Mumino Mohamed is one of the best students at the vocational center in Baidoa. She has mastered the art of tailoring, decorating beautiful dresses for women. She has spent more than a year at the center – alongside other students – many of whom are from poor neighborhoods – others from nearby displaced camps
“I joined this vocational center in 2016, I had no understanding of how to design clothes but am now perfect in designing as well as applying henna to women,” said Mumina Mohamed, student, Somali.
Their teacher is confident that the batch of students is ready to earn a living through the skills acquired at the centre.
A girl decorates her friend with a beautiful pattern of henna, a common way of decoration done to Somali women
“This is the third batch of students we are training here. We’ve trained two other groups and we are happy that they can now work and earn a living. All the clothes you see behind me is done by them – they are making good progress,” said Mumina Mohamed, student, Somali.
The community in the Baidoa region is mainly an agro-pastoral society – nomads has suffered most occasions been affected by past droughts. Majority have moved to Mogadishu in search of better livelihood -and the youth who’ve remained behind have nothing much left to do
Somalia is currently ranked among the countries with the highest unemployment rates in the world – and its the vocational centers that are seeking to change the lives of youths by injecting new hope among the countries young people who currently make up 70% of the country’s total population.
“This center was opened as a result of massive unemployment in the Bay region. Our aim is to train many young people and equip them with life skills that will in turn help them survive. We don’t want our children to continue to fight alongside Al-Shabaab – we want positive minded youth who can learn and be useful to the society,” said Aden Mohamed, head at SBLO Vocational Center.
Not far from the center in Baidoa is a rehabilitation center for former combatants – some forced to join the militant group Al-Shabaab, – others say they want to rejoin society and get jobs, heath and above all a decent life
Somali President Farmajo, during his campaigns, vowed to create job opportunities for the country’s youthful population, it’s a pledge that this young people will eagerly await.
