DCT Ibihwa Christian Education and Vocational Training Centre

These are some of the activities that are done at the Centre; Vocational Training, Bible Knowledge, and Conservation Agriculture training.

DCT Ibihwa Christian Education moved from Matumbulu location having operated for more than five years. The late Bishop Godfrey Mhogolo moved it here to make use of the buildings that had been left idle for more than seven years after the former ‘Rural Development Project had phased out and wanted to include vocational courses as the Centre had been left with many unused tools.

The Bible courses are for one-year Certificate in Theology and two years Diploma in Ministry. These are special courses for Catechists and Pastors. The goal is to reach more than 1,000 Catechists and help them know essential biblical knowledge and Church Leadership, so they can overseer congregations of local Churches. A good number of Catechists have been empowered to serve in the Diocese and others

The Vocational Training Courses started in 2011 with the help from Friends of Colorado USA through the Carpenters Kids Program who provided full sponsorship to 95% of all vocational students. Since then we have three graduations. The first intake ran for one year in 2011 (149 students), the second was for two years from 2012 to 2013 (105 students) and the third ran for three years beginning 2014 to 2016 (102 students). Friends from Colorado five years commitment ended December 2018 having empowered about 355 boys and girls to sustain themselves and their families.

Among those who graduated in the first intake (2011) Samuel James is the most successful candidate: he lives in Dodoma town working in a workshop, a very skilled carpenter able to sustain himself with a wife and child: bellow is a photo of James and his work.

In 2012 -2013 there was another group, some of them studied tailoring: among them were Jacob and Prisca from Mwitikira village who are working successfully with a group of women including the Pastor’s wife, designing various goods and exporting them to the US: their newly acquired skills help them lead a moderate life standard at home.

In 2016 – 2018 another group of students graduated, many joined other workshops to work with. However, many also have started to work with some individuals. Peter Taty is among those who are working with individuals and have demonstrated good skills.

These are just few examples of how DCT IBIHWA CENTRE transform the lives of young people. Most of them (about 75%) are now self-employed.

LOOKING AHEAD:

The impact of these courses is remarkable and owes much to the sponsorship of Friends from Colorado. We acknowledge that their help has changed the life conditions of these students and their families.  Their commitment has now ended, we are looking for alternatives to make the project sustainable.

• First, we are in the process of attracting individuals to study at Ibihwa. We plan to add more courses such as driving school, conservation agriculture, horticulture, and masonry. Our plan is to reach more young people and instill them with relevant skills that will enable them to employ themselves.
• Second, we are looking for the possibility of doing some income generating projects that can help us to be self-sustaining. At the moment we have started with apiculture (bee keeping), gardening, and pigs. The challenges we are facing is equipment like drip irrigation equipment and beehives.

We also plan to start keeping chickens, build a fish pond and enlarge the pen for the pigs. We have enough land and space to do these projects, seed money is our challenge.

• The third challenge comes from students, who most of them have a call, others eager to get skills that can make them self-sustainable, but comes from poor families, so our first prayer is sponsorship. The fee rate for vocational students is USD 700 per student, for theology students is USD 500 and USD 200 for Conservation Agriculture. Sponsorship we expect is not for the whole amount, but we do encourage them to pay at least 40% and any help we get top-up on what they have contributed themselves. To assist 45 Vocational Students at USD 700 will amount USD 31,500 and for 30 Bible students at USD 500 this will amount to USD 15,000.
• Having been registered as Vocational Education Trainers (VET) by the national – Vocational Education Training Authority (VETA) the demand to include 6 related subjects has been a must, where some of these subjects demands to have teaching tools, most of all is computers. We are required to have minimum 20 computers preferably desk tops, and where it is not easily obtainable lap tops can be used. This in total can amount to USD 20,000

• There is also a big shortage of classrooms for the vocational courses. One building with two classrooms and a small library in the middle can be sufficient at a maximum of 50,000 USD.
• A need for starter tool-kit for those graduating is important. We are so grateful to the Work of Aid U.K. who has supplied us with used tools in the past and we passed on to those graduated between 2014 and 2016. Meanwhile we have no way of getting such kind of materials/tools. Buying locally can cost USD 80 for carpentry and USD 200 for tailoring per student.
• Last but not least, the Centre is not connected to the national grid of electricity. Meanwhile we are using solar light and generators, which the generator is so expensive to run. To connect to the main grid which is one mile away requires USD 3,500.

These few items if acquired can cause a big change in our operations and will be a big step into building our capacity for the sustainability of the Centre and for smooth training of students.

This is our daily prayer, we lift up our hands to God, and to all who are willing to participate in furthering God’s Kingdom.