TYWE empowers 100+ youth & women in vocational training
TYWE empowers youth & women with vocational training in Mzimba, Malawi to fight poverty, injustice & improve standard of living-Susan Moyo.
Malawi: Transformation of Youths and Women Empowerment's youth-led vocational training, empowerment programmes, and exposure to life-changing innovations have benefited over 100 youth and women at Traditional Authority Jalavikuba in the Mzimba district (TYWE), writes Susan Moyo.
Women and young people have the potential to boost economic growth and lower poverty in the world's least-developed countries if they have access to family planning services, employment opportunities, and education, according to a 2011 United Nations-UN report.
Due to culture and beliefs, these groups in Malawi do not fully enjoy all of their universal human rights.
As a result, organizations like Transformation of Youth and Women Empowerment (TYWE) have partnered with the Extra Mile Development Foundation (EMDF) to address the injustices that these groups, particularly women and girls, face.
The goal of TYWE, according to Tawene Simbeye, the organization's executive director, is to create a community where young people and women feel valued, loved, and inspired to reach their full potential.
Simbeye stated that their partner EMDF is working to build a society in which women and girls are free from oppression and have the freedom to participate and express themselves.
In an interview with AfricaBrief, he said, "We designed programmes that empower the youth and women economically through vocational training like sausage making, tailoring, and agribusiness."
He continued, "We believe some of the participants will create jobs for other people. We also believe that this training will help fight poverty and create more opportunities for youth.”
Victoria Nyirenda, a woman who benefited from the organization's teaching of tailoring, expresses her appreciation to Africabrief.
She said, "I hope that after the training I will be able to do a little something that will help me and my family."
Simbeye said that the company aids young people in farming groundnuts and raising livestock.
He informed us that they had already donated pigs to the Thumbi Youth Club as part of a pass-on programme and hoped that the initiative would significantly improve the lives of women and young people.
Tenson Kanyenda, a young member of Thumbi Youth engaged in pig farming, expresses gratitude for the assistance given to his group and notes that it will enhance their standard of living.
“I'm excited to raise these pigs and then do it on my own. I'm hoping the lessons I learn will help my life and my family," Kanyenda said.
Donald Chirwa, a member of the Chololo Youth Club and a farmer of groundnuts, claimed that previously, the youth in the region lacked a steady source of income.
“Before TYWE, we had nothing to do with our lives, but now that this transformative training has arrived, we are optimistic that things will improve. After we harvest our groundnuts, our group intends to start raising chickens so that the money we make from the business can go towards supporting some initiatives in our homes," he said.
The two organizations, whose operations began in 2020, are currently operating without any funding.
Since then, they have confirmed to AfricaBrief that in order to combat the injustices experienced by marginalized groups like women and girls, they will keep up their programmes to promote health, education, economic empowerment, and sexual and reproductive health rights.