Australian People for Health Education and Development Abroad (APHEDA) is supporting some RTC and NGO workshops through a two-year programme funded by AusAid. They have also provided technical assistance to help SIARTC carry out its graduate survey. To find out more about APHEDA, see www.apheda.org.au

Still, our RTCs and our Teachers College at Vanga need more support. We are looking for other development partners who can come in and assist them in various ways. To help them upgrade their basic infrastructure - workshops, classrooms, dormitories, ablution blocks - and to provide basic hand tools and small processing machinary with which young people can learn simple skills suitable for their future lives.

Most RTCs have a variety of strategies to ensure adequate financial and material backing for their training programmes. But their needs are great, and the current economic crisis in the country is badly damaging their ability to survive. More support is required if they are to help tackle the growing youth unemployment problems in the country. Although the mission statements of RTCs may differ, the theme is constant - to produce citizens more able to live useful and productive lives in rural areas, and leaders with a greater moral sense of community, plus the skills to strengthen the villages from which they come.

The European Union (EU) has been assisting SIARTC since 1993. A first phase project ended in 1996. For an evaluation, see http://europa.eu.int. A second three-year phase of involvement began in September 2000, to strengthen the adminstrative capacity at RTCs, as well as offering a comprehensive training package to upgrade RTC instructors. The EU also offers grants to help upgrade infrastructure at RTCs and help to start small income-generating projects.