Organised in partnership with government and educational institutions, Plan Pakistan's project offers vocational courses to young people in order to help and empower them.

Islamabad: Mariam* is 20 years old and lives in a small village within the Chakwal District of Pakistan. Her family consists of 7 members and being the 2nd oldest, Mariam is often faced with the responsibility of looking after the family.

Mariam’s mother is a female health worker, while her father works as a security guard. Together they earn approximately Rs. 15,000 ($246 USD) per month. Due to a high inflation rate and an increase in living costs, their joint income has not been enough to cover the family.

Worried about her family’s financial stability, Mariam knew she needed to find a way to supplement her parent’s monthly earnings: ‘my mother worked very hard to raise us and educate us and now I wanted to help and find a way to contribute to my family’s income,’ she explains.

An opportunity arises

Eventually, when Plan initiated the Youth Economic Empowerment Project (YEEP) in her district, Mariam knew she had to get on board.

Organised in partnership with government and educational institutions, YEEP offers technical and vocational courses, enterprise development training and life-skill sessions to young people, in order to help and empower them to become socially and economically secure.

Through YEEP, Mariam attended a 3-month beautician-training course and participated in life skills and enterprise development trainings, offered by the Institute of Rural Management (IRM), a national NGO and Plan partner.

Hitting the ground running

On the day Mariam completed her training, she was asked by her relatives to do the bridal make-up for her extended family members’ wedding. ‘I was nervous, but happy to get my first assignment,’ she recalls. Mariam’s fears were put to rest when the bride expressed her satisfaction with Mariam’s work and rewarded her with Rs.4,000 ($40 USD).

Gaining motivation and confidence, Mariam continued to use her newly acquired skills to take on more jobs. Eventually Marian earned more than Rs. 10,000 ($164 USD), allowing her to buy the materials necessary to work from home. Mariam’s home salon has become so popular that girls in her village visit her daily for facials and eyebrow threading.

Future aspirations

Though appreciating her initial success, Mariam recognises that she will need further investment and resources to equip her beauty salon with better products and services that will enable her business to continue growing.

When asked about her future plans Mariam replies: ‘Once I have successfully achieved the target of setting up a proper beauty parlour, I will train my younger sisters to be beauticians as well,’ she adds.