Build Skills with the "lost" Youth in Kenya

Dear Rafikis, dear faithful friends,

You can be as proud as parents! Last week, the Sergoek vocational training center in Chepkanga held a colorful and well attended FIRST ever graduation ceremony. One hundered and eleven second year graduates in cap & gown transformed the looks of the school on May 25, 2018.

The highest number of graduates were in Food & Nutrition, followed by those in Electrical studies. The principal was thrilled to announce that there were169 new registrations for the coming year. Today, this totals the enrollment at 247 trainees! We are making history!

The local government officials and policy makers have been actively recruting new students and promoting skills development in the county recently. The most convincing proof of this current enthusiasm and renewed support is the revitilization of the scholarship program. A reduced fee structure and greater access to technical education by the Deputy President of Kenya is helping to turn mentalities and beliefs around.The official focus now is on skills rather than theory.

You were the forerunners of this transformation: you can proudly feel that you have contributed to change the paradigm and open the road to human capital development in Kenya.

In Eldoret, the move away from farming to agroprocessing and manufacturing is plain to see. Progress is everywhere, in the new roads, the street lighting, the ban on plastic bags and when you speak to young men and women you get the sense that they are truly feeling the potential to transform their lives and the country.

Vision 2030 started along the little mud road in Chepkanga and it is growing strong. WIth a 115% increase in enrollments and a doubling of the number of diploma holders this year, the little vocational training center in Chepkanga is on the map.

Cheers to all,

Claire