Hands On! Equip Deaf youth to work in Zimbabwe

The youth are back at the centre at the moment.  We had to restrict them to projects in the garden over the last few months since we had a long partial lockdown, but they were able to work in the garden. They had a bumper harvest of cabbages in August and took wheelbarows of cabbage to the market to sell. 

The youth were encouraged to harvest the cabbages, buy them from Nzeve at a low price and go and sell them at whatever price they could get. A few confident young people jumped at the opportunity. They went out and made some money! But they left the others behind – some did not see the opportunity or what they needed to do. We are working with groups of young people to help them to become confident leaders and entrepreneurs.

Your donations helped the 25 young people in Sanganai Project to learn and gain confidence. Gondai did his primary education in a class for deaf children. He learnt sign language but could also use some speech. He could not continue to secondary education, so his teacher suggested he came to Nzeve youth project – Sanganai- to learn practical skills. He agreed and enjoyed carpentry. A deaf leader mentored him and then he went for a 1-year attachment with a local carpenter, where both his skills and his confidence increased, He passed the national Trade Test Carpentry exam class 3. He has set up a small business at home and he is now leading an independent life. He has demonstrated that he can pay his rent, buy food, and buy tools for his business.

Noctula loves crochet and crafts. She is always busy with her needles or hooks!  She can look at an example and make it herself- without a pattern- and it looks good. However, she still needs business training and to learn to sell at a profit and competitive price. Noctula has not recognised her own strengths and lacks confidence.  The Hands On project is helping her to gain the confidence and skills she needs to be more successful and independent.