Est. 2017
Mwabana
Training Center
The Mwabana Training Center is a My Child and Me Initiative founded in 2017. The women-run training center offers abandoned mothers with entrepreneurship skills and vocational training. By learning hair braiding, soap-making, cooking, and sewing skills, mothers are empowered with an avenue to autonomy, capable of generating income to provide for themselves and their families.
Sewing
In Bukavu and many other parts of Africa, textiles and clothing are traditionally handmade by a local seamstress. That is why founder, Josette Zahinda, identified sewing as one of the first vocational offerings needed at the Mwabana Training Center. 6 years later, beneficiaries have graduated and gone onto open galleries, clothing stores, and textile shops of their own.
Culinary Arts
Utilizing fresh and locally sourced ingredients, our culinary arts program involves knowledge of farm to table service including sourcing, cleaning, cooking, and presentation.
Bukavu is an emerging market for food service, our culinary arts graduates find work with hotels, restaurants, and catering services. Many also become street food vendors, cooking at home and selling to local students, office workers, and even at construction sites.
Basket Weaving
Skillfully crafted from materials made of recycled plastic, our basket weaving courses require attention to detail and an eye for design.
Hair Braiding
A global enterprise that emerged from Africa is the art of hair braiding. Opening up doors for women to work in shops or braid out of their homes, learning this trade involves cornrowing, weaving, and haircare skills.
Soap Making
Including as much science as it does art, soap-making is a trade-skill the Mwabana Centre takes special pride in as we also produce our own name brand soap products.
Crafted in-house, our mothers handmake household soap items including dish soap, bleach detergent, and body bars.
