To better equip the boys at MCM for future employment our team launched the Young Men’s Project this summer. The program includes mentoring to provide guidance and nurturing to develop strong leaders in their homes and communities. In addition with the help of local men the group is taught vocational and business skills; learning to craft household, hand-held and decorative brooms, and farming tools such as hoes to be sold at local markets and within the community. They also plan to work as “hands” in local fields and gardens for people who cannot purchase the tools but can pay a little for the job. The initial seed money for material costs was funded by MCM’s Young Women’s Initiative.
In Malawi, young men growing up in poor rural communities face limited access to employment. Constraints include household pressure (sustenance farming), inadequate business training, lack of vocational skills for available positions, access to banking or start up funding, unregulated employment rights and limited transportation. Orphaned young men face even greater obstacles as they attempt to earn income to contribute to their guardian families’ expenses, pay for their education or start out on their own without family support or collateral.
In the country, “sustained unemployment among Malawi’s young is leading to poverty and desperation. The impact is exacerbated with 68% of the population under the age of 24. This group has little choice and are pushed to agriculture, brick making, bike taxiing or street vendors jobs with 70% of those employed working in the informal sector. This type of employment provides little job security as they are weather dependent, seasonal and part-time.
The Young Men’s Project compliments MCM’s approach of providing our children with their basic needs of nutrition, education, medical care and emotional support. Together, the programs support the whole child and enables these young men to become self reliant role models in their community.
To invest in the future of these young men please donate @ www.malawichildrensmission.org.