Without support from Friendship with Ihushi it would have been impossible for Ihushi Develop-ment Centre (IDC) to establish themselves in such a successful way. But for the future IDC does not want to be dependent on aid money. That's why IDC strives to increase its own income to make it possible to run the core activities with their own money, i.e. for salaries for 14 employees, teaching materials for the vocational school and the preschool as well as for maintenance of buildings and vehicles. Each year around TSh 35 million (≈ USD 23,000) is required. It's not very much, given the extensive activities conducted by IDC, but so far it has been difficult for IDC to earn this money.
IDC's "income strategy" includes several parts:
student fees to the vocational school and the preschool (but IDC does not want to set the fees too high as this might exclude students from poorer families),
a charge for practice work carried out by vocational students (often in teams with former students), for instance making school uniforms for sale, producing school desks or constructing rainwater tanks. Read more.
a shop in the nearest township, Kisesa, which sells goods made at the vocational school and other goods related to IDC's activities, for instance building materials. Read more.