PALM Corps is implementing a three years’ livelihood project in Rhino camp refugee settlement entitled Step Up! With funding from German Government (BMZ) through Welthungerhilfe.

The projects skills sector targets to support overall 400(200 PALM Corps;200 CEFORD) unemployed youths through vocational skills training, business starter ups, tailor made mentorship and coaching.

PALM Corps successfully trained 85 unemployed youths for a period of 3-5 months in six skills areas/trades of carpentry and joinery, building and concrete practice, tailoring and garment cutting, saloon and hair dressing, barbering, catering and hotel management which ended with DIT assessment on 20^th March, 2020.

The youths who successfully completed and passed their DIT assessment were to be supported with starter up kits. However, with the outbreak of COVID-19,the organization was faced with the challenge of distributing the starter up kits to the youth beneficiaries.

Faced with the total lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, the project skills team and the coordinator discussed and adopted the following approaches to distribute the starter up kits to the youth beneficiaries.

The project team drafted a distribution plan while taking into account governments directives of combating COVID-19 pandemic.

7 distribution centers were created at Ofua VI, Siripi Skills center, Kiridoaku, Yelulu, Eden, Katiku & Ocea 3 to decongest and avoid mass gathering.

Key stakeholders & the youth beneficiaries were mobilized in the project areas.

The project teams set out layouts in every distribution center & arranged the starter kit packages 2 ½ Meters apart to ensure social distance between each youth in the different trades.

The project team ensured that the beneficiaries thoroughly washed hands first before going to the verification desk to verify details before they are allowed to take position next to their respective items of trade which were about 3 meteres apart to ensure social distance.

​Beneficiaries wash hands before accessing verification desk

 

After recieving the items, the various technical instructors of the different trades guided the beneficiaries on the use and maintenace of the items, then the youths were allowed to go home with their start up kits.

Technical Instructor advising youths on usage and maintenance of the Start up kits