Until you visit and interact with a 12-member group of young men and women from Traditional Authority (T/A) Masula in the outskirts of Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, you will not know the true definition and meaning of the word ‘patriotism’.
The 12 are utilizing the vocational skills they acquired through Youth Skills Challenge Support Program, which COMSIP Cooperative Union Limited is implementing under the Livelihoods Support Program of the Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project (SSRLP), to transform their community.
SSRLP is a Government of Malawi project implemented with funding from the World Bank and Social Protection Multi Donor Trust Fund. The program targets 590, 000 beneficiaries of Social Cash Transfer (SCT) and 471,000 beneficiaries of Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Program (CS-EPWP).
Twenty-year-old Frank Phiri, who comes from Njaluzi Village, is one of the beneficiaries of the Youth Skills Challenge Support Program that COMSIP is implementing in conjunction with the Ministry of Youth and Technical Entrepreneurial, Education and Training Authority (TEVETA) with the aim of helping them start businesses or get employment that will help them get out of extreme poverty.
When a team of journalists toured the area on Thursday, Phiri, who dropped out of school whilst in Form Three due to lack of fees, was leading his peers in repairing dysfunctional beds, broken chairs and sewing new curtains for Dickson Health Centre.
“We graduated in July this year and we felt that repairing dysfunctional beds, chairs and windows should be our first priority because of the pressing need for the materials at this clinic. Patients have been sleeping and sitting on the floor when they come to access healthcare services, and we thought this is dehumanizing to the patients,” he opened the interview.
Malawi, just like any other country across the globe, cannot underestimate the role of the youth in identifying solutions to challenges that hinder social and economic growth of their societies.
Youth can easily connect with diverse groups of people in their communities through volunteering and outreach. And this gives them a better understanding of how a community is made up of people with different beliefs and needs.
Additionally, youth participation strengthens young people’s ability to meet their own subsistence needs and promotes ownership and sustainability of interventions.
It also helps them to become empathetic citizens who could potentially continue similar work when they become adults. Furthermore, youth who give back to their communities develop leadership skills, learn the importance of helping, and gain work experience.
COMSIP Public Relations Officer Mercy Chaluma-Kayuni said with a MK192 million financial support from the World Bank, the institution has trained 721 youths from Chiradzulu, Blantyre, Phalombe, Balaka, Dedza, Lilongwe, Dowa, Ntchisi, Kasungu, Nkhotakota, Nkhatabay, Karonga, Rumphi and Chitipa in the first cohort.
Chaluma-Kayuni disclosed that the trainings are conducted by TEVETA certified craftsmen from the communities the youths come from.
“Among other things, the young people are learning about cosmetology, tailoring, tin-smiting, building, plumbing, carpentry and welding among others and by the end of the SSRLP in 2027, COMSIP would have trained 4300 youths under this initiative. Upon finishing the skills training, the youths are supported with start-up tools and financial linkages where they get support for loans to kick-start their businesses,” she said.
She added that those getting start up tools can access up to MK300, 000 from COMSIV Limited, a finance subsidiary of COMSIP Cooperative Union Limited, to establish themselves in business and are signing community bonds to be operating their businesses within their communities.
Chaluma-Kayuni stated that COMSIP Cooperative Union Limited believes that through active participation, young people are empowered to play a vital role in their own development as well as in that of their communities, helping them to learn vital life-skills, develop knowledge on human rights and citizenship and to promote positive civic action.
Phiri testified that this approach has helped them understand the importance of youth involvement and participation in identifying and providing solutions to challenges that affect their society.
He disclosed that group members contribute money to buy materials, which they used to repair dysfunctional beds, chairs and curtains at the clinic.
“We are doing this because we have learned that this is the only way each one of us can appreciate that this facility is ours, not a government property. So, this helps in promoting community ownership of the clinic,” said Phiri.
The clinic’s in-charge, medical assistant Lameck Simkoko, commended the initiative the youth have taken, stressing that it complements efforts by Lilongwe District Health Office (DHO) to improve the quality of care in public health facilities in the district.
