VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR TEENAGE MOTHERS

Vocational education and business development empower teenage mothers to become financially stable and care for themselves and their children.

THE PROBLEM

Of girls become pregant as teenagers

0 %

Of teenage mothers drop out of school

0 %

Of teenage mothers live less than $1 a day

0 %

OUR IMPACT

Communities where teen mothers were impacted

Teen mums received vocational training

Small businesses grants for teenage mothers

$ 0

Our Solution

A Path to Financial Independence and Literacy

To equip teenage mothers with the skills and support needed for financial independence, we’ve developed a comprehensive one-year program. The curriculum includes practical agricultural training, focusing on crop selection, farming business management, and hands-on experience. Participants will cultivate their own plots of land, from planting to harvesting, and learn to manage the entire farming process, including selling produce and calculating profits.

To enhance their overall literacy and life skills, participants will also attend literacy classes. Recognizing the significant impact of reproductive health education on preventing teenage pregnancies, the program incorporates comprehensive reproductive health training and provides free modern contraception. Additionally, participants will be empowered to become mentors within their communities, teaching young girls about reproductive health and strategies to prevent teenage pregnancies.

At the conclusion of the program, we’ll provide participants with microgrants or microloans to help them launch their own small businesses. Ongoing support will be offered through quarterly follow-up meetings. Our goal is to empower teenage mothers, enabling them to achieve self-sufficiency and improve their lives.

Why This Program Matters

Linda's Story

To explain why this program is needed, we will tell you about Linda. She is a young girl from a rural village in Cameroon who is now living in the city of Bafoussam. Linda dreams of becoming a banker because she loves counting money. Her parents are very poor and her family often struggles to eat one meal a day. She loves school but her parents can’t afford the tuition fees. To go to school, Linda decides to sell in the summer market to pay her tuition fees to attend the public school. Linda receives no reproductive education and thus has no information on birth control.

Everything is going okay until Linda becomes pregnant at the age of 14. She hides her pregnancy for five months due to fear of her parents’ reaction. When they eventually find out, she is expelled from the home and forced to leave school. The father of the baby denies responsibility. She is also beaten by her uncles and sent to the street, where she stays for a month. Eventually, she is sent back to the village to stay with her grandmother. Life for her becomes more miserable. She starts doing small jobs to take care of herself and her child but is often exploited and not paid for the work.

This is the reality of the many young girls in Cameroon when they become pregnant. Because they never finish their education, they are unable to get good jobs. Also, the lack of reproductive education increases the risk of future pregnancies. In Cameroon, it is known that teenage pregnancy is the end of your dreams.