Case Story – Gusto Sikelo
Gusto Sikelo was born on 27th August 1991. He is the first born in the family of 8 children. He is married with 2 children staying in Selemani village Traditional Authority Kadewere.
Gusto’s Education life has not been easy. He first wrote his Malawi Secondary Certificate of Education examinations in 2010 and repeated in 2012. He then started a bricklaying course at Save Our Souls (SOS) in 2013 but did not complete as his passion was in electrical installation. He later joined DAPP Mikolongwe Vocational School (MVS) for his dream course, Renewable Energy and Electrical Installation and graduated in 2015.
To date, he has been involved in piece works as he is not permanently employed. With the knowledge gained from DAPP Mikolongwe Vocational School, Gusto managed to install Solar power in his house which he and his household use for lighting and charging small electrical gadgets like radios and phones . He also installed electricity at two schools in his village. From the piece works proceeds he has managed to buy a motorbike for his easy mobility in his line of work.
Gusto and his brother Blessings Sikelo, who also studies Renewable energy and Electrical installations at DAPP MVS , ususally work as a team. “ I believe in team work. And what better way to put it into practice than working with my own brother. We make a good team” he said.
Apart from doing the piece work, Gusto has other sources of income which include buying farm produce and growing ground nuts. However, he says it’s the electrical piece works that carter for his day to day necessities as the other sources are mostly once in a year.
“I like the work I do at the moment but I am still looking for a permanent job because sometimes piece works are hard to find. I am thankful to my instructors at DAPP Mikolongwe for equipping me with these skills“ he said
