Young Africa - Our Success Stories of Impact

Valter Martinho Nobre

Valter Martinho Nobre graduated in Secretarial and Public Relations and English in 2014 at Young Africa Beira. He finished his internship at the Tivoli Hotel and was hired immediately after graduation as a receptionist.

Valter wanted to make a career and decided to use his savings to attend the Customs & Excise training at Young Africa in 2015. The company MSTAR SA invited him after his graduation to come to work for them as an assistant store manager. After half a year, Valter was already promoted to Manager!

Currently, Valter is enrolled in the course Accountancy and is able to pay for the education of his three little brothers too!

Edson Delavega Sacur

Edson, 22 years old, quit his study Port Management at the Catholic University of Mozambique due to financial reasons. His father pointed out to him the possibility to study at Young Africa Mozambique. Edson decided to join the training Customs & Excise and received his certificate six months later. He now works as a Customs Officer at the Harbor of Beira at Joaquim Mateus Manguaiana Limited. Edson was able to save some of his income and was able to continue his study Port Management at the University. He recently bought a piece of land, on which he wants to build his own house.

Edson: ''Many thanks to Young Africa and the teachers. I recommend all young people in Mozambique to follow a training at Young Africa.''

Immanuel Indongo

My name is Immanuel Indongo and I am a proud graduate of Young Africa Namibia.

I was born on the 8th of July 1992. Raised in Onelago Village, Oshana Region by my grandmother, I attended Elago Combined School until Grade 10, and after failing, I almost lost all hope.

In 2012, I completed an Electrical Installation and Basic Repair at Kayec Ondangwa. Even though I had attained my certificate, it wasn't any easier trying to get a job.In February 2013, I moved to Windhoek in an attempt to increase my chances of finding a job but at first, my attempts were in vain.

I was advised to apply for a job at Namibian Protective Services (NPS) as I continue my search for a job in the electrical field. Finally, in September 2013, I received an opportunity to prove myself at Orujaveze Solar CC as a Installer/Technician. Thanks to the training I received at KAYEC, it wasn't a hard adjustment and, with the help of my seniors, I thrived and gained experience in more than just Solar Electricity Installations. I also learnt the basics on how to install Solar Geysers and other electrical appliances.

My Employer and Mentor, Wapale Kalla, urged me to apply for a spot at Young Africa to further my education and up my qualifications, which is by far the best move I've made in my life. With my new found knowledge, I have been promoted from a technician to a Systems designer and now I oversee all the jobs being done and assist the newcomers in the company by teaching them new techniques.

Thanks to Young Africa, the Future looks brighter than ever.

Esperança Da Conceição Piris

Esperança could not save enough money to attend University. Still eager to learn and develop, she decided to follow a training at Young Africa. She choose Human Resource Management, which she completed successfully. After training she did her three months internship at the Municipal Council of Beira and was hired immediately after her internship period as Head of the Secretariat!

Her younger sister can attend school as well now. Esperança: ''I can't find the words to thank Young Africa. I ask myself sometimes what would have become of my life, if I couldn't receive the training as I did. It changed my life, as well as that of my little sister.''

Christine Mhasvi

Christine Mhasvi (25) graduated, despite being a high school dropout, with a certificate in Hairdressing from Young Africa in December 2015. Her passion to start her own business was ignited when she was gaining industrial experience through a Small-Medium Enterprise Mentorship for 6 months. Immediately after graduation using her own savings she started her own income generating project by renting a chair in a hair salon. Her average income form the business was USD$350 per month. As time progressed she identified another opportunity related to her business. She noticed that clients who wanted to have a weave as part of the new hairstyle had to leave the salon to go and purchase elsewhere and at times would not return back to the hair salon. She managed to attend the Improve Your Business (IYB) training offered by Young Africa to see how she could operationalize the idea she had. During the training Virl Microfinance came to speak to them as business people about their products. She applied for a loan of USD$400 and was successful. Since she started the shop that sells weaves her average income is USD$800 per month.

Gift Mukonho

Gift Mukonho (29) grew up as an orphan under the custody of his maternal grandmother in the rural community of Chiendambuya. Growing up in this rural area became even harder after he had to drop out of school and start herding cows to earn a living for his grandmother and cousins. In 2009 his grandmother passed away and his uncles who took over his deceased grandmother’s homestead chased him away.
Gift relocated to Rusape (Makoni District) where he lived on the streets before being taken in by a sympathising family who lived with him as their own son. In March 2016, Gift heard about vocational skills training being offered by Young Africa with the support of European Union and he went to enquire. He was surprised to find out that having 4 years of secondary school education was not a requirement. Immediately, he selected catering which he said he enjoyed learning so much about cooking.
As part of the training Gift was required to attend 2 months industrial attachment. Equipped with life skills he had learnt he approached a local restaurant PanMart who were impressed with what he had learnt. After 1 month they were so mesmerized with his hard-work and innovative business ideas that they offered him full time employment. In his graduation testimony Gift said with teary eyes, “in my life l had never dreamt of wearing an ironed shirt and a polished pair of shoes. Young Africa and EU have transformed my life and everyone who knew me in this town is surprised at my transformation. I even have my own place to live’’.

Miriam Chinyani

''I never thought I could be someone in life, I thank Young Africa for empowering me and bringing the best out of me'' says Miriam Chinyani (22years old). Miriam Chinyani is one of the many young people whose lives were changed through the holistic empowerment at Young Africa.

Miriam was just like any other girl when in 2011 after she passed only 2 subjects at Ordinary Level and could not proceed to higher education or secure employment. Being the first born in a family of 3, headed by her single mother who was struggling to put food on the table, Miriam had no option than to start buying and selling (cross border) clothing items. Life became a bitter pill to swallow for her as nothing materialised from her small business and she thought she could never make it in life. With the support of her struggling and caring mother she decided to enrol and train for catering in August 2015 at YA Chitungwiza after receiving advice from a YA past student.

Miriam is now employed with Spar Mvuma and earning a decent salary after completing part of her attachment with them. Miriam was quick to attribute her full time recruitment at Spar to good behaviour which was to a larger extent influenced by Life skills training, a component embedded in YA vocational training. Miriam claims she is now an independent empowered young girl who is now acquiring assets in her own name and is now helping her mother to take care of the family and her siblings who are at school.

Bridget Mujikijira

Bridget Mujikijira graduated from YA Chitungwiza (Zimbabwe) in 2013 in Hairdressing & Cosmetology. Today she runs a cross border business in hairdressing between Cape Town and Chitungwiza. Bridget was a housewife before joining Young Africa. Her husband works as a truck driver with a fluctuating income. Since completing her course in August 2013, Bridget was able to use her hairdressing skills to earn an income by renting a chair at Makoni Shopping Centre. She is currently taking locally made hair pieces to cater for the Zimbabwean clientele in Cape Town. She is also able to contribute towards school fees for her child who is now in boarding school. Bridget says, “Young Africa not only teach us skills of the hand, but also focus on business skills. These business skills have helped me improve my (economic) situation.” She would like to raise the capital for buying equipment for her own hair salon in Harare.

Filipe Chissarucua

Filipe Chissarucua heard about YA Beira (Mozambique) through his cousin and took a one-year mechanics course from 2012 to 2013. At the end of 2013, after doing intensive teacher training through the Mechanics Department, he began working there. Filipe now teaches practical and theory classes to Young Africa mechanics students. Filipe says, “I hope that Young Africa continues to provide training for disadvantaged young people and that the quality of teaching remains high in order to meet market demands.”

Suzentina Mateus Moiana

Suzentina Mateus Moiana came to Mozambique from South Africa in 2013. Despite not being able to speak Portuguese, she joined the Agricultural Mechanics course at Agri-Tech, where she picked up the language during classes and is now fluent after just one year. With such a talent for language it was no surprise that Suzie then took on the role of English teacher at the centre. Suzie says, “It’s good to teach others, especially English. English is important for young people here, so that in a lot of different countries they can communicate with others easily.”

Isabella Ekongo

Isabella Ekongo completed a six month course in Solar Technology at YA Namibia in 2015. She is now working for a solar company in the north of Namibia. Isabella says, “Young Africa has built my self-esteem, having equipped me with the skills and confidence to build a career in solar technology. I see myself going far in this industry, with a long-term goal to set up my own company and employing unemployed youths.”

Izaquiel Jaime Mponha

Izaquiel Jaime Mponha is a student of the Tractor Operation course at YA AgriTech (Mozambique). He's from Sofala Province - Sena. He told that he came to YA Agri-Tech because he would like to be a tractor driver. His plan at YA Agri-Tech is to get his driving license and certificate. After training he'll look for a job as an operator.

Abiba Azarias Sambo

Abiba Azarias Sambo is a student of the Farm Manager's course at YA Agri-Tech. She's from Sofala Province - Buzi. She came to Agri-Tech because she wanted career opportunities. Her plan is to get knowledge on how to manage a farm. After training she'll look for a job and if possible, improve her academic level.

Vicente Jose Luis

Vicente Jose Luis is a student of the Agricultural Mechanisation's course at YA Agri-Tech. He's from Sofala Province - Buzi. He came to YA Agri-Tech because his parents sent him. But now, he says that it is a privilege to stay at YA Agri-Tech. After training he'll look for a job and he has a plan to open an workshop for civil mechanics. He says he'll be a model for other young people.

Paulina Mofate Nezibete

Paulina Mofate Nezibete is a student of the Special Agriculture course at YA Agri-Tech. She's from Manica Province. According to her, she came to YA because the training costs are accessible and she liked the name "Young Africa". Her plan at YA Agri-Tech is to get knowledge on how to produce vegetables and to get capability to enter in the labour market. After training she'll look for a job and if possible, do other courses.

Tafadzwa Chibaringa

Tafadzwa Chibaringa completed a course in Motor Vehicle Mechanics and graduated from YA Chitungwiza (Zimbabwe) in 2010. He joined the Aviation Ground Services as an Assistant Mechanic in 2013. He believes that YA has equipped him with technical skills to meet his needs and the life skills needed to be a responsible man. He would like to own his own garage and be an inspiration to other young people.

Tafadzwa Kunaka

Tafadzwa Kunaka (22) graduated from Young Africa Zimbabwe in June 2012 with after completing a one year course in Panel Beating. He chose to do a course in Panel Beating while studying motor mechanics in Harare because he felt a greater interest in the craft of panel beating. He plans for a Panel Beating business with his friends. Tafadzwa says, “After studying at Young Africa I have gained an interest in business studies. Apart from the studying and skills of the hand, we also gained life skills. This has been very good for me. I have realised the value of working hard to be successful.” He also spends his time sharing this message in his community and encouraging young people to work hard in life.

Kudakwashe and Celestino

They are both self-employed carpenters who run their business from Warren Park outside Harare. They both enrolled at Young Africa Zimbabwe in January 2008. At that time, they were being taken care of by a member of their family as they were both struggling financially. Initially, Kudakwashe wanted to become a mechanic, but on seeing the carpentry workshop he changed his mind and after discussing his options with his uncle, he decided carpentry was a better option as it created a better chance of making an income. Young Africa had played a huge part in the development of a skill which is now their main source of income for them and their families. They show us an impressive portfolio of the work they had completed since starting their business. There was an impressive array of cabinets, doors, wardrobes and bed frames, which was made all the more impressive by the fact that these are all made with hand tools and not machines.

Life skills and entrepreneurial classes had greatly affected their lives. They helped them to make better decisions in their everyday lives as well as in their working lives. Customer care is a crossover between both of these. They learned how to communicate in a more effective manner through life skills while they learned how to be better negotiators through entrepreneurial studies, which has had a massive impact on the success of their business. In the future, they’d love to have their own workshop and warehouse, so that they could make their own products without having to wait for orders with larger machines to help them be more efficient. You can feel the empathy that they have for the youth, as they have had the experience and understand how difficult it is for young people. They both agreed that they would love to have the resources and workload to employ young people and to give them opportunities to be resourceful and create income for their own families.

Edmore Makoza

Edmore completed the training Car Mechanics in 2003 at YA Zimbabwe. He then started working as a car mechanic at Auto Logic. In 2013, he decided to set up his own company, Auto Inn. He says that the training at YA thought him how to be an innovative entrepreneur. Edmore even hired his first employee! In the future he would like to grow his company into a big workshop, able to compete with the giant companies in Motor Vehicle Mechanics.

Castigo Vicente Julai

Castigo Vicente Julai (21) discovered Young Africa Beira through film screenings that YA hosted at the local orphanage where he grew up. He has completed Young Africa courses in IT, English and Computer Repairs, and for the last two years he has been Workshop Manager at the YA Beira Bicycle Department franchised by Baisikeli. On top of all this, he is in his final year of Business Management at the local university which he attends at the weekends on a scholarship.

Unesco recognition for Young Africa

Our Success Stories of Impact