Skills, not degrees, help Kenya’s slum youth get ahead

#Skills #degrees #Kenyas #slum #youth #ahead

Nairobi: As the Kenyan population flourished, Anastasia Mewandi always liked cars but never thought of being a mechanic. Now, he is a star student at Back Street Nairobi Garage.

Experts say that Kenya also needs itself: learning practical skills that lead to real jobs. Often, young people in Kenya feel pressure to learn medicine, law or office management at the university, just to find out that they have no jobs for them.

This is especially true in places like Cabra, one of the largest and oldest Katchi population in the East African country. “You can even find a plumber,” said Martha Otino, a young CFK worker working with youth in the Katchi population. “How many office managers really do we really need?”

According to government data, like the rest of Africa, the Kenyan population is young: 80 % is under 35 years of age. Their prospects are not very good. Half of the urban population lives in Katchi population and less than 20 % of jobs are in the formal sector.

Instead of pursuing these few white -collar jobs, the CFK argued that young people need the skills to move forward in the “Kali” (“Kali” (literally “hard sun”): the informal world of tons shake businesses who build, saving and saving.

“If you look at people who are based in these communities, they are craftsmen, but it has taken a long time to promote their abilities,” said CFK Head Jeffrey Okuro. Charity hopes that the experimental apprentices will accelerate this process through the scheme.

Its first group of 100 cabra youths was combined last year with electronics, mechanics and other “master craftsmen” to “realisticly transfer young people to job opportunities”. Okuro said, “We wanted to go ahead of a certificate here … Where is the money?” Okuro said.

‘So in love’

The 20 -year -old is a common case.

He said he learned to love his mechanic’s father’s cars – “He came home with dirty hands and it was really fun,” he said, but he thought it was better to study human resources at the university. Then she ran away from the money and had to leave. Even despite the degree, an office job competition would have been potentially incredible.

The CFK’s apprentices came to rescue the program, which funded the German cars, fixing the German cars in a time -performance garage in a suburb of Nairobi. In months, his guardians offered him a full -time job. “I love him so much, I will do it instead of being a doctor, pilot, a lawyer,” he said.

Throughout the city, 22 -year -old Nicholas Odimbo operated and was taken in a beauty salon. “Most people’s mentality is that this is for women only. I wanted to prove them wrong,” he said. He hopes that the CF project will help others discover the life of the Katchi population.

“Most of the young people in Kabira think they will be born there, grow up and die.” The MC (Master craftsman) saw something in me and gave me a chance. This is an amazing thing. I’m not relying on anyone, “he said.

His “MC”, Jean -Angeli, has already trained three other people and said that this is the need for young people. “If you have the skills, you can work anywhere, you can start your own thing and be free,” he said.

‘Pick’ for the industry –

Nairobi’s KCA University economist, Rainson Mochiery, said the post -independence degree theory is no longer similar to the fact that the village and guaranteed the job of the public sector.

The government has acknowledged the issue in the past decade, which builds many new professional colleges. But the Katchi population has been neglected and the government apprenticeship schemes are “shattered by politics”.

He said the schemes were often used to buy votes in some areas, while business support was provided with poor financial support and was dropped down by red tape. “The government has made the right noise, but the heart is not there,” he said.

The purpose of charities like the CF is to fill the gap, and Okuro hopes that the apprenticeship scheme will maintain itself and the copy will be ready.

He said that Cabra and similar Katchi populations are “cooked” to become a mini -industrial center. “We have the possibility of transferring the story of informal settlements to productive sites where income generates and products are produced.”