10/12/2025
Over the past six months, Octoville Development Company, with sponsorship from the Achieving Health Nigeria Initiative (AHNi) and in collaboration with the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) under the Global Fund GC7 initiative, successfully implemented the Vocational Skills Acquisition Programme for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) across the Awka cluster in Anambra State.
Designed as a targeted livelihood intervention, the programme equipped vulnerable and underserved young women with practical vocational skills and foundational business knowledge to strengthen their economic resilience and long-term earning potential.
Training for the Awka cluster was delivered through our locations in Onitsha and Nnobi to better align with the beneficiaries’ socio-economic realities. The programme covered all five vocational trades-catering and confectionery, tailoring, hairdressing, digital marketing, and hat-making-following a structured methodology that included orientation, intensive skill-acquisition sessions, a mini business-plan and financial literacy workshop, and formal assessments. Throughout the cycle, beneficiaries received hands-on learning, mentorship, training materials, and continuous supervision to ensure competency development and meaningful participation.
Key milestones achieved included the practical business-plan workshop, where beneficiaries translated their skills into viable business ideas; the assessment phase, which validated technical and practical proficiency; and periodic monitoring visits by AHNi representatives to ensure programme quality.
The programme reached its climax during a vibrant graduation ceremony and skill exhibition. Beneficiaries showcased their products, received certificates of completion, and were celebrated by AHNi representatives, trainers, and community stakeholders. The graduation ceremony marks not only the end of the training cycle but the beginning of new economic opportunities for the young women, whose talent and determination were nurtured through this intervention.