The Musigati region in Burundi was greatly affected by the civil war that took place from 1993 until 2005. The result of the war was that there was a great number of windows and orphans in the region. Now that the country is in the process of post-war reconstruction, there are a lot of job opportunities in the construction sector. However, skills and knowledge are needed to fill these positions. To be able to work in construction adolescents need to be able to receive vocational training. Mwana na Mama foundation has helped widows and orphans in the Musigati regions through various projects and wanted to focus on improving the professional development of the post-war generation.
The project was partly executed by the women’s co-operation Dutanfanye. They were responsible for building the vocational school and the contact with the teachers.
The foundation built three classrooms that were used for literacy classes, sewing classes and lectures on welding and carpentry. A practice room was also built at a short distance from the other classrooms to prevent noise disturbance.
On September 12th, 2016 the classes officially started. In that year 120 women could follow literacy classes, 60 students enrolled for sewing classes, 48 students followed the carpentry classes and 48 men learnt welding.
The new vocational school gives adolescents a chance at professional development to improve employment rates and as a result also helps the region by keeping the construction sector active.
