Bicycle repair is a profitable occupation	Child laborers are everywhere	Most Nepalis survive by subsistence farming

Vocational Education and Career Counseling (VECC)

NYF's pioneering program helps needy children explore their strengths and identify careers where they can excel. We also sponsor children in vocational courses and help them find jobs so they can be self-sufficient.

Vocational counseling is severely lacking in Nepal, and the unemployment rate in Nepal hovers around a staggering 50%. Higher education is not the same stepping stone to job opportunities that it is in most Western countries; even people with advanced university degrees have difficulty finding jobs. Some sectors have a demand for skilled employees, but most young people lack the necessary training in these fields. For some children, guidance and training in a specific career path is far more helpful than years of higher education.

The Vocational Education and Career Counseling center (VECC) has sponsored children in training programs for 20 different careers, such as electrician, lab technician, cook, and midwife, and the number continues to grow. The decision for a child to pursue job training rather than higher education is reached by the child and staff together, after several discussions and a number of assessments and tests. NYF has conducted extensive research into vocational schools throughout Nepal. VECC staff identifies the best training program for the child's chosen field, pays for the cost of training, and helps them to find employment following the completion of their course.

In addition to vocational training, VECC provides career counseling to needy children. Many of the children supported by NYF, particularly those at J and K House, are orphans or were abandoned by their families. Not only do they lack the family connections that are necessary for getting many jobs in Nepal, they don’t know how to go about finding jobs, and many feel insecure about this. VECC teaches these kids general life skills such as compromise and negotiation, as well as specific skills for searching for employment. Furthermore, many children aren’t gifted academically but have other abilities which they can use to get jobs, if only they knew how. VECC helps children explore their strengths and interests in order to identify careers where they can excel.