Job Readiness Programme Launches at The Sparkle Foundation
This June, The Sparkle Foundation began a new chapter in its work with women and youth in Malawi. The Job Readiness Programme launched with its first cohort of participants, marking the start of a six-week course designed to build the practical, financial and personal skills needed to earn a sustainable living.
A Partnership with NAMA Women Advancement, Suppported by HeR Liberty
The programme is funded by NAMA Women Advancement, and delivered with support from HeR Liberty through its Going Beyond project. Going Beyond works with youth-led organisations across Malawi to equip young people with digital and business skills for entrepreneurship and employment. Bringing that expertise together with NAMA Women Advancement's long-standing commitment to women's economic empowerment gives this programme a strong foundation to build on.
Who is Taking Part
The first cohort was drawn from households already connected to The Sparkle Foundation, made up largely of parents of our students. Where a parent did not fall within the required age range for the programme, a sibling was selected instead. The thinking behind this approach is simple: children thrive when they have positive role models at home, actively engaged in their own growth and development. By investing in parents and older siblings, the programme aims to strengthen entire households, not just individuals.
Six Weeks, Two Sites: Sogoja and Namitembo
The Job Readiness Programme runs for six weeks at a time, moving from site to site so that more women and young people can take part. The first six weeks are being delivered in Sogoja, after which the programme will move to Sakata and Namitembo for a further six weeks, respectively. Each site follows the same structure, but the sessions are shaped by the group in the room, their businesses, their questions and their goals.
Starting With Self-Mastery
Fittingly, the very first session focused on the participants themselves. Mastery of Oneself introduced the idea of self-awareness as the foundation for everything that follows, encouraging participants to reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses before moving on to more practical, workforce-focused topics. It is easy to rush straight into business skills and technical training, but understanding yourself first tends to make everything learned afterwards land better.
The Curriculum
From here, the curriculum builds outward. Participants go on to cover digital skills, from using a computer for the first time to navigating the internet, email and cloud storage, as well as getting comfortable with social media and mobile applications.
Alongside this sits a full suite of business modules: business management basics, discovering the market and creating sales strategies, understanding business laws and regulations, marketing innovation, record keeping, and building a business model canvas.
The course closes with financial literacy and intelligence, giving participants the tools to plan, budget and make sound financial decisions for their businesses and their households.
Making Participation Possible: Childcare and Safeguarding
None of this works, though, if participants cannot get to the sessions in the first place. Many of the women taking part have young children, and finding childcare can be one of the biggest barriers to attending any kind of training. To remove that barrier, dedicated caregivers, provided by HeR Liberty, are on hand throughout each session to look after children aged six and under. This means participants can focus fully on their own learning, knowing their children are safe and well looked after nearby.
That support goes beyond simple supervision. A short Child Safeguarding session was held with the caregivers themselves, covering the basics of child protection and what it means to create a genuinely safe environment for every child on site. It is a small addition to the programme on paper, but it reflects something central to how The Sparkle Foundation works: the wellbeing of children and families sits alongside, not separate from, economic empowerment.
Looking Ahead
Six weeks is a short window, but it is enough time to build real momentum. As the first cohort settles into the rhythm of weekly sessions, the aim is straightforward: equip every participant with practical skills they can put to use immediately, in their businesses and in their households, while building the confidence to keep learning long after the programme ends.
This is only the beginning.
Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing updates from inside the sessions, the milestones participants reach, and the stories behind them, all the way through to the cohorts' graduations. Each cohort that completes the programme adds to a growing group of women and young people equipped to build steadier livelihoods for themselves and their families.
None of this would be possible without the partnership between NAMA Women Advancement and HeR Liberty, and the trust both organisations have placed in The Sparkle Foundation. We are glad to have you along for the journey, and we look forward to sharing what this first cohort achieves.
