INTRODUCING THE EDPOWERMENT BUSINESS INCUBATION CENTER
2024 marks the opening of a new undertaking for EdPowerment: a community-serving Center where young adults can learn practical skills that will yield a better life in their own environment.
The Incubation Center houses three pilot projects to not only teach specific skills, but also the business strategies and conversational English that will promote success.
Wings For Confident Women
Responding the the urgings of teachers at Dahani Secondary School, in 2023 our Tanzanian team undertook to educate female students about proper menstrual care, while making and distributing reusable sanitary pads. The lack of materials to use during female periods leads to poor student attendance, poor performance and an inability to function successfully in society. Our Wings for Confident Women, a name chosen locally, aims to change this situation.
After our initial production of sanitary pads, our management surveyed leading Tanzanian and US programs who manufacture resuable pads in order to improve our product, while developing our educational coaching. This "re-engineering" has resulted in a product that serve the user for a considerable time with proper care. We teach proper care!
Today at the Center, several former secondary students are learning the tailoring and sewing skills used to make these supplies. As the pads are produced, they continue to be distributed at Dahani, evaluated, and soon will be introduced into other schools.
As the process and the apprentices improve, ways to sell and market the supplies locally will be established. The final goal is two-fold: to educate local women on healthy habits during menstruation and to equip these apprentices with the ability to build a local business marketing the pads after completing the program at the Center.
Carpentry
Inspired by the enthusiasm of students in the Dahani Boys Club when taught how to build some basic furniture - bookshelves and benches, the second vocational program taught at the Center is skilled carpentry. Led by experienced professionals, the Center provides the tools, equipment and facilities necessary to produce quality furniture and items that will be marketable locally.
In a carefully structured environment and curriculum, four apprentices - our first selection - are learning how to create, engineer and complete products that will excel in quality and appearance. At the same time, they will be equipped with a fundamental understanding of how to evaluate markets, profitability, reinvestment and other steps that lead to a sustainable business.
This is an ambitious program that EdPowerment will continue to monitor, shape and evaluate. The ultimate goal is to impart knowledge and skills for motivated young adults to prosper locally outside of the traditional academic classroom.
Cooking & Snack Prodution
Again, it was the excitement of students at Saturday's Boys and Girls Clubs that moved EdPowerment to make this the third program taught to apprentices at the Business Incubation Center. Students at Dahani were so engaged when instructed on how to prepare varied foods (along with some nutritional guidance)! So we took our cue and recruited Salma, an outstanding and accomplished chef, to lead this program at the Center. We provide all necessary equipment and supplies to teach four young women the basics of how to prepare a variety of snack and food items popular in local villages.
In addition to the proper cooking methods, the Center teaches the necessary hygiene, sanitation and storage processes and other key aspects of either starting a food establishment or selling products to markets. Students are also gaining experience in packaging and selling techniques. Basic English that will help them to source materials and grow their businesses are a vital part of our program for them, as well as all of the other students at the Center.
So far, the testing of their products has generated A LOT of positive reviews and we look forward to this becoming not only a source of profit to the Center, but also the starting point for a new generation of cooks throughout local villages.
