The Mtaya Youth Club is determined to help their members to a better life. To raise money the club dug an entire fishpond using just 2 hand shovels. To fill the pond with water, they used a foot powered pump to bring water from a local stream. Imagine a stair stepping machine at your local gym, except this one pumps water. Who knows how many flights of stairs these club members climbed filling that pond? They didn’t give up.
Once full of water, the club got tiny fish from the Malawi Department of Natural Resources. They also got counseling and training on how to raise the fish. They learned well. The fish have now reached a size that they can be sold.
Guess what they are doing with the proceeds? Buying fertilizer of course. The fertilizer will go to a melon field they have started. Once the melons have been sold, the proceeds will be used to buy 3 sewing machines. Those machines will be put to work by club members sewing various clothing items they can sell in the village.
What will those proceeds be used for you ask? To pay school fees and buy school supplies for girl members of the club who otherwise would not be able to go to school.
This isn’t a story about fish, fertilizer, melons, or even sewing machines. It’s a story about a group of youth who believe they can change their future and the future of their community. It is a story of youth who have been empowered to believe they can achieve.
