The St. Marcellin Skills Training Center (Chibuluma Kalulusha) – Zambia, the vocational training center founded by the Marist Brothers, offers training in carpentry, tailoring, ICT and hospitality to young people and women of Chibuluma, Chibute, Kalulushi, Nkana and Chambishi. The Center was established in 2011 and has trained nearly 1000 students so far. There are currently four brothers in the Chibuluma community who teach in both the secondary school and the Center.
In January 2019 they started an intensive production project. They were able to purchase the chicks, raw materials and poultry equipment. Poultry is one of the center’s most profitable businesses. However, the project is currently unable to fully support the Center due to the continuous increase in the prices of raw materials and chicks. It is for this reason and to make the most of their resources that they decided to start the production of raw materials in support of the Center. This project will produce raw materials to feed broilers for both the Center and the local community.
The main objective of the project is to improve the income in the Center through the project to produce the necessary feed for the chickens and thus have chicks to support the Center. Once the project is implemented, the Center with its own economic profit will be able to pay workers, purchase training materials, support the Center’s current costs and introduce more programs for the benefit of young people and women.
The need to carry out the project arises from the consideration that most of the students of the Center have dropped out of primary school and many also from secondary schools due to the lack of financial support for their education. Therefore, the Skills Center is their hope to acquire the necessary skills for employment.
People in this area are mainly dependent on the micro-economy of small businesses for their survival as formal employment in companies and industry is very scarce. A large part of families depends on subsistence agriculture where they grow food to feed themselves and sell the small surplus that remains to generate profit to buy other necessities.
Forty percent of the area’s population does not own a home. This means that rent is the main type of expense besides food, personal expenses, clothing, education and transportation. As well as making the St. Marcellin Skills Training Center self-sufficient, the project also helps the local economy.
