Mentoring and Apprenticeship

In Butema village rural setting, children are are exposed to risks such as exploitation, neglect, child- headed house holds, torture, abuse and violence of their rights  especially girls and young women.

Most of these girls lack parental care right from childhood to adulthood, and are consequently faced with  constraints that limit their potential for  transitioning  and  finding their own pathways to productive economic opportunity at the right time.

These constraints include; Lack formal education , lack of parental care and guidance, skills gap, lack of youth friendly policies and programs and lack  of national coordination. Additionally  They are ignorant and not trusted by the community and lack funds for business start ups.

Due to the above limitations, especially parental care, skills gap and lack of formal education,  they  have no chance of an entry point into formal employment. As a result they become the primary target for exploitation as cheap labor and anti- social activities like  prostitution. 

Some  of these girls  resort to  drug abuse, alcoholism, sexual misconduct and fragmentation of families. The number of youth girls involved in petty crimes has increased and there is also a sharp increase in teenage pregnancy numbers, as well as a high HIV infection rate among the youth girls. The most affected  are young women,school dropout and  Orphans.

BRYESA has on standby  286 girls under the age of 15 years registered for support in formal education and 452 under  the age of 20 years, for  vocational skills development.

Grooming from (0-4) 50, formal education (5-14) 50, Skills (15-24)50

Expanding the existing advisory and Training services will be  assets for these girls to think beyond their limitations. BRYESA is grooming girls  in order to protect their dignity right from an early stage. BRYESA recruited  community stand by counselors  based in  Butema  to counsel the vulnerable girls on risks they are exposed to in the community .

BRYESA has a number of programs aimed at curbing modern slavery in Butema village, especially among young women and girls. these include among others:

Life and Vocational Skills training, targeting girls above 15 years as solution to Job creation to reverse the  trend of joblessness. The vulnerable girls and teenagers are nurtured and trained  in entrepreneurship skills and small – medium enterprise startup and business management,with emphasis on financial and risk management.

This enables them to become self-employed in income generating activities  like weaving, hair styling, tailoring, agriculture, craft and designing, bakery, mentoring, simple occupation , technical skills , apprenticeships and home management. These help the  young girls to acquire practical skills that enable them  generate income which provides relief from poverty. 

Training the youth girls in business and financial management enables them to establish and maintain themselves in business. 

BRYESA also offers  the young girls basic financial literacy training and  encourages and nurtured them into a saving culture through saving in  groups. 

Music Dance and Drama

This talent development is an avenue of  building self-confidence, and a sense of belonging, as well as an income generating activity for the purpose of sustainability to the girls and the Association. With a team of  82  girls; Performances are done on special occasions such as Christmas and Easter holidays.

Social and Survival skills involves teaching morals and ethics which helps the girls make better decisions ad the right choices regarding their lives and reproductive health. 

Sensitization and information dissemination:

BRYESA also undertakes sensitization sessions where the girls and young women are sensitized on the  youth situation of today. BRYESA  recruited  community stand by MHPSS teams of counselors who  are  based in the field in  Butema village for counselling of the youth in the community.

Guidance and counseling to the youths especially those who have been stigmatized due to HIV/AIDS, rape and defilement, early pregnancies, substance abuse and family disintegrations. 

Sports Training; especially in the areas of football, netball and athletics, complimented with  discipline, team building and personal development.

Club tournaments in sports take place during school holidays in April to May, August to September, and November to February.

During the tournaments, the youth engage in competitions which help in identifying talent for further development. Even those that are weak are kept busy and they don’t have time to engage in self-destructive and unproductive habits.

BRYESA is currently not using AI, however we are working with  partners such as local CBOs, acting as capacity builders concerning the issue of technology.

The risks are mitigated by:

Ensuring privacy and keeping children information confidential especially while online.

Promoting the safeguarding policy and programs in the use of technology in risk mitigation and identification.

Creating awareness on the ethical use of technology.

Seeking Informed consent  before engaging children and girls including taking their pictures.

Report anything suspicious immediately.

Creating a safe environment for the children free from discrimination and based of the DO NO HARM principle through preventing possible harm that could happen to children.

Advancing children’s rights, policies and equality for girls .

The mentorship and apprenticeship solution  enables quality learning experiences for the girls and young women  enabling them to build their horizons academically and life skilling.

Realistically, empowers the adolescent girls and young women in the socio economic development enabling them to pursue their right to a healthy life.

Protecting young women from undesired, forced, unplanned, pregnancy and marriage mitigating further harm and exposer to gender Based violence.

Inclusion and equal participation   

Advancing children’s rights, policies and equality for girls

Developing the children’s full potencial  especially girls in communities that promote their rights  and equality.

BRYESA targets young girls between the age of 4 to 24 years, who require to be taken back to formal education as BRYESA partners with community primary schools to give a chance to  the beneficiaries to check whether or not they can continue to the higher educational institutions of learning or rather join vocational/technical institutions. The girls are given chance to meet the minimum points scored in their final exams and may choose to join higher education or vocation schools and those that may not qualify the minimum points join vocation institutions and in this way, all the targeted parties  benefit sustainably.

The girls above 15 years can be adapted into vocation skills training if they so wish . These programs  follow a planned flexible schedule and an approach streamlined to respond to girls needs; they can be mainstreamed with vocation skills at any stage according to their adaptation capabilities. It is expected that more young girls would be enrolled in vocation schools. BRYESA is a vocation Non- profit making Organization which works with these vulnerable and young girls in the Butema community. This idea of informal education intervention is to bring out of school girls closer to vocation skills in order to create income generating opportunities  to reduce their financial burden.

The BRYESA team is composed of well-versed and relevantly experienced personnel on community mobilization and participatory approach models. Financial inclusion, accountability and management, agro-economics, monitoring and evaluation, counselling are skills that the team also boasts of. The team includes; An  Accountant, Youth Mobiliser, Projects Advisor, Agricultural Consultant, counselors and above all, the community itself with its maintained pyramids of social organisation.

Ensure privacy and keep children information confidential especially while online.

Open and accountable for our actions

Striving for a long-term impact right from birth (0-4, 5-15,16-24)

Report anything suspicious immediately

Respecting  our core safeguarding behavior protocols on exploitation, abuse, or physical harm to the target population.

Advocate for policies and programs that work towards the Best interests of the target population.

Promoting, raising awareness and complying with the safeguarding policy in risk mitigation and identification.

Creating a safe environment for the youth free from discrimination and based of the DO NO HARM principle through preventing possible harm that could happen to them

Seeking Informed consent  before engaging children and girls including taking their pictures.

The targeted population are Children at Risk especially the girl child exposed to more harm due to their rate of vulnerability in decision making and incapacitated state of living. 

Since inception,  BRYESA has assisted at least  82 orphans  and children  living with HIV/AIDS, and children with malnutrition deficiency diseases. 

BRYESA has also registered 1,032 and above youth/children ;( Girls-738 & Boys-294), to receive special skills training in various vocations to enable them become economically active.

Of the registered youth the institution has so far trained 304 youth above 14 years, of which 218 have started their own businesses. 

The programme already has in place the following:

The project  has secured 5 acres of land, for  agricultural food production and agricultural training. We do mixed farming in order to get enough food for supplying to children and girls who are sick and starving.

The project is also facilitating the affected children with access to medical care and proper feeding  to 0-5 years.

We believe that AI is an innovative way to stimulate activities in mitigating processes and limiting exposures of children through creating a safe environment for children by preventing possible or further harm that could happen to survivors and the children exposed to risks.

BRYESA is groom  children under the age of 15 years  and taking them to formal education which starts with the lower primary (p1 –p7) especially children of ages 3-15 years . BRYESA partners with community primary schools to give a chance to  the beneficiaries to check whether or not they can continue to the higher educational institutions of learning or rather join vocational/technical institutions. The children are given chance to meet the minimum points scored in their final exams and may choose to join higher education or vocation schools and those that may not qualify the minimum points join vocation institutions and in this way, all the targeted parties shall benefit sustainably.

The children above 15 years can be adapted into vocation skills training.  These programs will follow a planned flexible schedule and an approach streamlined to respond to children needs; they can be mainstreamed with vocation skills at any stage according to their adaptation capabilities. It is expected that more children would be enrolled in vocation schools. Bryesa is a vocation Community Based Organization which works with these vulnerable and youths in the Butema community This idea of informal education intervention is to bring out of school children closer to vocation skills in order to create an  income generating activities to reduce financial burden among children/youth . 

It involves  little capital, because  BRYESA reIies on skills and resources found in the community. It is a free education, free apprenticeship with Entrepreneurship skills, working with community, parents and guardians, grooming youth to use financial services and in order to be financially independent and future investments, sharing skills with youths hands on. it also provides  revenue for both the project and youths. It is unique training using local materials found in the community. BRYESA team also does  customer care training and follow up of the  young girls/women who are already in business. 

BRYESA is innovative  because it grooms girls under the age of 5 years and provide milk to a new born babies especially of HIV/AIDS victims and also the institution allows young girls who has already babies to attend classes with their children.

The high dependency ratio of approximately 25 children to one adult as a result of HIV/Aids and malnutritional deficiency diseases has been overwhelming to the Butema Village community. BRYESA intervention is an innovation to the community  because the services are free to the beneficiaries, the costs and other related resources are all facilitated by BRYESA.

In a rural community where poverty levels are high and the care of such affected  girls and young women is usually shunned, BRYESA intervention is a good innovation which has been embraced by the community.

BRYESA  is already addressing this problem , though on a small scale. The number of requests to BRYESA for support of these girls is bigger than what the organisation has so far taken on, due to inadequate capacity by the organisation to support more girls in terms of resources, given that the services are free to the beneficiaries. With improved resources capacity BRYESA is assured of a significant impact on the girls and its community. BRYESA’s foundation, is the focus on preparations of these girls to formal education and vocation skills empowerment with income generating activities which are meant to help them earn a basic living with their children and keep them from the risks of being exploited through modern slavery.

The impact of what BRYESA is doing in Butema village is already felt though on a small scale due to resources capacity issues. This is a organisation of great outreach and perspective and  will  create an even greater impact  in the  community. The expected output will be:

BRYESA's impact goal is to reach out and support 150 girls in 1 year and 450 for the next 3 years.

The increased number of girls and young women who come for training and the multiplier effect reflected in the number of youths girls above 15 years who will improve on their standard of living through improved household incomes. Periodic monitoring and evaluation assignments will be done preferably externally facilitated through consultancy for objective and balanced optimization of lessons learnt and emerging issues together with recommendations on the same.

The impact will be measured by the number of young women and girls reached out to and supported and the statuses or improvements  on standard of living  throughout the years they will be under BRYESA Support and after.

The journeys of each of these girls and young women will be documented throughout and success stories shared.

BRYESA will also document and share a balanced optimization of lessons learnt,  best practices and emerging issues together with recommendations  in supporting its target population.

BRYESA will also seek for partners who share the same vision to support this noble cause.

Training the girls from the whole community to ensure that no youth is left to waste away from the loss of parents, guardians, poverty, family conflict or war.

BRYESA is currently using basic and  ordinary software  technology, but would like to upgrade when funds are available.

BRYESA staff

BRYESA has 5 full time staff who have acquired basic qualifications necessary to conduct the Project programs. 

The  association has 2 voluntary staff as well as 5 part time workers. 

BRYESA has been in existence for  now 13 years .  started as  NGO  it later changed it's legal status to a Community Based Organisation(CBO).  It provides a holistic approach to the development of the youth, girls and young women .  Programs are designed to build a new generation of youth that is self-sustaining . 

BRYESA  comprises of a management unit that  oversees and advances its vision and mission together with a management consultant in the township who has offers voluntary  services to the organization to ensure accountability and liquidity. The founders also have ample time to oversee the project manager’s activities within the vision and policy of the Association. With the skills of the founders, the management of the Association adequately guided.

BRYESA has staff who have acquired basic qualifications necessary to conduct the institution programs. 

Life and Vocational Skills Impartation: Parenting care, Job creation and ending poverty through self-employment in income generating activities  like weaving, hair styling, tailoring, agriculture, craft and designing, bakery, mentoring, simple occupation , technical skills , apprenticeships and home management. These helps the youths to acquire practical skills to enable them to generate income and relief from poverty.

In vocation skills, we do products like beaded Jewelries, hats, basket, mats simple shoe, bags/ money purse, relaying on skills and resources found in the community for example waste materials.

Training the young women in business and financial management enabling them to establish and maintain themselves in business with an aim to gain a basic living. The youth are to be encouraged and nurtured into a saving culture through saving groups; the Association teaches them how to save as a habit or culture and not out of excess. Planning is an important ingredient of our institution role.

Life and health information and sensitization session, where the children and the youths are sensitize on HIV, drug abuse, alcoholic, homosexuality and teenage pregnancy and parents are encouraged to participate with their children.

To equip youth girls with formal education, sports, music and drama skills in order to enable them support each other as a group, develop social skills, motor skills, talents as well as a spirit of perseverance, excellence, tolerance, and to give them a leisure activity that is productive.

To train youths in agricultural, vocational and entrepreneurial skills to enable them to enter the job market and to undertake income generating activities that are both sustainable and socially acceptable.

To provide youths with work related support such as agricultural field extension and advice,    business mentoring and apprenticeship, production and packaging advisory and monetary support (small interest free loans) as well as job placement in order to give them a start in the job market and to enable them participate in profitable economic ventures that are socially acceptable and sustainable for them.

BRYESA enables the youths girls to adopt  a savings culture and to gain the ability to make sound financial decisions in the areas of investment

The Organization's  operations are funded by money received from donations as well as its programing.

BRYESA has individuals who donate between $ 50--$300 per month towards  funding the project activities.

The organisation has an arm of training the youth in Agriculture, vocational skills, Sports , Music dance and drama and earns some income from these sources as well which helps in supporting the children.

However, these current income sources to run project are currently not very sustainable. The Academy requires a significant investment in inputs to Agriculture and  training programs which will in the long run become self-funding.

Scaling up of the youth numbers trained will help take care of all registered youth engaged in various income generating activities. This is expected to have a multiplier effect in terms of job creation in Butema village as well as improvement in the social and economic wellbeing of the Butema village community.

BRYESA program over time has built a minimum level of sustainability through the sale of products and services provided by the organisation. Agriculture produce, Arts and crafts, beautician services, MDD concerts, all bring in money that is to fund support of the sick children and orphans and to purchase training materials as a means for continuity of the project.

The project is also supported by well-wishers who are majorly individuals & a few corporates. This support is usually in form of cash donations, books, training materials and second hand clothes. 

Our future  to sustain the program is scaling up our Agricultural activities,   construction of the sports ground. This ground will be hired for different type of activities and the income will help these youth in education and feeding. 

The Organisation will also seek partnerships with other organizations with a shared vision to support scaling up the program activities.