Sustainable Livelihoods

Usiko Stellenbosch aims to establish a livelihood and skills programme for youth-at-risk to improve high school attendance rates and increase their skills and employability. This is because when a young person at risk drops out of school, or find themselves on the margins of their communities, there is an increased risk of remaining trapped in the cycle of poverty and crime. Usiko provide livelihood and vocational skills training including life skills, internships and job placements as a means of extending continued support to the youth of the communities during the vulnerable transitions from school to work.  These activities also provide a supportive climate in which the participants can develop alternative ways of coping with and overcoming the distractions and limitations in their environments.

In this way youth-at-risk are given opportunity to discover their potential, skills to nurture that potential, construct a meaningful vision for their future, and become responsible adults active in their communities.