Priorities include aligning training with employment needs

(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries were able to improve educational support for youth and young adults through the VIA Don Bosco program, located in Mimboman, Yaoundé, Cameroon. The project was made possible thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

Mimboman is in the eastern part of Yaoundé and has a large, mostly young population. Unemployment remains high, and the community faces overcrowded living conditions, widespread poverty, and low school enrollment.

The project was implemented at Don Bosco Mimboman Vocational Training Center and was structured around several strategic priorities including improving the alignment of training with employment needs, empowering women through education, raising environmental awareness, strengthening institutional sustainability, and helping youth gain employment after training.

From the project’s launch, the Salesian vocational center strengthened its relationships with partner companies. Staff maintained regular contact to better identify labor market needs and adapted the training content. The centers considered the feedback provided by companies during internships to adjust content and enhance the relevance of the learning experience.

Employment development offices provided comprehensive support, from career guidance through post-training follow-up. Young women and men received training in self-employment, individualized support for developing their career plans, and assistance in setting up internship programs at companies. The centers established a mentoring system, and alumni who had become entrepreneurs hosted interns or led hands-on workshops, which strengthened the students’ understanding about the nuances between training and professional life.

Throughout the project, special attention was given to reducing school dropout rates among young women. The centers maintained close relationships with parents to create a family environment conducive to continuing education. The centers also provided scholarships to students who were in need, and training kits were made available at the centers to remove obstacles for these students to use training materials.

The centers established a tutoring system to support youth who were the most vulnerable, and conducted awareness-raising initiatives on early pregnancy. The project also developed a structured set of awareness-raising and training activities on gender-based violence. In addition, the centers produced a booklet on gender awareness and distributed them in the schools and shared them with the parents. Finally, teachers received training sessions on incorporation of a gender perspective into their teaching methods to create a more inclusive and equitable learning environment.

A Salesian explained, “The result of these phases of the project were impressive. After the project ended, we found that 51.4% of female graduates were employed as compared with 47.3% of the male students. The centers’ female graduates are entering the labor market at a higher rate than their male peers, which is not the regional norm and reflects the targeted support provided to young women.”

Géraldine Laura Blanche Memdomo, aged 30, was one of the students. She enrolled in office administration and secretarial studies at the school. She is currently doing an internship at La Grâce Divine, a company in the Mimboman neighborhood.

She came to the center with the goal to apply for a job as a secretary in a local organization or to open her own business. Memdomo had no computer skills when she arrived at Don Bosco Mimboman, but she was able to learn by working her way through the training modules.

Memdomo said, “Thanks to the VIA Don Bosco program, we were able to get computers and additional modules such as Artificial Intelligence, which are indispensable tools for good training today. I encourage other young people to come and train at the center. The support of the VIA program has what students need in order to learn properly.”

Salesian missionaries in Cameroon provide education and social development services to poor youth so they are able to gain the training needed to find and retain long-term employment. They in turn are able to give back to their families and communities.

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Salesian Missions