PROJECTS | Sri Lanka | MVP Vocational Training
Centre

Due to conflict, displacement, poverty and neglect, many children miss out on education. Others do not thrive academically or do not enjoy school. These youths often find themselves unemployed and must resort to informal work or illegal activity such as prostitution, drug trafficking and theft. MVP’s Vocational Training Centre offers these children and youths practical tools for self-reliance. The courses are open to children staying at Dikkelle Children’s Centre, displaced youths living in IDP camps and unskilled youths within the community.

MVP identified the needs of the local community so that it could tailor its courses to the acquisition of marketable skills linked to viable local income generating opportunities. MVP’s Vocational Training Centre offers a number of courses such as engineering, sewing, carpentry, construction, agricultural development and IT.

Trainees are able to gain practical experience by carrying out supervised work for MVP and the community e.g. repairing MVP buildings and vehicles, making furniture for Dikkelle Children’s Centre, and repairing school uniforms and clothes for children staying at the centre. All trainees are given help in finding full-time local employment. Girls and young women in particular benefit from training as they often find work in nearby clothing factories.