05 January 2009
For the indigenous people of Bolivia's Potosi region, finding work is far from straightforward. All too often, a lack of skills means they are excluded from the jobs market that should offer them the surest way out of poverty.
Now, to help them increase their chances of securing work and improving their livelihoods, one of the municipalities in this Sub-Andean region has set up a training centre for jobs in farming, forestry and other sectors.
The centre, in the poverty-stricken Arampampa municipality, is supported by DFID and the development agency International Service. Offering full technical courses, as well as basic workshops, the centre's graduates are already going places...
A new start for Sergio
Sergio Elfonso Mamani recently graduated with a technical certificate in agricultural skills. At 27, Sergio was one of the oldest students, but despite his age and family commitments he showed great interest in college activities and was known as an enthusiastic member of the student body.
Indeed, Sergio's commitment to his studies was shown by the lengths he went to to attend his course. Every Sunday afternoon, after a four-hour walk from his home, he arrived at the centre for a week of studying, before returning to his wife and two sons on Friday.
Ten years before, at the age of 17, Sergio had finished the fifth level of primary school, but rather than moving on to secondary education, he married, started a family and began work as a farmer in his community, Arena Mollevilque.
Only able to speak the local language of Quechua, Sergio found writing and speaking Spanish a challenge when he arrived at the centre. Nonetheless, he made great progress in leadership and communication skills and improved his literacy skills to the extent of producing a thesis on lettuce production, achieving 71% for his final work.
Equipped with his certificate, Sergio is now the pride of his family and community. He has even become a community leader back home and is working to improve facilities in his local school.
Learning and growing
The centre has gone on to widen its activities from basic workshops to graduate courses in agronomy and computer sciences. As well as indigenous people, students now include farmers and young people from within the municipality.
Indeed, 16 Arampampan communities are now receiving training through the centre. This covers sustainable development, particularly in forestry, food security, greenhouse production, soil conservation and rearing small animals.
Apart from farm training, classes are provided in information technology, project management, leadership, public administration and indigenous cultures. For young people who did not finish their basic studies, primary education is available and, as a result of direct work with local schools that has seen greenhouse vegetables being cultivated, local pupils are even enjoying better school meals.
In the long run, it is hoped the training centre will offer training and technical help to everyone in the municipality. With malnutrition a problem locally, training should furnish more people with the skills to grow food in greenhouses, improve fields and rear small animals. By reducing hunger and giving local people a better chance of finding work, the centre is aiming to give more people a reason to stay in Arampampa.
Facts and stats
- The main funding for the training centre (full name, the Centro de Capacitacion Tecnica y Formacion Integral Asanquiri or CECTFIA) is received through the Arampampa Prefecture, with the budget for 2007 being just over US$93,750. For the following three years, the Prefecture has guaranteed funds that will at least equal this amount.
- Under a Partnership Programme Arrangement (PPA), DFID funded International Service with £1,470,000 for 2007-8. In 2008-9, funding will rise to £1,514,100.
- The Potosi region is one of the poorest areas in Bolivia, and Arampampa, the most isolated municipality in the region, is especially impoverished. Emigration from the municipality is high, especially during the non-agricultural season from May to September. Around 80% of young people are thought to leave Arampampa to find work.
