World Vision Malawi (WVM) has underscored its commitment to improving the well-being of children in Neno District by promoting access to productive resources and skills development.
WVM programmes manager Charles Chimombo said this on Tuesday in the area of Senior Chief Symoni in Neno District when the organisation awarded certificates and donated sewing machines to 64 out-of-school youths who underwent a six-month tailoring training.
“Our goal is to improve the well-being of four million children by 2020. We believe that a good entry point is by improving the livelihood of their families so that they are able to send the children to school; they are able to provide them with nutritious food, clean water and sanitation facilities,” he said.
Chimombo said the tailoring training and the 64 sewing machines worth K15 million are part of a project which WVM was implementing in the areas of group village heads Mtengula and Somisomi with support from the World Vision Hong Kong.
In his remarks, Neno district commissioner Ali Phiri said the project has benefitted people in the two villages as their areas receive minimal rain, a development which results in poor and insufficient harvests year in year out.
One of the tailoring graduates, 18-year-old Elise Richman from Mtengula Village, thanked WVM for the training and the sewing machines, saying it will go a long way in helping her to earn a living and support her parents and siblings.
“As a group, we have also agreed to pass on the skills we have learnt to our peers who were not part of the training. Each one of us will dedicate two days per week to train others.
“At the end of three years, we want to train at least 300 others,” he said. n
