In the community of Yelwan Makaranta, as in most of Bauchi City and throughout Bauchi State, the vast majority of the population is made up of petty traders. Without specialized skills or training most individuals have little opportunity to achieve even the most basic elements of economic independence. Our student leaders saw the high rate of unemployment among young adults in Yelwan Makaranta as an opportunity to infuse the neighborhood with sorely needed skills and income, so they organized a meeting with community elders and identified ways to move forward.

Through interviews with prospective participants, LI student leaders identified three trades which would provide highly marketable skills: tailoring, motorcycle repair, and welding. Skilled mentors were then brought on board to train the most motivated among the youth in these trades. Fifteen young people were selected and each was apprenticed to an experienced tradesman with the expectation that he would complete a six month course of training fully prepared to set up shop independently or to seek paid employment. Each participant was therefore also trained in basic business management skills such as materials acquisition, equipment maintenance, site planning, and financial management. Individual LI donors funded the training courses and provided start-up capital to equip each graduate with the necessary tools to pursue her new vocation.

Eleven Yelwan Makaranta youth are now fully trained and each has gone into business for himself. Most Bauchi citizens do not have vehicles of their own, so our newly trained mechanics provide essential repair services for the motocycle taxis serving every sector of the city. Our tailors provide affordable custom tailoring which was previously unavailable within the community. And the need for competent welding is so great within the region that our newly trained welders have a six-month backlog of work and dozens of young adults are applying to be similarly trained. All graduates are now providing vital services within the greater community and the income they generate has raised the standard of living for both their immediate and extended families.