Empowering young people through practical skills

A practical skills workshop for young people in Buea closed this month with a certificate ceremony, marking the end of a training block delivered by Women's Light Foundation.

The workshop is part of the Foundation's livelihoods pillar, which treats practical skills as a route to income, confidence and independence rather than as an end in themselves. Participants worked through hands-on sessions before receiving certificates in front of their peers.

Why skills training sits at the centre of our livelihoods work

Women make up the majority of Cameroon's smallholder farmers and informal traders, yet face systemic barriers to land ownership, credit, vocational training and market access. For young people — and young women in particular — a marketable skill is often the fastest available route out of dependence.

Our founder's own path informs this directly. Alongside her university degree she trained in hair installation and nail technology, and those skills created earning opportunities that contributed to her independence. The Foundation now runs skills-development activities for young people, particularly girls, in hair installation, makeup, nail technology, braiding and barbing.

Skills before capital

Sequencing matters as much as content. Capital given before skills tends to be consumed rather than invested, which is why our livelihoods pillar runs savings groups and training first, and start-up micro-grants only once a participant has a viable plan and the financial literacy to manage it.

What happens next

Trades are selected with communities based on locally assessed demand rather than assumed, because training people for work with no local buyers wastes their time and our funding. Participants who complete training can be connected to Village Savings and Loan Association membership, financial literacy support and, where a plan is viable, start-up micro-grants.