Education Development Center, Inc. ______
Quarterly Report (January 1st – March 31st 2010) ______
To: Dr. Lucy Kithome, Agreement Officer’s Technical Representative United States Agency for International Development/Kenya
From: Jacqueline Hardware Glin, Project Director, Garissa Youth Project
Date: April 8th 2010
Reference: Garissa Youth Project (G-Youth) Cooperative Agreement Number 623-A-00-03-000010-00
Period: January 1st – March 31st 2010 ______
1. Introduction
The Garissa Youth Project (G-Youth), is a two-year project operational in Garissa Town, the Provincial headquarters of the North Eastern Province in Kenya. The project is being implemented with $2,000,000 in financial support from USAID Kenya. The goal of this project is to empower urban youth in Garissa between the ages of 16-30 years to make sound career and life decisions as they transit from high-school to the next phase of their lives. The Garissa Youth project will offer youth interventions that will help to: 1) Build skills, facilitate appropriate career choices, support in seeking employment and/or income generating information, bridge technical and university education opportunities and provide a fun and safe space for youth to socialize; and 2) Build the capacity of local institutions and networks to sustain much-needed services that G-Youth will provide. The strategic objectives of this initiative is to constructively engage 1,600 Garissa youth in career development, livelihood and civic participation activities by: first, establishing a Youth Career Resource Center that provides career development support and access to livelihood opportunities for Garissa youth; second, support the increase of the number of Garissa youth who pursue a technical education at North East Province Technical Training Institute (NEP TTI) a viable alternative to a formal university education; and thirdly, strengthen selected local NGO programs that provide livelihood and civic participation opportunities for Garissa youth. In this quarter, a new fourth objective was approved which is to create and convene a Youth Summit where Garissan youth have an opportunity to discuss matters important to them.
2. Summary Overview of the Quarter’s Activities
A key program achievement this quarter is the implementation of a new component called the Youth Action as part of the new 4th Youth Summit objective whose purpose is train youth leaders to come up with new ideas and move through challenges when implementing ideas. The youth action concept was shared and supported locally by the Project Advisory Committee chairman, District Commissioner (DC), the District Officer (DO) Garissa Central, all the location chiefs, plus the principal partners NEP TTI, the Kenya National Library, the Garissa Branch Managers of the Equity Bank, Community Bank, Cooperative Bank, and Barclays Bank, the Garissa Teacher Training College and adult and youth leaders at over 30 villages. At the national level the Youth Summit was communicated to and we received support from Mr. Wambayi, Director of Technical Education, MOHEST, Mr. Atuti, Director Kenya National Library Services, and Hon Duale, Dujis MP and Assistant Minister of Livestock Development, and several national youth organizations. As part of the preparation of the Garissa Youth Days which are to be held on 4th – 6th May 2010 the project identified village based youth leaders and trained them on basic project design and implementation. The overall concept is to build leadership and project implementation competencies among youth while building a youth audience to talk about things that matter to them. Youth leaders (both male and female) were recruited from all the villages in Garissa municipality and were provided with 2 different sessions of trainings over 4 days plus many received additional mentoring in their villages and the offices of G-Youth in February and March 2010. The youth were trained on basic project design skills which the youth used to design community projects based on their ideas. The training included: project design and action planning, developing their thoughts and opinions, summarizing and verbally presenting information, and telling the story of their community projects and public speaking. The conceptual framework for this activity is through thoughtful community action based on self-identified ideas combined with skills development would deepen their community connections, build relevant civic skills, give youth a platform to gain adult and community positive recognition of their abilities and catalyze youth’s understanding of positive citizen action. The second cohort of 130 youth for Work Readiness Program (WRP) started on 1st March 2010 at the Garissa Teachers College. Elizabeth Robinson (International Consultant) and G Youth staff reviewed and tweaked the curriculum from the first cohort and used this to train Centre for International Voluntary Service (CIVS) management and facilitators. G Youth staff provided technical support to the new partner in terms of content delivery, monitoring and evaluation and curriculum review. For CIVS, this marked their initial effort under the new sub-award agreement with EDC.
Another important achievement during the quarter included the start of the Entrepreneurship Training (Phase 2 of the Work Readiness Program) for cohort 1. At the end of the training, 26 youth were placed as interns in various organizations and business in Garissa, Nairobi and Dadaab areas. Also noteworthy, is that four youth who received training have submitted business plans for funding to two banks in Garissa.
Eco Ventures International (EVI), a US based firm, completed the Labour Market Assessment study begun last quarter. This quarter, EVI made a presentation to USAID, Ministry of Higher Education Science and Technology and EDC/ G- Youth management on 15th February; conducted a 2 day training (16th – 17th February 2010) for NEPTTI, G Youth and CIVS on using the study results, and presented the study findings to the general Garissa community.
The reprogrammed budget was approved on 2nd March 2010 and the approval included the go- ahead to undertake the refurbishment and renovation of the Kenya National Library Services to make it a more conducive environment for learning and development. Technical support was provided by Ministry of Public Works through the Districts Works Officer Garissa. The tender notice was advertised in the Daily Nation on Saturday 20th March 2010 and the tender was closed on 29th March 2010. Concordia Building and Civil Engineering Company was awarded the contract for the refurbishment and renovation of the proposed CRC and construction is ongoing.
Dr. Dwaine Lee (USAID’s Director of Education) and Dr. Lucy Kithome (Agreement Officer’s Technical Representative) visited the project on 15th and 16th March 2010 and participated in the Second Youth Symposium held at Nomad Palace Hotel. In February 10th Nicole Emersen from USAID Project Development Office also visited the project to write a success story and also meet with youth beneficiaries of the project. Dr. John Swallow and Dr. Jacinta Ndambuki, who were part of the USAID Basic Education Assessment Team, also visited the project on 10th March 2010 and met with the project field team, visited NEPTTI and also met the project’s In School and Out of School Youth programs.
G-Youth moved into new offices and erected a new signboard with the USAID logo prominently on display on the main entrance road to Garissa from Nairobi.
Lessons learned this quarter:
1. The Entrepreneurship Curriculum needs strengthening– The work by CIVS in crafting a 3-week curriculum shows problems on inappropriate content, examples related poorly to the Garissan youth and the facilitators guidance to make the material interactive and interesting is non-existent. The Entrepreneurship training revision is ongoing with support being provided by Nancy Meaker at the Washington office.
2. Youth leaders can do community development with training and assistance – With training, coaching and mentoring assistance, the youth leaders identified project ideas, designed projects and are implementing 38 youth micro-projects in conjunction with community groups in their respective villages. Preliminary observations from the project visits are encouraging. 3. Creating community awareness, involvement of the local leadership and government departments especially when recruiting youth leaders assists in gaining acceptance and making inroads into the target community. 4. Youth programs require a lot of resources and the private sector can contribute the needed resources if they are involved early in the program. 5. Making the program youth centered and friendly makes the youth accept the program more easily. 6. Giving small prizes and certificates motivates the youth into participating in the various activities. 7. Youth need mentors- it makes youth programming more labor intensive but they respond to the added focus on them and their futures. 8. Innovativeness in strategies to showcase youth abilities and listen to youth are received well by youth and they work to “develop their voices” and their community- focused ideas. 9. Creating linkages between the local and national youth organizations assist to create an understanding and exchange of ideas and awareness.
Challenges this quarter: 1. The reprogrammed budget was submitted to USAID in late October 2009 and reprogrammed budget was approved in March 2010. This caused a delay in the starting of the refurbishment and renovation for the Career Resource Centre at the Kenya National Library Garissa branch. We overcame this obstacle by fast tracking the process of preparation of the bill of quantities, tendering and contractor selection. 2. The additional component – Youth Action – required considerable resources which had to be reduced from another component – Strengthening of NEPTTI. We ensured that marketing and community outreach remained as part of strengthening of NEPTTI. The additional component also required considerable staff time and we had to use Peace Corp Volunteers and other volunteers to assist in the project. 3. Regular attendance and follow through on the full educational offerings of G-Youth work readiness program among the males continues to challenge the program. The red tape involved in securing national identity cards by the youth is one reason cited for absences. We also believe that immediate income over long term educational gains may play a role. We addressed this, in part, by increasing parent involvement in registration of new learners to increase positive pressures to remain engaged in education and training.
3. Garissa Youth Out-of-School Youth Work Readiness Program 3.1: Introduction Staff recruited a second youth trainee cohort who began the Work Readiness Program training and while Cohort 1 learners began the Entrepreneurship training followed by Job Placement during this quarter..
3.2: Youth Recruitment for Cohort 2
The recruitment for youth for the WRP is a continuous process. A data base in the office has contact information for the youth who completed Form Four last year from the ten partner high schools in Garissa. A total of 130 youth (68 male and 62 females) were recruited as Cohort 2 to undertake the WRP. There was a marked change in the recruitment process as eligible youth were required to come with their parents to the office. Once there, staff explained training expectations to them and to secure their commitment to the program conditions. All were required to sign a commitment to undertake the program and adhere to the requirements.
Garissa Teachers College is the venue for the Phase 1 of the WRP and the college also provided transport to ferry the students from various locations within the municipality.
3.3 : Training of Trainers for the Work Readiness Program (Feb 1st – 7th 2010) Elizabeth Robinson (International Consultant) worked with G Youth senior staff to co-design and lead a seven-day TOT program for 12 CIVS staff who included new facilitators, hired to lead the Work Readiness Program. As the contractor of the facilitators, CIVS managers played a key role during the TOT. They managed work contracts, requirements, and reimbursements. The TOT training also provided CIVS managers with an opportunity to be inducted into a process of implementing the WRP. The CIVS strategy was to train all facilitators in the Phase 1 (Work Readiness Program) and the Phase 2 (Entrepreneurship training) so that all staff facilitators would be skilled to cover either course if needed.
The objectives of the TOT were:-
i. Describe the purpose, components and philosophy of the Work Readiness Program ii. Prepare the Module lessons with confidence iii. Participate effectively as a “team” to lead a successful Cohort 2 iv. Perform their role as facilitator
The topics over the seven days are shown below:
Day 1 Introductions, Building a Learning Community, Role of Facilitator Day 2 Discovery of Active Learning and Facilitation Techniques Day 3 Overview of the Work Readiness Program goals, tools, Facilitator Guide and Student Books, Begin Preparation of Practice Assignments Day 4 Demonstration of Lessons 1 and 2 and Preparation of Practice Sessions Day 5 Practice teaching by participants Day 6 Practice teaching by participants Day 7 Completion of practice teaching, Counseling Tips, Closing Ceremony
Meeting the new Work Readiness facilitators provoked immediate reactions by program staff who had worked closely with the pilot Work Readiness Program. The new recruits were for the most part young and inexperienced compared to the facilitators from the first phase, most of whom had master’s degrees and ten or more years of teaching or educational coordination experience. Although the new facilitators did not have the number of years of experience of previous facilitators, each of them had particular experience with youth and in leadership positions that made them stand out as potential facilitators. Four of the facilitators were in fact CIVS staff who were more experienced and were to deliver the Entrepreneurship training.
At the end of the seven days of the TOT training it was the recommendation of the International Consultant that the facilitators needed an additional two weeks to be able to learn the content, concepts and rationale of each Lesson as well as the desired active techniques to teach the content. Without other significant experience to draw from, the facilitators in training needed the opportunity to first be students of the content before mastering the art of how to teach it. Based on the recommendations from the consultant an additional ten days of training was approved and Ms. Robinson prepared guidelines for G Youth staff to use to plan and conduct the continuation training. During the original seven day training phase, the facilitators in training proved they had the ability to learn and develop as G- Youth desired them to. During their second practice teaching project, each participant demonstrated significant improvement in learning material and using active learning techniques.
At the end of the second TOT training the facilitators’ potential emerged as they stepped into their new roles. The young local facilitators from Garissa demonstrated great promise and potential as facilitator role-models. All participants demonstrated commitment to and enthusiasm for the vision to offer an innovative and dynamic program to help Garissa youth discover their potential, talents, and strengths. The TOT training benefited from the lessons shared by previous facilitators who had conducted the Phase 1 training for the Cohort 1 in Nov – Dec 2010.
3.4: Phase 1 Work Readiness training for Cohort 2 at Garissa Teachers College Phase I Work Readiness Program of the second cohort started on 1st March and is being held at Garissa Teachers College (GTC).. The program was undertaken in five (5) classes (two for girls and three for boys) with five facilitators (two male and three female) .The total of one hundred and thirty (130) youth (62 girls and 68 boys) registered for this cohort.. During the quarter a total of eleven lessons were handled for this phase. The facilitators with assistance from the technical personnel from both G Youth and CIVS noted issues within the curriculum that merited attention for further action. Table 3.1: Attendance Work Readiness training (Cohort 2) Date Male Female Total 1st week 68 62 130 2nd week 56 51 107 3rd week 45 37 82 4th week 39 37 76 Average 52 47 80 The key lessons learnt during the implementation of the WRP for cohort 2 are:- Youth are still having problems with topics like CV writing, writing of application letters and there is need to revisit the WR curriculum to give youth more adequate time on these topics.
Work Readiness Training in session
3.5: Phase 2 - Entrepreneurship Training The Entrepreneurship training started well at North Eastern Province Technical Training Institute (NEPTTI), with 48 participants of the 75 who had completed WRP Phase 1. The curriculum used was provided by CIVS and was designed to be delivered over a 3 week period.
Table 3.2: Average attendance Entrepreneurship training Date Male Female Total 1st week 35 13 48 2nd week 28 11 39 3rd week 21 10 31 Average 28 11 39
During the 3 weeks of Entrepreneurship training, the youth were given one field visit exposure, where they got exposed to private business enterprises and two banks and learned about their operations, business competition, SWOT analysis, business environment, opportunities in Garissa, products, pricing, packaging, customer care and business sustainability. A total of 41 youth (29 males and 13 females visited Equity Bank, Barclays Bank, Medina Pharmaceuticals, Hiddig Hotel and Garissa Home Depot in Garissa town. After the field visit, the youth shared the experience gained from the visit in class and some two female youths in the group networked with First Community Bank to access credit for business. As part of the Entrepreneurship training the project also organized for two lecture series where officers at three banks in Garissa town were invited to talk to the youth about business opportunities available in the bank. During the first lecture the Branch Manager for First Community Bank and two officials from the newly established branch of Cooperative Bank talked to the youth and encouraged them to come up with viable business plans which the banks will consider for funding depending on their viability. During the session 48 youth (35 males and 13 female) participated in the lecture series. During the second lecture series the project invited the Branch Manager and Credit Manager from Equity Bank and a lady role model from Garissa sponsored by Equity Bank from high school and who is now being sponsored to study in a university in the United States. The Equity bank team discussed with the youth the business prospects at the bank and advised them on the opportunities in initiating enterprises to succeed in life. The Branch Manager challenged the youth to develop good business plans and approach the bank for funding as they will commence Shariah compliant banking from April 2010. The key lessons learnt during the implementation of the Entrepreneurship training are:- - The Entrepreneurship Facilitator guide needed strengthening. For example, it emphasized big enterprises and companies and was not well suited for youth training. - The curriculum content was wide and could not be adequately covered. The key recommendations are:- - The entrepreneurship curriculum books (both facilitator and student) need to be reviewed before the next cohort. It needs to have more good examples to illustrate the concepts and the content should be tailored to the youth and business environment in Garissa. - The curriculum content needs to be reduced and simplified to address the types of youth in Garissa.
Entrepreneurship Training in session 3.6: Phase 3 – Internship/Job placement It is mandatory for youth to undergo a 3 week Internship/Job Placement phase after as Phase 3 of the WRP training. During this phase the youth are attached to different companies, and organizations for a market relevant and practical learning experience. After the 3-week entrepreneurial training 26 youth were successfully placed in various institutions in Garissa, Dadaab and Nairobi. Six youth who had undergone the training have been employed as Clerks by the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) and two female youth have used the skills gained in the training to prepare a business plan for a Cyber Café which they have submitted to First Community Bank for funding.
Table 3.3: Youth placement in various businesses/organizations Company, Organization Place Number of Placements CIVS Office Nairobi 3 G-Youth Garissa 4 Kerio Valley Development Nairobi 2 Authority Equity Bank Garissa 2 Child Rescue Center Garissa 4 Gawasco Garissa 2 University of Nairobi Garissa 1 SAMBEL Computers Ltd. Garissa 1 District Agricultural Office Madogashe 1 Kenya Red Cross Society Garissa 1 Care International Dadaab (Dagahley) 1 Horsed Telecommunication Garissa 1 ANDI (Local NGO) Garissa 1 Nasteh Wholesalers (private Garissa 1 business) Women Concern Kenya Garissa 1
The assessment carried out by facilitators and Youth Placement officer, indicated that the youth are recording good progress. Most of the youth were identified to have good potential for employment by prospective employers who they are working with. The majority of participants appreciated the training and saw it as a rare opportunity for them to start their own businesses. Some of the participants took the initiative to develop workable business plans ready to start own business immediately. Some of the participants said they would restructure their family business with the detailed knowledge they gained. The key lessons learnt from the training of the second cohort were: 1. External factors can impact attendance - National activities like the issuance of Identity Card to students who have attained the mandatory age of 18 years affected attendance and this posed a challenge. 2. Training of trainers with a good curriculum is doable - Technical support from G Youth senior staff assisted CIVS to easily implement Phase 1 of the WRP program. 3. Internal factors can impact attendance - The implementation of the Youth Action component of the project dramatically reduced attendance for the two-day training period as some of the youth undergoing the WRP were chosen as youth leaders from their respective villages. 4. Need for planning time -The programming for all classes in the WRP to be undertaken during the morning assisted the facilitators to have time to plan as a group. 5. Train facilitators in basic counseling skills - The inclusion of basic counseling skills for the facilitators assisted them to handle routine inquiries from the youth.
3.7: Community Service Learning and Lecture Series As part of the their induction into Community Service Learning, the WR facilitators oriented the youth into the planned Community Service and Lecture Series. Two Peace Corp Volunteers (Rachel Galbraith and Daniel Delgadillo) were invited to share the concept of volunteerism with the youth. The session also gave a chance to ask and know more about being a volunteer. The session created a lot of interest in the youth with some of them asking to link up with the PCVs to know more about their work. The orientation was attended by 130 youth (62 females and 68 males). The aim of the orientation session was to assist the youth to be able to identify the various community needs and also give them a chance to shape their various interests in meeting community needs.
• Environmental Clean-up of Garissa town
The first service learning activity for Cohort 2 was held on 18th March 2010, whose theme was Environmental Cleaning and activities done were litter collection along Kismayu road and tree planting at Al-Farouq Orphanage. First Community Bank and Garissa Municipal Council partnered with G Youth during the exercise, with Garissa Municipal Council providing protective masks and gunny bags for litter collection and a truck to finally dispose the waste and First Community Bank provided lunch for the youth. G Youth staff and CIVS facilitators accompanied the youth for the exercise. The occasion was graced by the District Commissioner Garissa Mr. Kinjo who gave a speech urging Garissa residents to own up the cleanliness of the town. A total of 88 youth (41 female and 47 males) participated in the exercise.
Community Service Learning of the Work Readiness Training
3.8: Lecture Series
• Vocational skills
The first lecture series for the second cohort in WRP Phase I was held on 11th March 2010 with its theme being Vocational Skills. G-Youth invited people involved in vocational trades. The St. Johns Ambulance Executive Director talked about the plan to establish a First Aid Skill training base in Garissa. A Manager with the Japanese NGO MIKONO who trains youth on vocational skills like motor vehicle mechanics and tailoring shared with the youth how he dropped from high school due to his family’s inability to pay school fees. He shared with them the decision he took to pursue motor vehicle mechanics at MIKONO training garage. He shared with the youth that he makes good money through the services he renders to clients and he then invited the youth to join the training after completing the WR training. A successful businessman in Carpentry and former student of NEPTTI shared his life experience in which he raised his college and living expense and later established a Carpentry Workshop in Garissa. He challenged the youth to take advantage of opportunities of skill training and business start up in Garissa. During the lecture series, there were a total of 107 youth (56 females and 51 male) in attendance.
Lecture Series of the Work Readiness Training
• Private Sector and Entrepreneurship
The theme for the second lecture series (held on 25th March 2010) was on Private Sector and Entrepreneurship and 10 guests were involved from 5 different Institutions. The institutions were Kampala International University, Kenya Industrial Estate, Almond Hotel, GlaxoSmithKline and an entrepreneur from Garissa. The invited guests were divided between the 5 classes and rotated between the classes. The youth were given a chance to ask questions on their personal development and those that concerns their institutions. A total of 80 (40 male and 40 female) attended the second lecture series.
Below is the summary of the date, service theme, site/partner organization and data on youth attendance. Table 3.4: Summary of the attendance for Service Learning and Lecture Series component of the WRP
Date Service/Lecture Site/Partner Actual Key Theme Organization attendance Message/Outcome
4th March Volunteerism Peace Corps 130 The importance of 2010 Volunteers volunteerism and community engagement.
18th April Environmental Garissa 88 The importance of 2010 cleanup and Municipal keeping our conservation Council and environment clean First and the community’s Community role in getting that to Bank happen.
11th March Opportunities in MIKONO 107 Inculcating in the 2010 Vocational Skills youth that vocational Jomo skills training can be a Furnitures viable livelihood St. Johns option. Ambulance 25th March Private Sector -Unilever Kenya 80 Available 2010 Entreprise opportunities in the -Vice private sector Chancellor /Kampala International University -Regional Manger/Kenya Industrial Estate -Medical Rep/SmithKline Glaxco
For most of the youth the service learning activity was the first opportunity for them to give back to their communities. Most of them found it inspiring and they also become aware of the challenges that the Garissa community faces 3.9: Group Career Counseling for WR During the training for the first cohort who undertook the WRP Phase it was the policy that all youth attend a 30 minute session of individual counseling. During the review of the curriculum the requirement was changed that it was mandatory for all youth undergoing training to attend at least one group life and career counseling session and individual sessions available upon request or need. There was a high demand for both group counseling and individual counseling especially after the release of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results. The total number of participants who have attended and undergone group counseling is 58 (28 males and 30 females. For the individual counseling 7 males and 1 female have sought for and had been provided individual counseling.
Group Counseling of the Work Readiness Training 4 Outreach Program to In School Youth (ISY)
The proposed Outreach to In School Youth (ISY) will be centered on linkage of the schools with the Career Resource Centre which is being established at the Kenya National Library Services (KNLS) Garissa. The following is the proposed strategy for implementing the Outreach to In School youth: • Preliminary meeting with School Principals and teachers from 10 partner schools who are in charge of Guidance and Counseling. The theme of the meeting will be to gain the support of the Principals and Counselors as the project rolls out the Outreach Program. • G Youth staff with support from other institutions/persons will prepare presentations on common careers in the following areas: o Education o Medicine o Finance and Banking o NGO and Public Service o Self-Employment o Agro-business
The project will then develop a program with the 10 partner high schools in Garissa municipality to the specific career presentations. During the presentation, the project will arrange to have relevant professionals in the respective fields to be present and enrich the discussions with the students. Students will be given opportunities to ask questions. The project expects to make 2 visits to each of the ten partner high schools per term. A proposed schedule of visit to the schools is detailed below:-
Table 4.1: Proposed term schedule for Outreach Program for ISY - May – July 2010 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Garissa High County High Iqra High Boys Town School School School High School Umul Salama Young Al Iqlas High - Girls Muslims School School NEP Girls Iftin Girls Tetu Boys - High School School High School Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Garissa High County High Iqra High Boys Town School School School High School Umul Salama Young Al Iqlas High - Girls High Muslims High School School School NEP Girls Iftin Girls Tetu Boys - High School School High School
After the presentations students will be referred to the CRC which will be operational from May 2010 for additional support and information.
5 - Capacity Strengthening and Support at North Eastern Technical Training Institute (NEPTTI)
During the Institutional Capacity Assessment that was done by consultants engaged by G Youth it was found out that NEPTTI needed a different marketing strategy to reach its target population in Garissa town. As result of the identified needs G Youth in collaboration with NEPTTI has developed a Marketing and Outreach Strategy which is composed of the following components:-
i. Use of ‘blast SMS’ to communicate with potential students
G-Youth has used the ‘blast’ SMS system that can reach more than 5000 recipients at a go. G Youth currently uses this technology to communicate with the project’s target groups including the youth and their parents. It has been proposed that same system can be used to direct youth to where they can find access certain internet-based information. i.e. the website and Face Book
ii. Use of Facebook G Youth has a group page on Facebook that has a fast growing number of youth members who can easily be reached with either the Status Update of the Facebook page or posting of certain information on the Menu available. On this page, a web link page can be created to link to NEPTTI official web page and also post information on the availability of the career options at the institute.
iii. G Youth Website
G-Youth website features NEPTTI as one of its partners and links anyone who accesses the website through the link address provided. Updating G-Youth website to include latest information about NEPTTI is meant to market NEPTTI to the youth who access the website.
iv. Mass Media It is proposed that as part of the capacity building plan, NEPTTI will be linked to the media for publicity to increase enrolment. During the student intake process and vacancies announcements, NEPTTI will be linked to both national and local media to increase publicity.
v. Production of Promotional DVD
G-Youth plans to produce a promotional DVD that will be distributed within Garissa and in the region to market the institution and educate them on the career options available at NEPTTI. The DVD will carry essential information on careers available, information regarding admission criteria, amount of fees per course and the available conducive environment for learning.
vi. Open House Day for In-School Youth
An Open House Career Day for In School Youth will be held to increase awareness, market the institution, and expose the youth to the career opportunities available at NEPTTI. This effort is based on the successful effort last year in which G-Youth in conjunction with NEPTTI held an Open Day for all the partner high schools in Garissa.
vii. Guest Speaker/ Career Clinics/Career Fairs G-Youth will support NEP TTI to organize career fairs for both In School and Out of School Youth to market itself locally and expose to the youth to the careers available at their institution. These will both take place at the G Youth’s Career Resource Centre and during the Lecture Series when youth undergo the Work Readiness Program.
viii. Bill Board G Youth will support NEPTTI to set up a bill board that carries photos of the institution and their available career options.
ix. Updating Brochures
NEPTTI currently has a brochure that carries information on the courses and fees being charged. G Youth will work with NEPTTI to update their brochures to include the latest changes in the courses provisions, duration of completion and the financial implications. The new design brochures will be youth friendly and attractive.
x. Graduation Ceremony
Since its inception, NEPTTI has never organized a graduation ceremony and G Youth will support NEPTTI to organize its first graduation ceremony which will serve also as a marketing platform.
5.1 : Labour Market Assessment – Findings and dissemination of the report
• Field assessment and findings
EVI conducted the Labour Market Assessment with the objective to understand the labour market conditions, identify immediate employment and self employment opportunities for youth and the skill and support needed by the youth to be able to respond to these opportunities. The geographic focus of the assessment was Garissa, with secondary study sites of Mwingi, Ijara, Dadaab, Nairobi proper, and the community of Eastleigh in Nairobi. The secondary sites were included for their geographical proximity and economic connections, ] employment opportunities they could potentially provide to Garissan youth.
The study made extensive use of secondary data including regional reports, statistics and plans by the Government of Kenya and NGOs as well as current events and news by both the national and international press. The study also made use of an innovative methodology of monitoring social media sites to gain youth perspective of local context. The study paid special emphasis to economic sectors that either reduce environmental vulnerability or expand resource security.
The following sectors were identified as offering the most relevant, age-appropriate and sustainable employment opportunities for youth:
Table 5.1: Preliminary Economic Growth Sectors of Interest Sectors Assessed Professional Services ICT Agro-forestry Livestock and By-products Agro-processing Personal Services Hospitality Textiles Construction Tourism Energy Transport Household Goods Waste Management Horticulture Water
The field research was intended to narrow the scope of the economic growth sectors and pinpoint accessible youth entry points. The field research was conducted in cooperation with senior G Youth Project staff and officials from the Ministry of Higher Education Science and Technology (MOHEST). The field assessment included interviews and surveys with youth, local and national business leaders, local government and NGO representatives, entrepreneurs and national policymakers. The field assessment narrowed the economic growth sectors to the following sectors which were determined to have the capacity to support immediate, medium to long term opportunities for youth employment and enterprise development.
Table 5.2: Final Economic Growth Sectors of Interest Sectors Assessed Immediate Opportunities Professional Services ICT Agro-forestry Livestock and By-products Agro-processing Waste Management Hospitality Energy Construction
• Dissemination of the LMA findings EcoVentures International (EVI)presented the main findings of the Labor Market Assessment on 16th February 2010 to MOHEST, USAID and EDC/G Youth representatives at the Directorate of Technical Education Boardroom in Nairobi. The meeting was attended by Dr. Dwaine Lee, Dr. Lucy Kithome and Benson Kimithi all from USAID. The Directorate of Technical Education was represented by the Mr. Owate Wambayi (Director of Technical Education) and other senior officers. The presentation was also attended by representatives from the Kenya Association of Technical Training Institutes (KATTI). EDC/G - Youth was represented by Paul Sully, G-Youth Acting Project Director and Ibrahim Hussein, G-Youth Deputy Project Director. EVI made another presentation of the key findings to the general Garissa community on 19th February 2010 at the Nomad Palace Hotel Garissa. The meeting was attended by representatives from the business community, NGOs, government representatives, youth leaders and local leaders. • Operationalising use of the LMA findings EVI provided the G-Youth Projects staff and their partners, the North Eastern Province Technical Training Institute (NEP-TTI) and Centre for International Voluntary Service (CIVS), with specialized training on how to operationalize the findings in a way that empowered them to take immediate action to integrate those findings into their project work and decision-making. Action plans were developed by G Youth on how to use the results for job placements, NEPTTI made action plans on how integrate the LMA findings into curriculum development and CIVS made action plans on how to use the LMA findings for entrepreneurship training.
6. Youth Service and Livelihoods Sub-Grant Mechanism
6.1: Identification and Selection of Centre for International Voluntary Service (CIVS) (local partners) A local NGO called Center for International Voluntary Services (CIVS) was selected to partner with G Youth to implement the three phases of G-Youth’s Work Readiness Program:
• Phase 1 – Work Readiness Training (Personal Leadership, Career Development, Skills for Work Success) • Phase 2 – Entrepreneurship Training • Phase 3 – Internships/On-the Job Experience
As part of their orientation a three-person CIVS management team joined the G-Youth staff for planning and training activities from January 28th through February 12th. Elizabeth Robinson (International Consultant) facilitated an orientation for CIV management for all the aspects of the WRP. Senior G Youth management also provided key history; lessons learned and introduced them to the current tools.
During a planning session with CIVS management G Youth management worked with CIVS to align contract deliverables and expectations with the available budget. To reconcile them, different possibilities for the lengths of the Work Readiness Phase 2 (Entrepreneurship training) and Phase 3 (Job Placement/Internship) emerged. CIVS also presented a draft Entrepreneurship curriculum to G-Youth staff for review. G-Youth staff also worked with CIVS on the design for the Internship/ Placement phase. Two G Youth managers were assigned the tasks of monitoring the CIVS effort, while also providing technical and logistical support to them for the delivery of the WRP program.
7. Youth Action Component
7.1: Introduction
At the end of the last quarter USAID requested the EDC/G-Youth Project to include a new project component called Youth Action. The objective of the new component was to implement a new initiative that engages youth leaders to solve problems unique to them and their communities. The goal of this new activity is to create mechanisms that enable the youth of Garissa to become active participants in the design and implementation of programs and services that impact their lives and the future generation of youth and communities.
G-Youth is undertaking the following activities in support of this new Youth Action component:-
i. Organize a youth leadership team that will guide the development of a Garissa Youth Summit to be held in May 2010. During this process, provide leadership training to youth leaders equipping them with the skills necessary to identify community projects and help them turn those projects into project designs and how to implement them. ii. Conduct two Youth Symposiums integrating leadership training culminating in a Youth Summit that showcases the accomplishments and assets of Garissan youth while action planning for the future. iii. Develop a program of direct youth grants and capacity building services to youth organizations that will be implemented during the project's extension phase. iv. Launch the opening of the youth Career Resource Centre at the Kenya National Library Services Garissa branch during the Youth Summit.
7.2: Selection of Youth Leaders from the villages within Garissa Municipality
The project used a village-based selection process for the identification of youth leaders within Garissa Municipality. The recruitment for the selection of the village based youth leaders started on 21st January and ended on 1st February 2010. The aim was that the youth in each of the 36 villages within Garissa Municipality select two youth leaders (one male and one female) to be part of the training program that was to be conducted by G Youth. The process of the youth leaders’ recruitment involved the use of the local radio station (Star FM) to communicate to the youth and also the use of ‘blast’ SMS (test message to multiple recipients) on the specific dates for each village. The meeting with the youth leaders also gave the project an opportunity to introduce the Youth Action Component to the youth in the respective villages. The youth who had participated in WRP Phase 1 played a pivotal role in each village in mobilizing the other youth within their villages.
Table 7.1: Summary of Youth Leaders Intake Data
1.No. of youth leaders 69 2. Percentage of female 46 3. Percentage of males 54 4. Average age 22 5. Use of internet 61% 6. Use of Facebook 49% 7. Percentage who have participated in the 59% WRP training offered by G Youth 8. Percentage of youth leaders who have 88% heard of G Youth 9. Percentage currently enrolled in education 35% programs 10. Work experience length (No. of months) 7.8 months 11. Reporting attending a religious gathering 54% at least once a week 12. Vote in Kenyan elections 60%
7.3: Youth Action Symposium 1 The initial training was aimed at building the capacity of the youth leaders selected through a consultative process involving the local bulla elders, Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs, local youths and other key organs in Garissa. Each participant in the training was identified because they have demonstrated leadership in their respective villages. The participants comprised of both genders with almost equal representation during each session.
The Leadership Training was essentially to enhance the capacities of youth as leaders and assist them in the implementation of small projects in their localities aimed at linking and integrating youth activities in the development agenda through the projects they implement in their villages. It was also a way of introducing the youth to new opportunities and open up the world of possibilities.
During the training a total of 72 youth members representing 36 bulla’s were engaged for a period of two days each. The training was organized for the 3 small groups of 24 youths as follows:- - Group 1 - 11th -12th February 2010 - Group 2 - 13th -14th February 2010 - Group 3 - 15th -16th February 2010 The key topics covered during the training for the Youth Action Symposium 1 included the following:- • Youth Action Summit Roadmap – The route of activities to the summit. Youth Action Projects - a review of each project design step • • Design approach “What can we do without Money’’ (from the project)? • The futurescape. Creating a shared vision of the world of Garissa Bullas. • Personal leadership qualities - reactive and proactive leaders • Defining core values/qualities of a leader Mentoring - project committed to helping the Youth leaders build their personal leadership skills while they lead projects in their own Bullas and communities. • Introduction to the 9 Youth Action Project Steps for Designing and Implementing Small Projects.
Youth Action Project Criteria • It is an activity, service or improvement that provides a solution to a need or challenge in your Bulla • Responds to a need felt by individuals or an organization • Involves a minimum of 10 youth to work as a team • Is accomplished through the team’s creativity, energy and volunteerism • Can be initiated and accomplished by May 4th • Resources needed can be acquired through the team’s ability to convince Bulla leaders and organizations
Each of the youth leaders was asked to find a mentor, identify/recruit a co-team leader and enroll another 10 youth from the village to implement the project and also enroll other stakeholders including NGOs, communities, faith-based organizations and the private sector players to support the youth project.
The project staff presented the option for the two youth leaders from each bulla to collaborate with each other or work independently with their their own team and project idea. The youth leaders faced a number of challenges including the difficulties posed by lack of motivation by the communities and the promotion of shared values of ownership between the various stakeholders at the village level.
During the brief closing of the first youth Symposia, one of the female youth participants who was touched by the potential for Garissa youth requested the other youth “to make this a success so that Garissa would benefit.” She continued, “Please don’t let this youth program end up like all the other ones.”
7.4: Youth Action Symposium 2
The second symposium was held on March 15th and 16th at the Nomad Palace Hotel and the event built on the first symposia. All of the community leaders of the Youth Action project came together. In addition to continuing developing youth voices and developing leadership skills, the objectives of the second symposia were strengthening individual project designs, assisting youth to learn from each other on their community approaches, developing skills public speaking and on telling the story of their community projects and defining project success.
Workshop on the first day
On the first day, the 72 community Youth leaders were taught how to strengthen their project proposals, how to solve problems and how to tell a community story. In addition, youth obtained useful tips of how to create a public speech. Every youth had an opportunity to create a speech and to present it to a small group of fellows. Afterwards, the group selected a winner who represented the whole group on the second day by giving a speech in front of the whole audience.
A guest speaker from the slum of Kibera, Paul Otiende, shared with the youth his community project. Paul’s project was a short movie about life in Kibera and the positive efforts of members of the community to improve life in Kibera, Kenya’s largest slum. The film was very touching and at the same time very encouraging for the Garissa youth.
On the second day, every youth leader was given an opportunity to bring a guest. The youth had the opportunity to learn from each other on their community approaches by presenting their projects and giving feedback to each other’s projects. In the afternoon, most of the leaders and their guests gained their first experience in participating in Open Space sessions, which is a well known methodology for developing leadership skills by offering the participants space to create discussions on matters important to them. During the entire second day youth were excited about the public speaking contest, which was held at various times throughout the day. The prize for the winner was a new Nokia cell phone and airtime for the whole team. After a day of very interesting speeches, the youth leaders chose to award the prize to Adey Gange Alan from Bulla Nyuki from team Excellent. Her speech addressed the topic of female genital cutting.
Certificates were provided to the youth for their successful participation. After these two hard-working days, the youth left with more self-confidence, improved leadership skills and feeling confident that they could successfully implement their projects.
Registration of youth leaders and their guests on the second day
Table 7.2: Analysis of the community projects being undertaken by youth leaders
Project Area of Focus Number of Projects Approved
1. Health [mosquito control, malaria, good 11 hygiene and sanitation, HIV/ AIDS awareness, drug abuse]
2. Tree Planting 9
3. Education [girl child education, adult 7 education, drawing & painting, peer education, poetry & essay writing]
4. Clean Ups/ Waste management 6
5. Sports 2
6. Peace building 1
7. Security 1
8. Beauty Salon 1
Total 38
7.5: Youth Summit Steering Committee The Summit is under the responsibility of the G Youth Project and Mr. Paul Sully is the Summit Advisor and works with the Deputy Project Director and the Summit Coordinator to provide leadership, planning and management to the summit. A steering committee made up of national and local government, business, religious and youth leaders provide guidance to the summit. Hon Duale has graciously accepted to be Honorary Summit Chairman who is expected to give the event acceptance and visibility.
Lessons learnt:-
• Youth are motivated to learn new project design skills • All the youth have felt genuinely motivated to develop an idea into a plan of action. • In terms of designing and working up a proposal, they needed a lot of instructive mentoring and the mentoring process had to be highly individualized • The proposals got better with training, reflection time and mentoring • There are a number of gifted speakers • They are a number of youth who feel and think deeply about life, employment, civic and educational issues. • There is crossover between work readiness and the youth summit, so a number of youth are getting a lot of exposure to G-Youth • Open space as a methodology worked among Garissan youth • The cell phone and air time prizes motivated the youth • There are business people who feel engaged with youth and G-Youth gives them a connection • Youth leaders grabbed on to the little duties assigned to them eg, decide who was the best speaker for the public speaking competition, distribute funds • Many youth leaders have found 10 other youth in their communities to help them with their projects • Youth took initiative to visit banks and government officials to seek support for their community projects. • Certificates are a source of pride for youth as they relate them to a sense of achievement
8. Establishment of Career Resource Centre at the Kenya National Library Garissa branch The request for the establishment of a Career Resource Centre in the library was submitted as part of the reprogrammed budget to USAID. The reprogrammed budget was approved on 2nd March 2010. The changes included refurbishment and renovation of the Kenya National Library Services to make a more conducive environment for learning and development. After the refurbishment the CRC is to have the following facilities:- - A resource centre that will have materials that provides career information to youth. EDC is working with the State Department Library at the US Embassy in Nairobi to identify the appropriate books and resources to outfit the CRC. - The existing ICT centre at the KNLS Garissa is being refurbished and outfitted with new computers and offer reliable internet services. Once the ICT centre is established computer training will be offered to youth beneficiaries. During the weekend the ICT Centre will serve as an internet café. The proposed computer training and internet services will allow KNLS to generate income and help maintain the state of art equipment being installed - The project will also provide capacity strengthening, training and support to KNLS staff in the management of the CRC and will phase-out and hand over complete management of the CRC before the end of the project.
Consultations were held with the Director of KNLS on the proposed refurbishment and renovation of the Garissa Branch of the National Library and technical support was provided by Ministry of Public Works through the District Works Officer Garissa who assisted in the preparation of the public bidding document. The tender notice was advertised in the Daily Nation on Saturday 20th March 2010 and the tender was closed on 29th March 2010. Concordia Building and Civil Engineering Company was awarded the contract for the refurbishment and renovation of the proposed CRC and construction is ongoing.
9. Relationship Management
9.1 : Launch of the G Youth website – The G Youth website (www.g-youth.org) was launched on 11th February 2010. The website is constantly updated and has links to partner organizations like USAID, Ministry of Higher Education Science and Technology, Centre for International Voluntary Service and Kenya National Library Services.
9.2 : Kenya National Library Services (KNLS). The relationship between KNLS and G Youth continues to be strong and various meetings were held with the Director and senior staff to crystallize the relationship between the two institutions. Mr. Paul Sully, Acting Project Director (February – March 2010) was introduced to the Director of KNLS and they held two meetings. USAID sent out an Implementation Letter to the Government of Kenya that detailed the scope of the relationship and spelled out the roles and responsibilities of the two institutions. During the tendering stage for the renovation and refurbishment of the Career Resource Centre, the draft bidding document [bill of quantities] was shared with the Director for his inputs which were incorporated into the final bill of quantities. During the advertisement of the tender for the refurbishment and renovation of the facilities at KNLS Garissa, the project incorporated the KNLS logo into the advertisement. During the handover of the facilities to the selected contract, the Librarian at KNLS was very supportive of the project as was the local representative of the KNLS Board of Directors. 9.3 : Ministry of Higher Education Science and Technology (MOHEST) - The Director of Technical Education Mr. Owate Wambayi hosted the presentation of the LMA findings at Directorate of Technical Education Board room on 16th February 2010 and invited senior staff from the department and representatives from the Kenya Association of Technical Training Institutes. The presentation was also attended by USAID representatives and EDC/G Youth management. 9.4 : USAID visit to G Youth Project – The USAID Director of Education Dr. Dwaine Lee and Dr. Lucy Kithome (Agreement Officer Technical Representative) visited the project on 15th and 16th March 2010. The USAID team had an opportunity to participate in the Youth Action Second Symposium at the Nomad Palace Hotel and they had an opportunity to meet and interact with the youth leaders. During the quarter the project also benefited from a visit by Nicole Enersen from the Program Development Office in USAID Kenya who wrote a success story about the project and also met with project beneficiaries.
9. Project Administration and Management
9.1 : Maternity leave for Jacqueline Hardware Glin (Project Director) – G Youth Project Director was on maternity leave and during that period Paul Sully was the Acting Project Director from 1st February to 26th March 2010. Paul was in Garissa office assisting in the implementation of the Youth Action Summit component and also provided advice and general oversight to project activities. He also updated the project’s Performance Monitoring Plan.
9.2 : Inter-agency collaboration with Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) – The project has benefited from the services of Rachel Galbraith and Daniel Delgadillo ‘Shamsuddin’ who are PCVs working with SIMAHO ( a local NGO) and North Eastern Technical Training Institute (NEPTTI) as their primary occupation but they also work with Garissa Youth Project for two days per week. Both Rachel and Dan have been assisting in the setting up of the project’s M&E system with the assistance of the project staff. During the second youth symposia on 15th – 16th March 2010, Jeff Burkholder who is also a PCV working in Coast Province also volunteered to assist in the project in the design and implementation of the youth symposium. The project wrote letters of appreciation to PCVs and their supervisors.
9.3 : G Youth Management Retreat (26th January 2010) - The management retreat objectives were: to identify the rationale for a new management team approach, to support the Deputy Director and three key managers to develop a shared vision, and an operational strategy to coordinate the increasing volume of activities in 2010. It was deemed important that there be a clear distribution of roles and accountability for the program tasks among the management team to ensure quality assurance in program delivery. The management team included Ibrahim Hussein (Deputy Director), Linet Alivitsa (Finance and Administration Manager) , Lucia Musyoka (Career Guidance Technical Specialist), Sirat Aden (Senior Program Officer) and Paul Sully (Acting Project Director).
9.4 : The general staff retreat (28th – 29th January 2010) - The staff retreat’s purpose was to create a shared vision and common operational strategies among staff for 2010. Specific objectives included:
• Create a shared vision of the expanding program and tasks for the next six months • Draft task team work plans for the next six months • Clarify individual roles • Develop planning skills • Discover leadership style strengths
Key Day 1 Activities • Futurescape Map • Medicine Wheel Work Styles – Visionary, Planner, Harmonizer, Warrior • Team Performance Model • G-Youth 2010 – Where are we going? (Vision, Org Chart) • Task Team Safari—where do I belong? • Individual Role Advertisements
Key Day 2 Activities • Experiential Team Activity – Figure Eights • Task Team Work Plan Sessions • Open Space • Planning “Big Rocks”
At the end of the 2 day staff retreat it was evident that there was a changed environment and high participation levels. The Medicine Wheel helped the staff to assess work style characteristics. The sharing of the new organizational chart and project vision elicited further dialogue among the staff. One of the key products of the staff retreat was the formation of task teams to develop six month work plans which were rolled into a project management plan and timeline.
9.5 : Engagement of Volunteer – Tiina Turk is an Estonian who is volunteering with the project from 9th March to the end of May 2010.
9.6 : Receptionist and Data Entry Clerks – Both positions were advertised and employment offered to youth from Garissa.
9.7 : Exchange of staff between Somali Youth Livelihood Project (SYLP) and G Youth – Mr. Mustafa Othman ICT Specialist from SYLP was on a TDY to Garissa Youth Project from 13th March 2010 to 22nd March 2010. He worked with G Youth ICT Specialist and Dan Delgadillo (Peace Corps Volunteer) to review the M&E framework and build a database using Access 2007 for both G Youth and Somali Youth Livelihood Project (SYLP). Mustafa also assisted in video taping of the second youth symposium.
9.8 : TDY for Nancy Meaker – G Youth Washington-based Project Coordinator was also on TDY during the quarter from 28th January to 19th February, 2010 – and she assisted in the launch of the Youth Action component and also assisted in curriculum review and the Operationalizing of the Labor Market Assessment findings.
9.9 : Project Advisory Committee (PAC) - G-Youth’s PAC provides community-based oversight and guidance to the implementation of the project. During its meeting on 29th March 2010 the PAC nominated 4 youth representatives as new members of the PAC.
9.10 : The Recruitment of a Youth Action Summit Coordinator and Youth Action Training Associate
- The project advertised for and recruited a Youth Action Summit Coordinator and Training Associate. The first Summit Coordinator Talaso Chucha was with the project for a period of only 10 days which covered the lead up and implementation of Symposium 1. She was subsequently offered a long term contract by another development NGO and left the summit position. The project management recruited the runner-up in the interviews – Constance Khaenda Walyaro to be the new Summit Coordinator. Her bio is appended below:-
In 2002, Connie helped establish Citron Wood Foundation, CWF is bringing positive and sustainable socioeconomic development where it is needed most’ by empowering communities, and freeing them from poverty, conflict, hunger and disease.
Connie has always been passionate about Trade Justice Advocacy, Bio-safety & GMOs, protecting the right to health in EU-EAC EPAs, effectively addressing HIV & Aids, fighting Poverty and contributing to the fulfilment of the MDGs. For over 8 years she has contributed immensely to various key development processes including: Gov Of Kenya-UNICEF Work Plan, NEPAD APRM, ECOSOC, WSIS, WTO MC6, UNGASS, GCAP, GMC Lessons for Life. Connie has also gained a wealth of knowledge through numerous local and global development initiatives, including: as part of the Secretariat of the first ever-historical sitting of the African Youth Parliament; as an Oxfam IYP[www.iyp.oxfam.org] Action Partner and Trade Justice Activtist; as National Campaign Coordinator for the WSIS RYNICS Youth Caucus Campaigns in Kenya, Youth Representative to the National WSIS Taskforce and Pavilion subcommittee [www.wsisyouth.org www.madeinkenya.org], and coordinator of the very successful inaugural Kenya Youth+ICT Convention 2005 and YICT2010; as the Eastern Africa Region Focal Point and Task Force Member for the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS [GYCA, www.youthaidscoalition.org], as a Member of the Scientific Committee and the Toronto Youth Force at XVI International Aids Conference; as a stakeholder at the UNGASS Youth Summit, UNGASS Review Meeting 2006 and Media Representative on CNN Live, UN Radio and UNFPA Teleconference; as a founding member of KeFoSPAN [Kenya Food Security Policy Advocacy Network] and KahFra [Kenya Alliance 4 Health & Food Rights Advocacy], and an affiliate of KICTANET [Kenya ICT Action Network]; as an International Young Professionals Foundation [www.iypf.org] Director and Chair of the Fundraising Working Group; as Events Director for Top30Under30 Africa www.top30under30.com; as a fellow of the ‘Volkswagen Foundation Our Common Future www.volkswagenstiftung.de; as a Director with Eastern Africa Collaboration on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights [ESCR], www.eacor.org; as Conference Coordinator for the 2nd ESCR Strategy Meeting & General Assembly, www.escr-net.org; as a member of Kenyan CS Coalition on ESCR that compiled the CSO Parallel Report [www2.ohchr.org/.../K-HURINET_Kenya_CESCR41_report.pdf] for the UN Committee on ECSR for the Nov 2008 Review process; as the Rapporteur for the Trade sub cluster of the ESCR cluster and member of team that compiled and submitted a report to UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights in Nov 2009 for Kenya’s Universal Periodic Review [http://www.upr-info.org]; as Founder & President of CWF; and as a young professional, devout in the service to humanity.
Connie has studied Pre Medicine [HKMU]; BSc International Relations & Political Science [London School of Economics & Political Science, Uni of London]; Post Grad Cert. in Human Rights, International Trade & WTO [Uni of New South Wales/Diplomacy Training Program]. She is currently undertaking an MBA program [Cambridge/DALC].
- Mr. Hassan Abdikadir was employed as a Training Associate. His bio is appended below:- Hassan has over 15 years experience as a youth volunteer, consultant and NGO staff working in a range of USG, Swedish Government and UN Habitat funded youth assessment, youth mobilization, leadership and democracy building activities and training events that has taken him abroad as well as engaged in national level Kenya activities. He has developed and delivered training and organized forums for youth capacity building and leadership, youth governance and advocacy, and the Kenya Constitution Review Commission. He co- launched the Kenya National Council of Youth for Habitat Projects. Hassan holds numerous certificates of participation in training events and conferences in Canada, Uganda, Zambia, South Africa and Morocco. He holds certificates in training for Conflict Resolution, Peace Building, Leadership and Governance, and Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health. He is expert in the use of computer technology and an experienced video editor.
- Due to the increasing work load, the project also recruitment Logistics Assistant who is assisting the Administration and HR Officer in the day to day management of project activities.
9.11 : USAID Rules and Regulation Training – Linet Alivista – Finance and Administration Manager attended USAID Rules and Regulation Training in Nairobi from 2nd – 5th February, 2010 which was held at the Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi.
9.12 : USAID Basic Education Assessment Team – A two person team comprising of Dr. John Swallow and Dr. Jacinta Ndambuki visited the project as part of team of consultants conducting an Education Sector Assessment. The objectives of the assessment were:- a) assessing the current status of Kenya's education sector, 2) evaluating the progress of USAID's programs thus far, and 3) helping to develop a strategy for programs over the next five years. The consultants visited the project on Tuesday 9th March 2010. They visited the youth in the work readiness program and met with NEPTTI and had a discussion with youth leaders who had participated in the leadership training.
9.13 : Training on Tactical Conflict Prevention and Analysis Framework (TPCAF) – The Deputy Project Director (Ibrahim Hussein) and the Senior Program Officer (Sirat Aden) attended a Tactical Conflict Prevention and Analysis Framework (TPCAF) which was held at USAID Kenya Headquarters from 22nd – 25th March 2010. The training was important in equipping the trainees on the design of stabilization projects.
10 : Project Monitoring and Evaluation
The project recently reviewed and made some modifications in its Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP). To account for the new Youth Action component, the following two new USG indicators are part of the plan: 1. Number of people who have completed USG assisted civic education programs; 2. Number of participants in USG-funded programs supporting participation and inclusion of traditionally marginalized ethnic minority and/or religious minority groups.
To continuously assess project performance, the project has created an M&E Task Team and developed an Access 2007 database to build a more dynamic data management system. The team will engage with project staff and the staff of its partners (the North East Province Technical Training Institute (NEPTTI) and Kenya National Library Garissa branch to collect indicator data. The team will also work with staff of the sub-awardee Center for International Voluntary Services (CIVS) to monitor their implementation of the work readiness program component.
The following objectives and project indicators present a simple outline of the M&E framework:
Higher level Objective: 1600 Garissan youth are constructively engaged in career development, livelihood, and civic participation activities. Higher Level Objective Indicator 1: Number of program youth in higher education institutions who are able to engage in career development, livelihood and civic participation activities.
Higher Level Objective Indicator 2: Number of program youth trained in career development, livelihood and civic participation activities that are able to engage in career development, livelihood and civic participation activities. Some of the aspects of the project that are monitored are: • Youth enrollment • Attitudes and behaviors • Knowledge • Leadership skills:
Objectives and Indicators Objective 1: Establish a Youth Resource Center that provides career development support and access to livelihood opportunities for Garissan youth.
Indicator 1 Number of youth who are reached with Career Resource Center services. Indicator 2 Number of youth support services offered at the Career Resource Center. Indicator 3 Number of secondary school children in life and career counseling.
Objective 2: Increase the number of Garissan youth who pursue a technical education at NEP TTI. Indicator 4 Number increase of Garissan youth enrolled in NEPTTI. Indicator 5 Number of positive institutional changes made at NEPTTI.
Objective 3: Increase the number of Garissan youth provided with livelihood and civic participation opportunities.
Indicator 6 Number of youth participating in the work readiness program. Indicator 7 Number of work readiness curriculum materials and manuals provided Indicator 8 Number of educators trained for work readiness and life and career counseling Indicator 9 Number of businesses contributing internship and other work learning opportunities.
Objective 4: Increase the number of Garissan youth provided leadership and civic action training and opportunities.
Indicator 10 Number of youth who complete community leadership training. Indicator 11 Number of people participating in Youth Summit activities
The list of government indicators that correspond to the above are:
Economic Growth - Number of persons participating in USG-funded workforce development programs Investing in People - Number of learners enrolled in USG supported secondary schools or equivalent non-school-based settings Economic Growth - Number of people transitioning to further education and training as a result of participation in USG-funded workforce development programs Investing in People - Number of USG-supported organizational improvements that strengthen the institutional capacity of host-country higher education institutions Economic Growth: Number of persons completing USG-funded workforce development programs Investing in People -Number of textbooks and other teaching and learning materials provided with USG assistance Investing in People -Number of teachers/educators trained with USG support Economic Growth -Number of workforce development initiatives created through USG assisted public-private partnerships. Governing Justly and Democratically - Number of people who have completed USG assisted civic education programs Governing Justly and Democratically -Number of participants in USG-funded programs supporting participation and inclusion of traditionally marginalized ethnic minority and/or religious minority groups.
11. Planned Project Activities for the Next Quarter
a. The Youth Summit is intended to be the culmination of a series of skills building events and dialogues. The objectives of the summit will be to:- 1. Showcase what youth can do 2. Build youth leadership skills 3. Provide a platform for you to respond to a variety of issues that affect their lives 4. Gateway to foster greater community cooperation through dialogue for education economic and civic opportunities for youth. 5. To result in a draft action plan for Garissa youth. b. The Garissa Youth Days will be from 4th – 6th May 2010. G-Youth is hosting a Youth Action Summit as part of the Garissa Youth Days. G-Youth sponsored activities will include:
1. Community Youth Leadership From February to May youth will be provided training and mentoring on how to shape their project idea into a plan and implement it. They will recruit other youth to work on their community project ideas. The youth will display their projects at the Summit’s Exhibition Hall.
2. Developing Youth Voices This will be a fun and informative time where youth will be provided guidelines on how to organize and lead dialogue sessions to talk about matters important to them. They will be encouraged to create action plans for Garissa youth. We expect 300 youth to participate.
3. National Youth Policy Forum In connection with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, we will host a youth leaders’ forum to discuss the National Youth Policy. An essay competition will be conducted in conjunction with this event.
4. Career Resource Center Official Opening G-Youth will dedicate the opening of the Career Resource Center for youth at the Garissa branch of the Kenya National Library. [under discussion to shift to a new date as report is bring written]
c. A comprehensive review of the Entrepreneurship training curriculum based on the experiences gained from cohort 1. d. Strategic planning meetings for EDC/G-Youth field team and Washington based project director and other senior officials. e. Operationalizing the activities of the Career Resource Centre. f. Implementing the Outreach to In School Youth program. g. Recruitment and training of Cohort 3 h. Developing a plan of action for the Technical, Administrative & Financial Capacity Strengthening support needed for CIVS i. Follow up on the youth action summit activities. j. Planning/preparing a plan of action for expanding the G-Youth project. k. The following TDYs will be undertaken by: Mr. Paul Sully (Summit Advisor), Jacqueline Glin (Project Director) and Nancy Meaker (International Project Coordinator).
Success Story: Musa’s Journey to Working with Barclays Bank When anyone mentions the G-Youth project to a person in the Garissa Branch of Barclays Bank, this person gets a smile as feedback. G-Youth is a well-known project in this bank because there are working two former students from the G-Youth Work Readiness Program – Musa Hassan Dek and Aden Ali Sadik. Although both of the guys are very busy nowadays working in the bank and trying to remain active community leaders, Musa agreed to find some time during his Easter holidays and share his story with us. Musa got his primary education from Jaribu Primary School in Garissa. The path to obtaining his secondary education has been very stony. Although the initial plan was to complete high school here in Garissa also, life had its own plans and he needed to change schools several times. Eventually, he completed Madogo Secondary School in Coast Province. The reason for changing schools had been difficulty in paying school fees. In his case the difficulty was not poverty, but just the fact that his parents didn’t prioritize education highly enough to separate money for the fees. He even had to drop out of school for 3 months. Musa believes that if he would have studied in the same school throughout all of high school, he would have had better grades. At the same time he admits that changing the school has also had some positive impact on him. He has found many friends in Mombasa and he believes that the challenge to cope with new people, situations, and environment during the four years of high school has made him stronger when it comes to facing challenges.
After completing high school Musa stayed in Mombasa for two years. He admits that during this time he was just idle and didn’t really know what to do with his life. Finally Musa joined Mombasa Polytechnic College studying Marketing Management. After graduating the college Musa returned to Garissa without believing there would be any opportunities to find his own way while using the skills and knowledge he had learned. The same evening after arriving to Garissa, he happened to hear from his friends about the G-Youth project. The name itself – Garissa Youth – attracted him so much that he needed to find out more about the project. He says that the word “Youth” indicated implicitly the opportunity to make youth voices audible. Thanks to Musa´s patience, and by luck, he managed to register himself the next day for the Work Readiness Program. He completed this program in December 2009 and appreciates all the people who have contributed in enabling youth to participate in this kind of training. But above all he is thankful for Madam Mercy who has assisted him in discovering himself and his skills which have helped to reach his goals. Musa says that the whole Work Readiness Program has been great guidance for him to realize the opportunities in Garissa and the potential of Garissa youth.
Simultaneously with the Work Readiness Program Musa started volunteering for the Child Rescue Centre. This was an extraordinary experience for him which opened his eyes. Namely, he saw a two week old baby who was left on the street without any care. Before, he was not aware of those things happening here in Garissa in front of everyone’s eyes without people noticing it. Now he felt grateful for the chances he had got from life and he wanted to give something back to the community. He went to Child Rescue Centre to volunteer three times every week for four weeks continuously. At the same time the Work Readiness youth were showed an encouraging movie about a well known environmental activist Wangari Mathai. Musa and few other youth (Sadam Rashid, Nasra Noor, Awale Hussein, Fatuma Muhamed and Abdullahi Adow) borrowed the idea from this movie and decided to create Garissa Environmental Movement. Although the biggest challenge in the beginning was to mobilize other youth and make them believe in the movement, the number of the members has grown to almost 200 by now.
Altogether, Musa believes that the biggest challenge for Garissa youth is to find a balance between faith in themselves and the respect towards elders in the community. He believes that since older people have more life experience it cuts the self confidence of youth to take the initiative and make changes in the community. Musa says that fear has the power to wipe out faith and the other way around. He is happy that G-Youth program has helped him to discover himself and to find the faith in himself. He has used all his skills and knowledge of how to present himself and how to write cover letters and CVs and finally he managed to get a job at Barclays Bank, Garissa Branch.
Musa encourages everyone who is suffering BUFIS (desire to get out of Garissa and go to US or Europe believing that there they can make their life) to open their eyes and find their own way in Garissa. He believes that opportunities in Garissa are the same as elsewhere and that no one will come and offer a job, everyone needs to work for it.