SOCY is funded by USAID through Catholic Relief Services (CRS). RTY implements category C of the project on Socio-economic and Life Skills Activities for Youths and Adolescent Girls implemented in the districts of Kasese, Kamwenge and Kyenjojo in Mid-Western Uganda. At the moment RTY undertakes interventions in the district of Kyenjojo after SOCY exited from Kasese and Kamwenge. RTY implements Result Area 1 of the program that is designed to ensure that orphaned vulnerable children, youth and their care givers are economically empowered to effectively access core services. Result Area 2 and 3 are implemented by other sister CSOs under the same SOCY program.
The project makes three important interventions aimed at economically empowering OVC, youth and their care givers to effectively access core services. RTY contributes to this intervention through life skills training of OVC and youth, vocational skills training and agro-enterprise training.
To contribute to efforts directed towards addressing the challenges faced by out of school youth, RTY trains and equip youth with life skills in targeted households. Life skills are psychosocial and interpersonal skills that enable people to make informed decisions, communicate effectively, and develop coping and self-awareness and management skills. With acquisition of life skills the youth will be positioned to lead a healthy, informed and productive life. Life skills training for adolescents from OVC households is done using AflaTEEN curriculum created by Alfatoun as recommended by CRS.
Vocational training that equips unskilled youths with employable skills remains the only option and hope for school dropouts and will have a decisive impact on the long-term prospects of children from poorer households. Vocational skills create opportunities for such youths in accessing gainful employment or self-employment.
The training provides adolescents with training directly related to apprenticeships and their socio-economic benefits that can equip the youths with employable trades and skills. Vocational education shall become more meaningful for the youths because they can be attached to successful artisans, mentors and vocational training centers of repute, leave alone creating their own employment. So far, RTY has been able to train a total of 557 apprentices in the districts of Kasese, Kamwenge and Kyenjojo in various skills and given some of them start-up tool kits so as to graduate into self-employment, self-sustenance and socio-economic development.
RTY works with government extension workers and private service providers (PSPs) in agriculture to train youth in agro-enterprises or agriculture as a business. Training in agro-enterprises is conducted through youth clubs at parish level after agreeing on high value crops desired by the group members. These crops include tomatoes, cabbages, egg plants, onions and carrots. The youth shall be trained in entrepreneurial skills so that they can learn how to make successful businesses through various agriculture-related enterprises or value chain. Agro-enterprises are one source of wealth that is very sustainable for youth in Uganda as compared to other activities as Uganda is basically an agricultural economy.