Each year, as new students enter the club and assume leadership positions, EBLI endeavors to provide a training on leadership for the members. The goal is to equip the students with the skills required to effectively run and manage a school-based club. Today and tomorrow EBLI will be facilitating this leadership training, guided by a solutions focused approach (SFA) that not only puts the students in charge of the training agenda, but also leads from one step behind.
OUR LATEST ACTIVITIES
EBLI initiated and oversees student-run clubs in ten secondary schools in Mwanza, Tanzania under the name of Kijana Chagua Maisha ("Youth Choose Life"). These clubs serve as a positive peer pressure environment for students, and provide a form for discussing teen-related topics, aiming to empower youth to avoid destructive behaviors and choose healthy futures. Each year, as new students enter the club and assume leadership positions, EBLI endeavors to provide a training on leadership for the members. The goal is to equip the students with the skills required to effectively run and manage a school-based club. Today and tomorrow EBLI will be facilitating this leadership training, guided by a solutions focused approach (SFA) that not only puts the students in charge of the training agenda, but also leads from one step behind.
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Guests continue to visit EBLI! Today the organization was visited by three women from the Ismaili Women's Community of Aga Khan, including chairperson Shainool Rashid. Each year this group runs a fundraiser through their mosque for the benefit of the local community. This year, the fundraiser is being held in conjunction with International Women's Day on 8 March 2016. To that end, the Isamili Women's Community of Aga Khan has selected EBLI (along with LULU Project) given its work with girls and young women in the local community to be the recipient of this year's fundraising drive. EBLI is not only proud to be chosen but also incredibly grateful to these women and the community in their mosque who so graciously are fundraising and donating to further inspire and empower vulnerable young women. A heartfelt thank you for your support! The core projects of EBLI are funded by Terre Des Hommes (TDH) Schweiz, a Swiss-based organization that supports projects that create opportunities for young people. Recently EBLI was fortunate to be visited by several staff members of TDH, most especially the Executive Director and Head of International Programs of TDH Switzerland, Franziska Lauper. During the visit, several field visits were conducted including interviews with young mothers. Additionally, office time was also used to plan ahead for the future as collaborative partners. EBLI thanks TDH Switzerland tremendously for its ongoing support. Since April 2014, EBLI has been fortunate to have a Maryknoll Lay Missioner, Michael Leen, working at EBLI leading economic empowerment activities for young mothers, notably computer literacy and business skills training. Maryknoll Lay Missioners is a Catholic organization inspired by the mission of Jesus to live and work with poor communities in Africa, Asia and the Americas, responding to basic needs and helping to create a more just and compassionate world. Most recently, the Executive Director of Maryknoll Lay Missioners, Sam Stanton, visited EBLI to see the specific work that Michael Leen is doing and the various projects of EBLI and impact in the local community. Sam, along with Michael, visited one young mother, Mariam, at her hair salon business and then was also able to visit her home and school where her daughter is being educated. Then Sam and Michael visited another young mother, Mary, who is employed with Vodacom, the leading mobile phone company in Tanzania, where she works in the field of customer care. Finally, Sam visited the office of EBLI to see first-hand the ninth batch of young mothers who are studying computers, along with the students studying in the newly-openeding secondary education centre, and of course to meet the entire staff. It was a wonderful visit, and as always, guests are such a blessing. EBLI would like to thank Sam and Maryknoll Lay Missioners for their ongoing support. As we talked about here and here, we have been conducting field visits for monitoring and evaluation of our work at EBLI. Specifically, we have been visiting the homes of young mothers who are currently studying computers and will eventually enter into business training. To reiterate, the objective of this field visit was (1) to understand where each young mother lives to help communication, (2) to see firsthand their life condition, (3) to build relationship among the young mothers, and (4) request the cooperation of parents/guardians in ensuring that each young mother arrives each day to study computers and business. Today's home visits took place across several neighborhoods of Mwanza, including Uhuru, Isamilo, Nyashana, Mji Mwema, Kirumba, Bwiru and Pasiansi. Once again Michael Leen and Lucy Metha, co-facilitators of business training, led these field visits. In total, eleven girls were visited, including: Latifa, Khadijah, Lucy, Noela, Habiba, Matilda, Agnes, Monica, Neema, Aurea and Christina. You may view photos from our visit in the gallery below. One activity of the Kijana Chagua Maisha ("Youth Choose Life") project is the distribution or dissemination of articles in ten secondary schools in Mwanza. Each of these ten schools is home to a Kijana Chagua Maisha (KCM) club which fosters a positive peer pressure environment for students, and provides a form for discussing pertinent teen issues. The goal is simple: empower today's young people to choose and maintain healthy futures. During our most recent visit, articles were posted to the KCM bulletin boards in the following secondary schools: Igogo, Igelegele, Nundu, Kangaye, Muhandu, Mtoni, Mahina, Mapango, Nyasaka, and Bugarika. Each article presents a topic relevant to teen life and invites the students to respond to a series of questions and place their replies in a suggestion box. This not only serves to encourage youth participation, but also to gain feedback that will enable EBLI to improve its projects and activities. As we recently mentioned, conducting field visits for monitoring and evaluation is a priority for EBLI in 2016. Given such, we continued our home visits of young mothers who are currently studying computers and will eventually enter into business training. To reiterate, the objective of this field visit was (1) to understand where each young mother lives to help communication, (2) to see firsthand their life condition, (3) to build relationship among the young mothers, and (4) request the cooperation of parents/guardians in ensuring that each young mother arrives each day to study computers and business. Today's home visits took place across several neighborhoods of Mwanza, including Buzuruga, Nundu, Buswelu, Igoma and Nyamhongoro. Once again Michael Leen and Lucy Metha, co-facilitators of business training, led these field visits. In total, seven girls were visited, including: Faith, Melesiana, Magdalena, Jenipha, Sophia, Sundi and Annastazia. You may view photos from our visit in the gallery below. At EBLI we are always trying to improve the activities and services we provide. One piece of feedback that received last year from young mothers is that it would be helpful to them if we offered a business refresher course for those who have already completed computer literacy and business skills training, and are currently in business be it employed or self-employed. The idea is to further economically empower these young mothers by continuing to help them hone their entrepreneurial skills. So for this year, EBLI has planned two business refresher courses to cater to this identified need, with each course being two full days in length. Today, the first two-day business refresher course was held with 17 young mothers, co-facilitated by Maryknoll Lay Missioner, Michael Leen, and EBLI staff, Lucy Metha. The participants selected the discussion topics based upon their areas of need and what would most help them in the management of their business. Areas of focus included: the meaning of entrepreneurship, understanding and identifying customer needs and personal skills, estimating start-up costs, financial management, separating start-up and ongoing activities, selecting a business location, preparations for selling, record keeping, marketing, customer service and business expansion. Tea and lunch were provided for all participants. One of the core EBLI initiatives for 2016 is to conduct regular field visits for monitoring and evaluation. This will help us gauge the efficacy of our projects and make improvements to better serve our beneficiaries. Today we visited the homes of 11 young mothers who have recently begun studying computers and will later enter into business training. The objective of this field visit was (1) to understand where each young mother lives to help communication, (2) to see firsthand their life condition, (3) to build relationship among the young mothers, and (4) request the cooperation of parents/guardians in ensuring that each young mother arrives each day to study computers and business. Michael Leen and Lucy Metha, co-faciltiators of business training, carried out this field visit. Specific young mothers visited include: Naomi, Asante, Happyness, Farida, Martha, Hapines, Neema, Jenipha, Debora and Happyness. At each home, Michael and Lucy sat with the parents and reiterated the aforementioned objectives, and took a family photo. Check out the gallery below for a selection of photos from our visit. EBLI is excited to announce the opening of its secondary education centre! This new project offers the equivalent of four years of secondary education in just two years, providing young women who previously dropped out of school a second chance to finish their education and receive their Form IV secondary school certificate. This certificate will be the gateway to jobs and new opportunities for each of these young women. We currently have five teachers who teach forty-five lessons per week covering seven subjects in the areas of: English, mathematics, history, civics, geography, biology, and Kiswahili. Classes begin at 8 AM and finish at 3 PM. Unlike the formal education system, each student in the EBLI Secondary Education Centre receives a snack and tea during a morning break to help keep their minds sharp and focused for learning. The opening of the EBLI Secondary Education Centre is the culmination of one year of planning and hard work from the entire team at EBLI, including generous supporters across Switzerland, Canada and the United States. A special thanks to Interteam for providing the start-up funds to make this project possible! |
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