By Joe Mwai | Chair of the Board
Happy Holidays friends!
Guess what? SYSC has joined teams with Global Giving and Microsoft. We are lucky enough to be a part of their Youth Spark campaign. Today is Giving Tuesday and Microsoft is matching any donations we receive to support slum youth development beginning at noon, up to $1000 a donation (until the $250,000 in matching funds runs out).
If you are able to help SYSC this holiday season, today is the day to do it - you'll DOUBLE your impact.
It's been a big year for SYSC, thanks to you. We raised enough funds to tear down our old iron sheeting facility and rebuilt a solid facility and two-stall public toilet in stone and lumber. This means we have a permanent home for our programs and can avoid spending essential program funds on rent, our equipment is safe from theft, youth have a safe refuge from the street and the community has a new meeting space. Best of all, we all have new hope for the future. Because we are a part of Global Giving, we were able to build a partnership with The Project Solution and have just found out university students from the University of North Carolina will be coming this summer to teach music and computer lessons, through the youth-run organization Nourish.
We're excited for a new year and focused on fundraising for tailoring and welding job skills training. This will give youth skills in a high demand sector. According to Business Daily Africa, there is a massive shortage of technical skills like plumbing, mechanics, tailoring and welding, in the Kenyan economy because universities have been taking over middle-level colleges that used to train workers.
We know we can make a real difference in the lives of slum youth with your help. Here's a testimonial from Kenneth, pictured below with his wife and family:
"I am a volunteer for SYSC. I was born and raised by a single mother here in Shauri Yako slums 33 years ago, where I continue to live with my wife and three children. None of us live here because we want to. Life is a daily struggle. The government consider the community of Shauri Yako an ‘informal settlement’, which renders slums residents ‘invisible’ to the authorities and the town administration. SYSC is only organization that helps our youth to escape slums life and become independent. Our hopes and dreams depend on SYSC's success."
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