Lilongwe mayor urges youth to work hard
Lilongwe City Council mayor Willie Chapondera has urged the youth to work hard when learning vocational skills to end poverty.
The mayor made the remarks on Friday during a symbolic handover ceremony of equipment to youths from Lilongwe who completed a two-year Vocational Skills Training for Vulnerable Young People (VSTP) Project under the guidance of the Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education Training Authority (Teveta).
With funding from the National Aids Commission (NAC), the training is expected to help marginalised youths in the country to get skills that can help improve their families since they will be self-employed.
Said Chapondera: “The youth are the future of the country and once we give them vocational skills then we are taking them out of poverty. There is no country which can develop without involving the youth and what we are doing today is one way of empowering them.
“Vocational skills are good because once empowered the youth cannot be involved in immoral activities like excessive drinking of beer, smoking hemp or even womanising.”
VSTP project manager Aaron Chirambo said they had hoped to train 3 600 youths, but managed to reach out to 2 713 due to lack of resources.
Victor Luwambala, Teveta regional service centre manager, encouraged the youth to put to good use the equipment given to them so that they can reap rich rewards from their sweat.
