This is Sara, of our new series 'Meet The Heroes of Young Africa"
In the series ‘Meet The Heroes of Young Africa” we get to know graduates and learn about their drives to join Young Africa, their passions and their ambitions in life. First up: Sara, twenty-two, from Beira, Mozambique.
“Here in Beira, I live with both my mother and grandmother. However, my mother has mental challenges and hence this is a burden for me as a child and my grandmother. We have to take turns to care for her while also seeking income to meet her medical needs. These difficulties at times have limited my dream and motivation in life as a young woman. I was therefore forced to start working very early, helping my grandmother with her small businesses. I was able to finish my secondary school late, in 2016.
After finishing secondary school, I could not continue with my studies because the costs were already very high. However, SOS Children’s Villages managed to facilitate for me a scholarship at Young Africa Agri-Tech in Dondo. I conducted and completed a 12-months training course in Agriculture. I selected this course because I knew that it could guarantee my self-employment, entrepreneurship and facilitate an easy passage for me to help my mother.
I graduated from the course in December 2017. In 2018 I began to produce vegetables on a small scale. During the same time, I was also invited to an incubation program with GIZ, in partnership with Young Africa on agribusiness. After this training, I was assigned to the administrative post of Cafumpe, Gondola, Manica Province, as an agrarian extensionist where I work up to now. With the money I earn today, I am now able to help my mother with monthly expenses. At the same time I can and take care of my grandmother in need of medication. For now, I am thinking of continuing with my studies in the Agricultural Engineering course.”.
At Young Africa we envision a world where education for all youth is the new status quo. We have trained up to 40.000 youth and are determined to train many more across Southern Africa.