Tanzania suffers from a high unemployment rate, especially among young people. The International Labor Organization estimates that unemployment among young people between the age of 15 and 24 is up to twice as high as the general population. Recent years have also seen a simultaneous development of growing unemployment alongside even higher numbers of educated jobs seekers. In fact, of 27 unemployed individuals in 2000, 60% were highly educated. Vocational Training is an option to increase their chances of finding a job. The provision of such vocational trainings is to serve as a valuable instrument in reducing the mismatch between the demand and supply of jobs noticeable today.

In today’s world, when technology has moved ahead by leaps and bounds, we still leave out our women. On the contrary, they should be educated and know the power of computer literacy. Computer education therefore becomes essential so that they can not only keep abreast with the current affairs, but also learn, earn and fulfill their dreams independently.

With the help of this project, we will set up a vocational training centre and a placement cell for women and adolescent females. We will provide girls and women with vocational and job-oriented courses like Basic Computer Training and other courses. These are aimed at enhancing the skill levels of female students in order to prepare them for employment in ICT (information and communications technology). We would like to set up computer equipment at five centers and are requesting your support. Each center will initially have five computers and increase as per the enrollment. Imparting computer education to the young generation, especially to girls and women, is essential for achieving their goals and dreams.

We therefore solicit your support to help us with twenty five computer sets in five centers. The other expenditures, such as the center’s charge, electricity bills, teacher’s salary, stationery and additional expenses, will be carried out in two phases:

The students enrolled in the center will be charged a very nominal fee every month
The remaining expenses will be paid by the organization itself

Objectives

To fulfill goals of development and the removal of unemployment and poverty To impart education relevant to increased production and productivity, economic development and individual prosperity To make available a skilled work force at all levels to alleviate the rural unemployment thereby helping the development of the nation To develop environmental awareness to ensure sustainable development To develop vocational aptitude, work culture, values and attitudes of the learners so as to enrich the productivity of the nation To develop entrepreneurial competencies and skills of learners for self reliance and to undertake self employment To develop vocational competencies, creative thinking in the related areas and to facilitate training To spread awareness about different job areas and to provide backgrounds for acquiring higher level training in the subjects concerned To develop personal and humanitarian consciousness, as this would help to draw out the best of their inherent abilities To provide women with vocational and job-oriented courses like Basic Computer Training and other courses To equip the female students with the knowledge required to function as professionals in the industry To enhance the skill levels of female students to prepare them for employment in the ICT labor market Target Group: women, adolescent girls and unemployed youth.

Needs of the Project

Hurumia Watoto Development Group recognizes that computer education plays a key role in every field of life. With education in cities laying emphasis on computer education and literacy, the educational institutions for females in small cities are lagging behind. HURUMIA WATOTO DEVELOPMENT Group seeks a solution to this problem. By providing computer education to females we combat gender discrimination and empower females for a better life. Females are as keen to learn these new technologies but they are unavailable to them as they are unable to access cyber cafes or computer institutes and because of the presence of males. Belonging to conservative and illiterate parents, they are not allowed due to privacy and security reasons. The other very important factor is the financial constraint which makes the parents reluctant to invest too much in education, believing that the females are only useful for marriage. Because of all these factors we are propose to set up of these centers. It will help the females increase their knowledge base and understand how to tap in to any hidden talent they may have – be it cooking, housekeeping, gardening, sewing and so on. 

Goal of the Project
The primary aim of this project is to sensitize the community towards the dangers of unemployment, which leads to poverty and neglect of education for females. The aim is also to solicit their support to lower these levels as much as possible. In achieving this aim, we hope to create opportunities for the poor and for females to apply their potential successfully by obtaining a vocational education. Due to the lack of knowledge, information and orientation in Vocational Education, grass roots level villagers cannot understand the need of immunization and the importance of growth monitoring or technique. Vocational Education supports career development and social protection of individuals, maintains competitiveness of the employed, and supports self-employment and entrepreneurship. 

Project Implementation Strategy

The basic premise of this project is self employ-ability, ownership and unleashing the power women inherently have. The project will be organized in three phases: In the 1st Phase, Hurumia Watoto Development Group will identify females interested in learning and teaching computer education. We will form a core team, create an orientation and training plan, design a curriculum around pedagogy, and select training partners. We will afford the opportunity to indigenous females who have some basic information relating to computer education, to work with us as a team. In the 2nd phase, WPDG will focus more on organizing quality computer training to selected beneficiaries by using local resources. The charges will be nominal so that a maximum number of females benefit from this program. Those selected will be required to contribute 5% of income with the aim of cultivating ownership and sustainability of the project. We will support them in the early phases to help them open their own computer centres for self employ-ability. In the 3rd and final phase, WPDG will conduct placement activities for the trainees and build financial and market linkage to establish micro-enterprises at a community level for self-employability.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The entire project will be supervised by a monitoring team and supported by documentation. The funding agency or the organization may appoint the monitoring team. Staff chosen by our organization will implement the program. The monitoring team will be selected to ensure community participation. A project manager will monitor the entire program and document the activities. An annual audit and evaluation will be conducted for the budget, and comments and actions will be made regarding the budget.

Socio-cultural & economic sustainability.

The behavioural and attitudinal changes brought in by the project among the local communities, particularly for the females, will empower them to participate actively in decision-making in all other future activities. The females will come together in a common platform to discuss their socio-cultural problems, bringing changes in age-old social habits. The project will significantly affect these women’s lives after completing the computer course and the young girls who receive the opportunity to be an instructor at the institute. We will examine how these skills can be converted into income-generating activities, livelihood security and self-employability. This will bring about much-needed confidence among them, helping them move forward towards development. Their active participation in the decision-making process, community-based planning and being an instructor will bring about ownership of the project. Hurumia Watoto Development Group will continue to play an active role in facilitating young and energetic girls and women to establish a strong link with government schemes and projects to generate the required assistance. Internal income will be generated through enrollment fees, donations, and revenues from community-based institutions. This project will motivate unemployed girls and women to start micro-enterprises at a local level and control migration. Technical sustainability Funds for the repair & maintenance of the computers will be managed by the Center in the future. “Strengthen the female mind by enlarging it, and there will be an end to blind obedience.” 

RESULT/OUTCOME:

More than 300 under-privileged and less-privileged poor adolescent girls will be saved from contractual labour and consequently from labour exploitation and physical and sexual torture
more than 300 under-privileged and less-privileged poor and marginalized adolescent girls will be endowed with employable skills
more than 300 under-privileged and less-privileged poor and marginalized teenage girls will be able to earn their livelihood and upgrade their socio-economic status
more than 300 under-privileged and less-privileged poor and marginalized adolescent girls will be capable of facing the reality and challenges of poverty, hunger and associated issues
more than 1500 families of poor and marginalized teenage girls will be able to free themselves from the bondage of debt
more than 100 families will be able to acquire assets and livestock, reducing poverty, hunger and dependency.