By James Innocent<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Yei River County Youth Leader, Gaga Frank has called on partners to invest in vocational training programs to encourage young people on self-reliance.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n This comes after the youth turned to carpentry work as means of survival and self-reliance amidst the worsening economic hardship in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cMany young people are being left out of job opportunities. That\u2019s why some of them end up being hostile within their own communities, we called on government and development partners to invest more in vocational training for the you people\u201d Gaga said.<\/p>\n He further emphasized that providing vocational skills can redirect youth energy into positive pathways and help reduce involvement in gang-related activities.<\/p>\n \u201cThe rise of youth-led entrepreneurship in Yei, is seen as a beacon of hope amid a challenging economic climate, with growing calls for more support to empower young people across the region.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Wai Beneath, a vibrant youth and returnee from a refugee camp in Uganda said he turned to carpentry to support his family after returning home with no financial resources.<\/p>\n \u201cI had no money at hand, that\u2019s why I resorted to carpentry work to ensure my family survives this current economic hardship,\u201d Beneath explained.<\/p>\n He encouraged fellow youth to join productive work and vocational training rather than engaging in unproductive activities around town.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been doing this job for eight years since I was in the refugee camp in Uganda. When I returned to Yei, I had no job, but my colleague, now my boss, gave me an opportunity. I will continue working until I achieve my goals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Beneath advised young returnees who were still outside the country to distance themselves from wrong groups but instead grab any job opportunity they could find.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m urging my brothers and sisters to leave negative peer groups and join any available job that can help them live a better life,\u201d he added<\/p>\n On his part, Robert Ladu, an elder in Yei over 80 years old, shared his experience as a lifelong carpenter stating it was a long journey.<\/p>\n \u201cI started this work in 1970 and have never changed my business. Through this carpentry, I managed to educate all my children,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n According to Ladu, despite his years of service, the current situation in the country remained tough on his side.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything is expensive, and life is hard. But I continue to work because I need to survive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He encouraged the youth to stay away from criminal activities and laziness, reminding them that hard work is the only path to a long and dignified life.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve worked for the government for a long time, but I\u2019ve not seen any real change in my life. Still, I believe in honest work,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By James Innocent \u00a0 Yei River County Youth Leader, Gaga Frank has called on partners to invest in vocational training programs to encourage young people on self-reliance. This comes after the youth turned to carpentry work as means of survival and self-reliance amidst the worsening economic hardship in the country.[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":37918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Picture-showing-a-returnee-who-joined-carpentry-in-Yei-River-County.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37919,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37917\/revisions\/37919"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}