reduced gender stereotypes vis-à-vis TVET in Cyinzuzi, Ngoma and Ntarabana Sectors of Rulindo District.
• 42 candidates (21 females and 21 males) were identified in collaboration with sector authorities in Cyinzuzi, Ngoma and Ntarabana Sectors. The involvement of local leaders increased the ownership of the project by local leaders;
• 1-day career guidance session was organized for 42 TVET candidates to help them become open minded, income and business oriented;
• 2-days individual youth self-assessment workshop was organized for 42 TVET candidates to facilitate them to discover their natural talents and capabilities. The insight in these talents helped to make a match with the selected vocations;
• 6-months training curricula were developed for brick laying, carpentry and welding;
• 3 trainers and 2 staffs of the project were trained for 3 days on gender concept and gender mainstreaming in TVET program;
• TVET equipment were acquired and a six-month training was conducted successfully for all 42 TVET trainees enrolled in the three vocations (14 in bricklaying, 14 in carpentry and 14 in welding)
• 42 TVET graduates completed successfully 84 hours training in business and financial literacy skills. During the training, the trainees learned skills on preparation of business proposals and got in touch with Saving and Credit Cooperatives (SACCO) from which they can access funds once for starting their own businesses as groups; how to manage properly their income and how to become entrepreneurs.
• All 42 TVET graduates are organized in 3 groups according to their vocations and they have started working with MFIs through saving and their group savings are ranged between Rwf 15,000 and Rwf45,000. Their ultimate goal is to become self-employed through getting loans and grants from BDF/SACCO to start their businesses as groups.
• Even if at the end of the project the 3 groups did not yet starting their businesses as groups, they had already developed blueprint of what they want to do as a group, what was remaining was to strengthen their saving capacities and working with the Sector SACCO for access to finance services. The good start was that they had started earning money e.g. those trained in bricklaying were all employed by ECOMEM Construction Company for construction of Maternity at Rutongo Hospital (shifted to Remera – Mbogo Health Centre) and earning between Rwf 3,000 and Rwf 4,000 per day and working 6 days per week; those trained in carpentry were still working in the workshop, exploiting the wood machines and making different items for equipping ECD classrooms constructed by Bamporeze. Since Bamporeze was still operating in Ngoma, Cyinzuzi, Burega and Mbogo sectors of Rulindo District they have the privilege of accessing markets for equipping the classrooms constructed by Bamporeze in that region. For example they have been given a market for making 11 tennis tables; 12 round tables, 72 chairs, 16 doors equivalent to Rwf1,971,600 for equipping ECD and primary schools partners in Ngoma and Cyinzuzi Sectors.
• Baseline survey was conducted in Cyinzuzi, Ngoma and Ntarabana sectors. The baseline survey revealed that the low involvement of female in traditional male dominated vocations is not due to energy requirement because females are involved in occupations that require more energy and which are less paid like Mason or bricklayer Help. The main barriers for female involvement in more profitable vocations were gender stereotypes, fear for being refused job; fear that during the pregnancy and after making birth they will be not able continue their occupation and taking care of their babies and husbands and the traditional believes that female s should wear skirt and not exposed by climbing up houses. All the above-mentioned barriers to female involvement in traditional male dominated vocations were challenged during community awareness raising sessions.
