Over the past three weeks, our work in Yamaranguila has focused on improving the local community centre and planning and delivering three workshops on entrepreneurial skills to the young people of the community.
The first workshop on confidence and public speaking was attended by over 20 young people from the community and was very successful. The highlight of the workshop was a heated debate about the importance of health vs education, which encouraged all the participants to stand up and give their viewpoint, thus giving them the confidence to speak and express their opinions in public. Everyone left the workshop feeling more confident and having learnt new skills.
The second workshop, which was also well attended, focused on leadership and interview skills. The young people in attendance discussed the qualities that make a good leader and took part in several dynamic games, which required them to use skills such as communication, command and control, delegation and timekeeping, all of which are important for good leadership. We also had fun drawing the perfect interview outfit and sharing each other's top tips for performing well in interviews. Participant feedback suggested that the workshop improved people's confidence in their ability to be a leader and perform well in interviews.
Our third workshop, on finance, was the best attended of the three. Even on a Friday afternoon, 30 young people arrived keen to learn about budgeting and managing money efficiently. Themes included getting the most from your money, when/ how much to spend, and when/ how much to save. Everyone particularly enjoyed the final activity which required each group to construct a bull with a limited budget and resources such as paper, tape, scissors, and pens, which all had to be bought from a makeshift shop! The winning team constructed the most life-like bull with the least amount of money! This final activity gave the participants the opportunity to put everything they had learnt in the workshop into practice and was great fun for everyone involved!
Entrepreneurial skills are very important for the young people of the youth network in this community as they prepare to start an eatery business from scratch. This will be the first business of its kind in the area. It is hoped that with these new skills, the young people of the community youth network will be able to run a successful business, thus reducing youth unemployment in the area and creating a sustainable source of income for the community.
Construction of the eatery begins next week and we are excited to see how the business develops!
Written by ICS volunteer Charlotte Dixon
