Training: breaking into a man’s world in Zambia

We recently sent funds to Zambia to pay the costs for two women in Solwezi to train as mechanics. We have supported a number of initiatives there to help women trapped in sex work because of poverty to find ways to become economically independent. (These have included a business raising hens to sell eggs in the market, and a sausage making business.)

These two women decided that they wanted to train as heavy duty mechanics in the mining industry. Here’s an extract from their letter of thanks.

Going from our past history, it was not our wish to find ourselves in that business of selling our bodies for money, it was all because of poverty. …
The two of us decided to go for Heavy Duty Mechanics, so challenging a course that was “meant” for men alone. But trust in God, with the zeal and determination, we felt it was worth trying. We are happy to report that we have made it, though challenging, but it’s very beneficial to us.
We can’t hide our joy to inform you that Kansanshi mine has given us a great opportunity to do the practicals in the mining plant where there are assorted heavy duty equipment that we can learn on. We are called “Fitters” training on heavy duty equipment, that will now mean as soon as we finish we shall be employed by the mines. What an awesome situation for us!
Another cardinal point you need to know is that the course we are doing has been elevated from Certificate to a Diploma course that will mean to go an extra year to qualify as a Diploma in Zambia. This puts us at an advantage, because we shall be diploma holders, meaning even our salaries will be that of Diploma holders.

We’re very impressed with their intrepid attitude!

Education and training can help people out of poverty. We have also recently paid college fees for three girls in India who could not have afforded it themselves. We would like to establish an ongoing scholarship fund to do more of this kind of thing. If you’d like to help us, use the Contact form and get in touch.