4) How the Strategy Works:
Y.S.A thrives on self help. The primary aim is to build the capacity of youth, to be able to do this effectively in a society where grants and government support is absent, it is essential that strategies be put in place to ensure regular incme for the continuation of the programme. Hence, we adopt the following trainer/trainee continuation strategy:

1. RATIO: Trainees are taken twice yearly at a ratio of 2 trainers to 1 trainee and these trainees serve as helpers to the trainers in their trade, thereby increasing productivity of the trainers while learning necessary skills.
2. REORIENTATION: The trainees are normally drawn from street boys and ghetto dwellers and largely illiterates, to remedy this lapse, Saturdays are used for Basic Literacy Classes and Conflict Resolution Classes with teachers usually drawn from Centres for Applied Behavioural Sciences "CABS" and Centre for Adult Education.
   These lessons are important because most of this youth requires reorientation and change in value systems because they come from background characterized by drug use and gangsterism.
3. SIZE: It is imperative to keep number of rrainees low as it makes it easy to carry out all round assessment of progress and to be able to dedicate quality time to trainees, so the requirement stated in Answer to Question 3 ensures that only the best candidates are accepted for training, when more than needed qualify at a time, the surplus are kept as reserved for the next admission session.
4. FUNDING: Trainees are made to generate the funds used for their training by contributing time and effort to the productivity of the organization, and after graduation, they serve another six months working as instructors to new intake. This way, the financial burden is evenly distributed.

   The efficiency and ease thus generated is reflected by increase customer confidence, which is a major boost to the income of the organization.

5. CONTINUATION PLAN: To ensure that trainees become responsible enterprenuers. Every graduand is assigned a mentor who has the duty of monitoring and mentoring the graudand to ensure complaince with sound business principles. This monitoring ensures that the graudand does not take unnecessary risk or engage in any act capable of jeopardizing his chances of success in business.

In my country (Nigeria), there are many programmes like the NDE skill acquisition programme aimed at allievating the suffering of the masses especially by providing capacity building, but 2 key elements are lacking in their strategy which is why the impact has not been felt much.

These elements are:

1. There is no mentoring and mointoring of beneficiaries of most of these programmes and hence no quarantee or information of their progress.
2. None of these programmes by governments or large corporations target solely the youths in slums and streets and these are the people who most need capacity building - so efort should be made to incorporate the ghetto dwellers and gangsters into workforce using the 5 steps listed above.

In return, trainees in our programme are entitled to:

1. Training is free of charge.
2. Trainee is entitled to a monthly stipend which must be a fixed percentage of the income of the organization without respect to rank or experience.
3. Trainees shall be retained as full workers/instructed on graduation after compulsory 6 moths service, with commensurate salaries - on merit only.
4. Trainees who choose to start their own trade after graduation and compulsory service are allowed free use of organizations expertise and materials until they are able to stand on their own.
5. Most importantly, graduates can always come back when they need to.

5) Key Strategy Elements:

ii. Generating Financial and Nonfinancial Resources:
Y.S.A generates fund mainly from making clothes for the public, as well as engaging in allied serivces but through its training programmes, it has redoubled its income through increased productivity from the efforts of trainees.

The unique thing about this funding is that through contribution of trainees to the production, the cost of training is recovered in a manner that is both agreeable and easy for both trainer and trainees.

iii. Establishing Relationships with Strategic Partnerships:
Y.S.A enjoys a healthy relationship with some organizations with which it has worked in the past. These include "German Technical Cooperations" G.T.Z. Multilateral Projects - Niger Delta, Nigeria.

In this relationship, Y.S.A gets "training the trainer" workshops from G.T.Z to build their capacity while Y.S.A trains youth sent by G.T.Z in exchange. Such technical collaboration is healthy and through it, Y.S.A has established relationship with "SMEPS" Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion.

Handouts and teahcing aids got from this relationships are invaluable in the exercise of our mandate.

iv. Engaging and Managing Volunteers:
Y.S.A engages inturns through selection of deserving jobless youths in the streets as already explained in the admission requirement. Please refer to Question 3.

v. Developing Information and Spreading the Message:
Y.S.A being a community based organization, spreads message of activities principally through direct contact with the community members, through small workshops and seminars on entrepreneurial competencies. This is done sometimes in conjunciton with other civil organization.

The Y.E.S. campaign of which Y.S.A staff are involved is equally another avenue used to expand awareness to our cause through exchange of ideas, during country, zonal and state network meetings and workshops.

The Internet is our medium for joining and benefiting from the capacity building activities of other organization in other parts of the world.

These interactiions enable us to examine and compare with the activities of others

6) Increasing Self-sufficiency and Social Impact:
As social entreprenuer, our primary motive is to create social changes through self reliance on enterprenuerial activities. To do that effectively, we need:
a. Good product
b. Good financing
c. Good market and
d. Good organization (team work).

Our products are the culmination of the efforts of both trainers and trainees who work together for our common goal and this products generate the funding needed to cater for both the needs of the organziation and for the individual needs of both trainers and trainees.

These funds come directly from our customers who are happy to pay for products and services.

The day-to-day administration of the organization, lies with the Director who sees to it that the target of the organizaton are met at all times. Working closely with every stakeholder in the venture.

Through this means, we are able to operate within our internally generated resources. While creating the intended social change we hope for.

8) Organization Mission and Vision:
Our mission is to deliver our brand of enterpreneurship - social entreprenuership to youth in every community within the South East and South South geopolitical zone of Nigeria.

Our vision is to be pioneers in creating private sector driven economy where every youth is a stakeholder in Nigeria.

Looking Forward to the Next Three Years:
In the next three years, we anticipate to create boarding facilities to enable us bring in Homeless street youth, because the absence of Boarding facilities means that our trainee must come from their own houses. Boarding facilities will equally mean a better streamlined training programmes with more attention to literacy classes.

Contact Information:
Chukwu Simon  Ajali
Director
Y.S.A OUTFITTERS
P.O. BOX 635 - 48001 - ABAKALIKI, EBONYI STATE
Nigeria
Tel: +234-8037755326
Fax: NILL
Email: ysacus@yahoo.com
Website: NILL