Andrew is 20 years old and lives in the rural village of Mukweni in Zambia. When his parents died he had to drop out of secondary school. He was struggling to see a future for himself until the Chikombola project came to his community and offered him a chance to learn agricultural job skills. Two years on, Andrew is responsible for an animal husbandry project, looking after goats and oxen. Profits made enable the village to support the needs of younger orphans without outside aid. Andrew plans to set up his own small business in time, breaking the vicious cycle of youth unemployment that drives youth into the cities.
Chikankata Health Services approached HOPEHIV in 2002 with a plan to enable the local community to take responsiblity for the many orphans in their villages. They also wanted to equip the many out-of-work youth with work skills. Four years on, this income generating model has spread to 48 villages in 5 communities equipping vulnerable young people as entrepreneurs, making a living and benefiting other orphans. Training has been carried out in gardening, poultry farming, goat and oxen rearing, pottery and tailoring. HOPEHIV also injects start-up capital in the form of goats, oxen and agricultural supplies to provide a sustainable method of generating an income. 130 youth have already been trained and over 500 younger orphans have benefited from the profits made. These 5 villages are now self-sustaining and many other villages have asked to start the program.
Read more about entrepeneurship.
HOPEHIV wants to take the Chikombola model into 5 new communities. But we need your help. Just £7 from you will buy an ox for a new village. DONATE NOW.