Green Youth Technical Center
Green Africa Global Foundation is an NGO working in the slum areas with a core focus of uplifting the lives of the less fortunate, especially the women, youth and children. We support schools, impart artisan handiwork lessons, hold lectures and trainings on hygiene, healthcare and waste management. This helps us in promoting sustainable development, environmental conservation, culture, health and well-being, access to agriculture and education in communities within Kenya.
“Green Youth Technical Center” plan in Kawangware slum area , as we find that the Youth sector is the mainstream link connecting Adults and Children across the World. Working in the slums, we have observed many jobless youth without any motivation due to lack of skills and education. The theme this year; is to embark on a project whereby we aim to hold workshops and teach some basic skills, to the youth so as to empower them.
Introduction/Rationale
Youths are generally considered as the majority of the population in most African countries, Kenya included. With their ever increasing numbers and limited opportunities, they are faced with a lot of problems including unemployment. This is despite the fact that they are the most energetic and innovative group in any society. In the slums, the challenge is even worst as the youths leaving in such areas lack what to do despite some who have gone to school in some education levels.
Failure to harness the abilities in these youths have rendered them vulnerable to social vices like stealing, adultery, drug abuse to look for money which can sustain their daily needs. Sustainable development goal 4 on education calls for identifying the missing gaps in the society that deter proper education for youths to translate to jobs and better living especially in slum areas.
Having worked in Dagoretti North sub county for three years , Green Africa Global foundation have done researches on what in relation to education have led to environmental deterioration in the area. It has been noted that due lack of proper jobs and skills to the young people and low level of capacity building and empowerment has brought about ignorance lack of environmental conscience and health problem like young girls getting pregnant before marriage.
In the sub county, many young people are school drop outs with a good number not making to university and college education leaving a backlog of many people who are hopeless and lack ways of meeting their daily life needs. This has been blamed to lack of proper empowerment on the alternative ways the innovative youths can engage in societal development.
It against this that the organization started “Green youth Club” in the area to mobilise the youths who are passionate about society’s development but in one way or another cannot be involved in due to lack of opportunities ,skills, knowledge and attitudes. The vision of the initiative is to engage them in health issues, life and skills to enable them bring change in their society.
A good component of the program is the exposure of the youths to free vocational training for basic skills to the job market. This includes training on aspects like catering, tailoring, fine arts, beauty among other vocational skills which the young people need to be able to engage in while transforming their society. The program is also having a comprehensive cross cutting on environmental and health related issues alongside the soft skills for holistic development of the members of the club.
Objectives
- To capacity build the youths with vocational skills for self-employment and reliant.
- To empower the youths with relevant conventional information on health, life and environment for better societal development.
- To approach sustainable development goals
Methodology
Training workshops
Under this the program is mobilizing youths every Tuesday where experts in the technical and vocational skills come and train the students depending on their passion. They are grouped into those who are interested in tailoring, catering, beauty, arts among other soft skills that can make the youths be self-employed and self-reliant.
Attachments/hands on session
After the training by experts, the trainees are expected to be connected to workshops that offer hands on experience program where they volunteer with the firms to gain experience on what they have been trained on and graduate by helping the firms or opening their own workshops upon completion.
Community action
Since the green youth initiative is to empower youths to give back to the community, the trainees are expected to be involved in different activities happening in the area including clean ups, community action days, mentoring their peers as they strike hope in those who are perceived to be hopeless youths to create a pool of competent resourceful youths are committed to bring change in the society.
General training days
As a holistic program, there are days when the trainees are joined by non-vocational skills experts like health practitioners, environmental scientists among other occupations come to share their life experience to motivate and trigger more passion and networking skills to the members of the club.
