Twenty youths have graduated with various technical skills from a faith-based organization, Passion Center for Children, which also gave them sewing machines, construction tools, and carpentry tools as starter packs.
Speaking during the graduation, the District Youth Officer for Zomba, Sophie Mzunga, commended the organization for introducing vocational and technical education for the youths.
She said the youths need to be innovative and creative to be self-reliant and to become productive citizens.
Mzunga further called on the graduating youths to be passionate about vocational and technical jobs which they are venturing into.
“Impart the knowledge and skills you have gotten from here at Passion Center to fellow youths so that Malawi should realize Vision 2063,” she said.
She, therefore, appealed to other organizations working in Zomba to emulate Passion Center’s program by introducing vocational and technical education for the youth to make them productive citizens.
“Malawi needs self-reliant and productive youths by 2063. I appeal to organizations working in Zomba to support the youths to become economically stable by introducing vocational and technical training,” she added.
Executive Director for the organization, Pastor Saul Mateyu, said the graduating youths learned various skills capable of empowering them to become economically stable.
One of the graduates, Efrina Botomani, thanked Passion Center for Children for providing the youths with vocational and technical skills that have opened their doors to economic stability.
She encouraged fellow graduates to use the knowledge and skills acquired from the Passion Center for Children.
This was the first-ever graduation of the youth on vocational and technical skills at Passion Center.
Eight youths graduated as tailors, seven youths as carpenters, and five as brick layers.
It took eight months for the youths to learn vocational and technical skills at the institution.
K6 Million was used to train the youths while K8 Million was spent to buy the starter pack equipment.
