One Day’s Wages is partnering with West African Vocational Schools (WAVS) to equip the young population in Guinea-Bissau with welding and metalworking skills. This will allow them to open their own workshops to provide for themselves and their families for the rest of their lives.
Why Vocational Training in Guinea-Bissau?
Guinea-Bissau faces serious challenges as a nation—crippling poverty, corruption, drug smuggling, and human trafficking. More than half of Guinea-Bissau’s population survives off less than $1.25 each day. Additionally, the public education system in Guinea-Bissau is underfunded and often fails to pay its teachers, leading to teacher strikes that last for months. As a result, less than 25% of students graduate from high school and those who do graduate are not equipped with the job skills they need to provide for their family.
Yet, Guinea-Bissau’s 1.8 million people are ready to pull themselves out of poverty. All they need is the opportunity. The training that students receive at WAVS will equip them with life-changing job skills so that they can find meaningful employment.
ODW + WAVS
One Day’s Wages is partnering with West African Vocational Schools (WAVs) to fully equip 20 welding students with the skills and tools they need to start their own workshops or find meaningful employment. The training topics will include safety, welding theory, stick and MIG welders, machining work (including use of a lathe), proper measuring and cutting techniques, and basic design work.
The WAVS welding program is focused on giving students real world, hands on experience. By the time they finish their nine-month course, these future entrepreneurs will have made their own fish grills, built chairs and desks, welded windows and doors, and learned how to install a steel roof. In addition, qualifying graduates will receive a welding tools starter kit. They will be ready to take on any job that comes their way.
Join Us
Join us in us empowering 20 students in Guinea-Bissau by equipping them with welding and metalworking skills so that they can provide for themselves and their families. The progress bar above includes our intended match amount of $15,000 for a granting total of $30,000.
Meet Agusto
Agusto is a WAVS alumnus and is very proud of his welding shop that he was able to open after graduating. As simple as his open-air workshop is, it represents real transformation. Agusto was facing a life of certain poverty, but he chose to equip himself with a job skill that now gives him the ability to provide for himself and his family— for a lifetime. Like many of the people of Guinea-Bissau, all Agusto needed was a chance.
Check out Agusto’s full story video!
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