RESPONDING TO DISPERATE VOICES OF CHILDREN

A SKILL THAT HAS HELPED SUPPORT MY EDUCATION

 A skill is the learned ability to perform an action with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both; especially in the execution of learned physical tasks.

In other words, a ‘skill’ is a term that encompasses the knowledge, competencies and abilities to perform operational tasks. Such skills make employees more competent because they are hands on and a person becomes more skilled because of practicing more.

Another Hope Children’s Ministries needed to create a difference in Uganda through skills development in children and young adults thus introduced them to courses like Hair Dressing and Cosmetology, Tailoring, Fashion and Design, Carpentry and Joinery among other skills.

With a skill, it is always very easy for a person to find something to do; it might not be formal, but can be done even at home. One does not have to put in much capital.

In this case, children and young adults are able to work using the skills Another Hope Children’s Ministries has helped impart in them thus being able to support themselves in terms of education. Our children who get a chance to be skilled in holidays are able to buy themselves scholastic materials like school shoes, books, pens, pencils, pocket money among others.

BENEFICIARIES

Beneficiary A’s story

‘’I am sixteen years old. I was sponsored to learn a skill of Hair Dressing and Cosmetology. This was after the first lock down was lifted in 2020. I got a chance to join a group of other teenage girls.

For a full month of training, I learned plaiting a number of hair styles namely; twist, pencil, Rock and dreads. After the training, I started working on clients and I used to charge eight thousand per head due to the fact that I was just starting and needed to get more experience and my own customers.

I earned money and saved it which I used to buy scholastic material lie books, school shoes, uniform, pens, pencils, money to buy breakfast while at school and non-scholastic materials like clothes.

This saved my mother a lot of money because I had gotten nearly everything I needed to go back to school when schools resumed. She was so happy that this time I was not so demanding like I used to be when school time came. The rest of my young siblings shared some of my materials and our mother added on. Up to now, I still do hair dressing and earn more than I could earn when I had just started.’’

Beneficiary B’s story

‘’I am fifteen years old and I was fourteen years when Another Hope Children’s Ministries saw that there was need to skill the ‘girl child’ during the first lockdown in 2020 due to the fact that young girls were being idle and many got pregnant. I got lucky to be recruited among the first batch that was trained.

I was skilled in Hair Dressing and Cosmetology and I learnt quite a number of hair plaiting styles such as Twist, knots, Kiswahili among others.

This came as an advantage and after a month, my mother tasked me to start getting clients so that I can work on them which I succeeded in doing. I worked on a number of clients who paid me for the job even when I was earning little money.

I saved the little money I could earn and when schools were reopened, I bought myself scholastic materials namely; books, school shoes; among others and my mother did not have to labour a lot in regards to taking me back to school.

I am so much appreciative of the opportunity availed to me by my Another Hope Children’s Ministries’’

In conclusion, for the children and young adults who take the skills we train them in serious, they are able to use them even more than the way they expected because we have quite a number of them who feed off a skill, we trained them in. We are so appreciative of our sponsors and donors.

Links:

• http://www.anotherhope.org