The Vijana Vocational Centre is dedicated to providing orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) in Tanzania access to vocational training, life skills training, and psycho-social support.  Vijana provides specific vocational training in: bicycle mechanics, maintenance and repair; bicycle related pedal-power design; the development of appropriate technology, computer training, secretarial skills, welding, and English, French and Spanish Foreign Language courses.  There are over 120 students annually that receive instruction at Vijana, and the number continues to increase each year.  The Vijana Centre is committed to the educational development of OVC and youth who, because of the impact of HIV/AIDS on their lives, do not have the resources to attend primary and secondary school in Tanzania.  The strategic goal of Vijana's educational programs is to provide training so that a young person can gain entrance into the formal sector of the economy.  Vijana Centre is designing a basic two-year course in both mechanical and electrical engineering so that students can prepare themselves to attend university in Dar es Salaam and get a 4-year degree in those fields.

Our programs address the needs of OVC of all ages, including shelter, education, food security, access to health care, psycho-social support, and legal services.  However, a significant number of our programs focus on providing services for orphaned girls and boys and the most vulnerable adolescents and youth aged 15-24 who lack support and care from any other source.  This demographic segment of the population is growing rapidly throughout East Africa, and USAID has identified this group as the least likely to have received services from local government initiatives and international NGOs.  In a world where half of new HIV infections occur among 15-24 year olds, education and acquired vocational skills, as well as psycho-social support, can be life-saving, and prevent as well as mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS.

Perhaps what is most unique about Vijana Centre is the bike program and the sale of bikes to the community.  This program provides a steady stream of income, which supports the educational activities and vocational training of OVC.  The repair and maintenance of donated bikes from the US, which are shipped in containers to Vijana Centre from Working Bikes Cooperative in Chicago, IL, and BIKES NOT BOMBS in Jamaica Plain, MA, help sustain the operations of the centre as well as expand its capacity to provide services to more youth. In fact, the sale of bikes, along with the use of pedal-power technology and the production of furniture from bicycle parts, has enabled the facility to become financially sustainable.