The opportunity to work in a decent job and earn reasonable income is an obvious and important way for individuals and families to lift themselves out of poverty. Unfortunately, often very few white collar jobs are available in African societies, with most families living on their produce from a smallholding, and occasionally buying and selling of other items. Alongside this, many jobs do not provide decent conditions or wages, or exploit workers, for example by middle-managers taking all of the profits. Unfortunately, products made by children and individuals being held against their will, or working in poor conditions often end up on Western shelves.

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In many of the countries in which we work, education is unfortunately geared towards a service-orientated economy which just does not exist, and therefore individuals often need to take the initiative to create their own jobs, whether by learning a skill such as carpentry or sewing, starting a new agricultural venture such as keeping pigs or a new crop, or engaging in more modern service provision such as opening an internet café.