BIRSHI AQUACULTURE PROGRAM

Working in tandem with the Bauchi State Agricultural Development Program, our students taught local farmers how to raise catfish. Holding tanks were built on land contributed by the Birshi village head and a well was drilled and outfitted with pumping equipment to provide a steady source of water throughout the growing season. In order to ensure the highest returns for our farmers, LI students also developed contacts throughout neighboring regions who provide current local pricing information at harvest time. This network of contacts enables our farmers to maximize profits by shipping directly to those markets where catfish prices are highest. Click the picture to the left to see this project in action.

SKILLS ACQUISITION INTIATIVE

LI student leaders identified three trades which would provide highly marketable skills: tailoring, motorcycle repair, and welding. Skilled mentors were then brought on board to train the most motivated among the youth in these trades. Fifteen young people were selected and each was apprenticed to an experienced tradesman with the expectation that he would complete a six month course of training fully prepared to set up shop independently or to seek paid employment.

COMPUTER LITERACY FOR THE DISABLED

Life for those with physical disabilities is especially difficult in Bauchi state. Faced with severe social stigmas in a region where unemployment is already extremely high, these individuals are frequently reduced to begging in the streets in order to feed themselves. LI student leaders decided to show both the disabled and their surrounding communities that proper training could enable them to live independently and with dignity. After determining that computer processing and internet navigation skills are particularly accessible to people with a wide range of physical limitations, our student leaders sought training that would enable them to share those skills with others. Working in collaboration with the First Lady of Bauchi's Challenge Your Disability Initiative (CYDI), which provides job skills training to disabled persons, LI student leaders then conducted extensive computer training sessions for twenty handicapped individuals. Each graduate also received a personal computer and basic business and financial training as part of the program.