- They are trained for two and a half months before being issued with certificates as they decide their next course of action after they receive their KCSE results.
- The programme has empowered the youth with communication skills and trained them on digital jobs.
Image: Alice Waithera
More than 3,000 youths from Maragua subcounty in Murang’a county have benefited from free training on entrepreneurship, leadership and computer packages.
The youths are enrolled into the programme that was started in 2015 by a well-wisher immediately after sitting for the KCSE examinations in order to keep them busy.
They are trained for two and a half months before being issued with certificates as they decide their next course of action after they receive their KCSE results.
James Maina enrolled in the programme in 2018 when the area was badly affected by drug abuse and alcoholism.
Maina told the Star that the programme to keep away from other youths who could corrupted his morals.
After successfully going through the training, Maina was able to start a small cyber café that has since become his primary source of income.
“I did not perform as well as I expected in my KCSE, but am grateful that enrolling in that programme gave me a new lease of life,” Maina said.
Mbuthia Karanja, another beneficiary, said he would have started working in local quarries in Kimorori Wempa area had he not enrolled immediately after completing his secondary education.
“I would either be in the quarries or idling at home and chances are high that I would be an alcoholic,” he said.
Mbuthia, who is among the youths who completed the course this month, said, besides equipping them with skills, the programme offers them a chance to integrate constructively.
He said that the programme has empowered them with communication skills and trained them on digital jobs that they can acquire before they enrol in tertiary learning institutions.
Pauline Nyambura said she did not know what to do with her son after he completed his secondary education as many youths in the area were consuming drugs.
“When I found out about this programme, I knew that is what I wanted him to do to keep away from the bad company,” Nyambura said.
“Now that he has graduated, he has a chance of getting employed young and setting his life in the right direction."
Anthony Chege said he started the programme after realising that the subcounty was choking under drug abuse that was destroying the lives of residents and pushing the rate of crime up.
He said he discovered that most of the youths who engage in the vice are introduced into it after sitting for their KCSE exams.
When he started the centre, he was pessimistic that youths would not be interested in the free training.
He installed the training machines and made public announcements inviting youths to enrol.
However, Chege was pleasantly surprised that both parents and youths wholeheartedly embraced it.
It cost him about Sh50,000 to facilitate one course of training as he has to employ several trainers.
“We enrol them before their KCSE results are out to help them transition into colleges and acquire jobs,” he said.
Chege further said that the Covid-19 pandemic forced the programme to halt last year and resume this year.
He underscored the need for parents to ensure they guide and mentor their children during the teenage phase failure to which it can set them in the wrong direction.
Two weeks ago, residents of Kenol town were shocked to find four students from Gititu Secondary School drunk and asleep in the streets. The students were taken to Kenol police station.
The deputy subcounty police commander Mose Saya told the Star that residents informed the police who, in turn, called in doctors.
“We established that they had consumed alcohol that had been provided by one of them and contacted their parents,” he said.
(edited by Amol Awuor)