Tools to Mtukula

On a beautiful sunny day in July 2022 we waved goodbye to our Malawi shipment, containing 6,911 tools, as it set off on the long journey over the sea.

Fast forward to 2023 and the shipment has safely reached its destination and tools have been distributed amongst four partner organisations with whom we currently run vocational training projects.

 

One such partner is Foundation For Education And Social Development (FESODEV).  They are delivering the Mtukula business development project, which is supporting established tradespeople from 80 local businesses.  Participants receive top-up vocational training, business mentoring and marketing support to help them increase their service provision and grow their existing client base.  Altogether, 160 men and women have completed the first 6 months of the project, which focused on technical training to hone their trade skills.

As they proceed to the second phase of the project, participants are supplied with quality tools and equipment to take back to their own workshops.  In these final months,  FESODEV will focus on supporting the trainees through the following activities:

• A quarterly visit to monitor progress, troubleshoot for any problems, reconnect with trainers to support for any specific challenges and to assess the care of the tool kits.
• Help to register businesses with the government, to the office of Registrar General, which will open up potential work contracts and link the small businesses to local companies.
• Support with ongoing marketing and advertising for the graduates’ businesses.
• Exploring the safe acquisition of soft loans to boost capital and invest further in their business developments.

We can’t wait to find out how our the Mtukula participants get on as they apply their their new skills and confidence to build their livelihoods.

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April 2023