Economic Growth Kenya Project #7743

Provide Job Skills to Kenyan Slum Youth

by Shauri Yako Community Youth Support Centre (SYSC)

Project Report | Oct 25, 2019
Goal accomplished!

By Joe Mwai | Chair of the Board

Jambo Friends!

We are thrilled to let you know that we've met our goaland are de-activiting our "Provide Job Skills to Kenyan Slum Youth" project on Global Giving. Thank you, and read on for a snapshot of what we accomplished through your help.

Please continue to support us through our newly launched Livelihood & Life Skills for Impoverished Youth project. We will train youth in construction trades, tailoring and computer skills, and support their success through health education and life skills training. Everything we do is achieved through hard work, funding from Global Giving donors and the support of volunteers in our community.

Over the past 8 years, we are proud to have:

Offered many rounds of job skills training in high demand trades like tailoring, welding and masonry
Forged partnerships with the private sector and local trade associations to offer apprenticeships
Rebuilt our drop-in centre so it is not just a refuge from the streets, but also structurally sound
installed 2 flush toilets in a community where up to 30 people shared each pit-latrine
Built a computer lab and provided basic computer training
Offered ongoing soccer, Scouting and music and theatre programming to give youth an outlet and confidence
Delivered reproductive health education to prevent high rates of teen pregnancy, STDs and violence against girls, including peer-led training within schools and radio programming that aired for 45 minutes twice a week
Collaborated with a local church to provide medical checkups and treatments
Started an informal school that operated at capacity to help give little kids who cannot afford to attend school a shot at an education.

This project occurred over a remarkable period of time for Kenya. The country suffered the worst drought in over 60 years as we began this project, with over 11 million Kenyans needing food aid and most in our community only able to afford 2 meals a day. We worked hard with government representatives and other stakeholders to brainstorm ideas for food security and poverty reduction. 2 fires ravaged our community, leading to loss of homes and even 1 life, despite our ongoing petitioning to local government to instal a water point (and sewage system). And political turmoil after the disputed presidential elections polarized the country, creating uncertainty about the future, taking a toll on the economy and making life even more challenging for the people we serve. On the bright side, after 52 years and lots of advocacy from SYSC, the Kenyan government agreed to give title deeds to the residents of Shaurio Yako slums. This brought enormous peace and security for the people here, some of whom had been living in uncertain since being displaced during the Mau Mau freedom war in the 1960s.

Again, our achievements are possible because of your generosity. We think the best way to show how deeply your support was valued is to hear again from some of its beneficiaries.

“I was very hopeless, desperate for something to do … to make a living. Here in Shauri Yako slums … everybody here is fighting for survival, women are vulnerable to abuse, and sex related diseases, HIV/AIDS and being sold to slavery. I had given up, and SYSC’s program has given me hope… I want us to form a cooperative with others and start a small business or Jua kali, making affordable women’s sanitary pads.” - Mercy N -

“I am 48 year of age; I learned how to use a computer and how to operate an email account here at SYSC. Today, many Kenya government services are offered online, and most people in Shauri Yako community are not computer literate, but we can learn and access the free computer services at Shauri Yako Centre.”. - Jane M -

“I am 19 years old and unemployed single mother of two children. I didn’t have knowledge of reproductive health until I attended SYSC Reproductive Health Program here early this year. I am now able to take care of myself, but many youth here are ignorant. There is a huge need for RHE in our community. Girls from 14 years who live in Shauri Yako, Manjengo and Kiawara slums are always at risk. Our custom doesn’t allow parents to teach their children about reproductive health, as a result we make many mistakes that have painful consequences. SYSC project was very helpful. -Ngendo M _

We know this world has many causes that need support. Thank you very much for directing yours to the youth of Shauri Yako. Asante sana!

Joe Mwai

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Jun 13, 2019
A massive milestone and where we go from here

By Joe Mwai | Chair

Informal School Kids singing and dancing

Dear friends,

We at the Shauri Yako Community Youth Support Centre are so excited to share with you that we have reached a huge milestone - we are now within $1000 of our fundraising target for this project.

This will be our final quarterly update to you - our generous donors - for this project. Can you help us make a final push and achieve our goal? In the coming month, we will share a new project and objective through Global Giving and hope that you can continue to help us to empower the impoverished youth from the slums in Nyeri County, Kenya.

You may recall that we are a very small grassroots charity, founded when a local grandmother opened the doors to her home to give local kids reprieve from the streets. We rely entirely on the donations of friends and supporters but accomplish a lot. With Global Giving-raised funding, we have:

offered many rounds of job skills training in high demand trades like tailoring, welding and masonry
rebuilt our drop-in centre to make it structurally sound and keep the doors open to youth
installed 2 flush toilets in a community where up to 30 people shared each pit-latrine
built a computer lab
offered ongoing soccer, Scouting and music and theatre programming to give youth an outlet and confidence
provided ongoing reproductive health education to prevent high rates of teen pregnancy, STDs and violence against girls.
Started an informal school to help give little kids who cannot afford to attend school a shot at an education.

We hope you feel proud - because we do!

As we wrap up this project, we take we'd like to share a few highlights from this past quarter:

Health Education:

Together with Nyeri Scouts Association, we organized 3 health education workshops focused on reproductive health, STDs, HIV and drug use, attended by 270 youth age 18 to 30 years.
We collaborated with CITAM Church in March to offer a free medical checkup and treatment for the people of Shauri Yako and beyond. We'd love to make this an annual event - so if you are or know of a a doctor or can donate to support us, please reply to this email.

Skills training:

4 youth who recently completed our six-month masonry course and internship secured jobs with the China Road Construction Company. By helping us reaching our final fundraising goal, you will help us cover the cost of travel allowances for participants and workman’s complementation insurance.

Informal school:

The school continues to run at capacity with 48 children attending. We are grateful to the members of our community who have donationed used books, chairs and sports equipment and time to teach the children.

We thank you and bless you for all that you do to help give the kids we support a better chance.

Kind wishes,

Joe Mwai

Cooking for a community event

Local kids at the centre

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Mar 15, 2019
Highlights of how you are impacting kid's lives in Shauri Yako

By Joe Mwai | Chair

Dear friends,

Many thanks for continuing to support the Shauri Yako Community Youth Support Centre's (SYSC) work.

Through your generosity, we served over 2,500 marginalized youth and children in 2018, who benefited though our informal school, skills training, sports, health education and scouts programs.

Highlights

With your support, we're proud:

To run an informal school that is now serving 48 underprivileged children and has hit capacity
To have 45 youth between 12 and 15 year as active members of our Scouts program, who are engaged in civic action and learning leadership skills
That we've introduced a Tile Fitting training, internship and certification program in collaboration with industry partners, an in-demand trade skill in Kenya's construction industry (see photo)
To be offering a Medical Camp event (in collaboration with a local church) on March 30, 2019 that will provide a free checkup and treatment for the whole community.

Doing what we do requires an incredible amount of generosity, from Friends of Shauri Yako who donate used books, chairs and sports equipment to our school, to teachers and doctors who volunteers at our school and clinics and with our Scouts troop, to you - our financial supporters. We cannot do this with out your help!

Have a question about our organization or programs or life in Nyeri's informal settlements? Click reply to this report to send it to us, and we'll share the answer with everyone in our next quarter report.

Have some extra change in your pocket this month? Our Scouts are struggling to cover the cost of uniforms, which is preventing participation for some. Let us know if you can help.

Have some extra time on your hands? We'd love it if you'd tell a friend or your social media networks about SYSC's efforts to help kids lift themselves from poverty.

Thank you again for the remarkable difference you help to make here.

Kind regards,

Joe Mwai

Director

Shauri Yako Community Youth Support Centre

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