- Ujuzi Fursa will provide the learners with tablets to facilitate the training.
- The training will be mostly done through animations, 3D dummies, and videos.
Image: LABAN WALLOGA
Swahilipot Hub in Mombasa has partnered with Ujuzi Fursa Africa to train coastal youth in nursing and home care skills.
The training will bank on technology to deliver the lessons. In addition, there will be two-hour practical classes at a laboratory run by Ujuzi Fursa in Mombasa Central Business District.
Ujuzi Fursa will provide the learners with tablets to facilitate the training. The training will be mostly done through animations, 3D dummies and videos.
Ujuzi Fursa Africa's chief executive officer Jinit Shah said there is a high demand for trained home caregivers in Mombasa and they look forward to bridging the gap through local youth.
"Most of the people here in Mombasa who work as home caregivers are not Mombasa natives. They come from other parts of the country," he said.
"It is hugely due to a lack of training institutions for such services. That's why we have brought this opportunity for the locals."
Ujuzi Fursa Africa, a social enterprise, has been working and offering home care services and training in Nairobi, until six months ago when it expanded into Mombasa.
In the last five years, the enterprise has trained more than 1,000 youth in Nairobi and 40 in Mombasa in the last half-year.
Shah said the Covid-19 pandemic exposed a huge gap in home caregivers, not just in Mombasa but across the country.
At the height of the pandemic, hospital beds were fully occupied and some patients were advised to recuperate from home.
Then, the demand for professional home caregivers was so high that some nurses, according to media reports, had to juggle working in hospitals and in patients' homes.
Mahmoud Noor, the executive director and founder of Swahilipot Hub, said Covid-19 exposed the soft underbelly of Mombasa county in healthcare provision, a thing he said disturbed him.
"I remember working with some youths at the Ferry, and even when the police became brutal and harmed some people," he said.
"Those youths were so willing to help the injured people, but they couldn't do much because they had no know-how."
Swahilipot Hub, through the Global Opportunity Youth Network, will sponsor 35 youths to enrol in the four-month programme. The programme costs Sh55,000 per individual, and conventionally, one is supposed to pay for themselves.
Amina Mahmud, a volunteer at Swahilipot, and a health associate of the Global Opportunity Youth Network, heads the Swahilipot caregivers' programme.
Swahilipot Hub identified the 35 youth through its database and referrals from various community-based organisations in Mombasa county.
"Here at Swahilipot, we connect youths to opportunities for learning and jobs. So when one comes in, they give their details, including their areas of interest," Amina said.
"We went to the database and contacted those who have an interest in the healthcare field and did some interviews."
The minimum qualifications for the candidates for the programme are D (plus) in KCSE exam and English language proficiency.
However, community health workers who have worked for some time are also eligible, even if they dropped out of school in Standard 8.
Shah said the 40 youths who have been trained in Mombasa have shown extraordinary skills and "a difference in caregiving."
"The coastal people we have realised are doing so well. They offer companionship, empathy and kindness to their patients. These are important aspects which one can't be trained to do," Shah said.
After the training, the graduates will be taken for internships in hospitals and homes for healthcare services. They will also be linked to employment in Kenya and abroad.
Upon completion of the programme, one is awarded three certificates from Kenya, the US and Singapore.
"In Kenya, the starting salary is Sh24,000, but with the certificates, one can work anywhere including the UK, Canada and even US, and out there the salary is big," Shah said.
Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir witnessed the signing of the MoU between Swahilipot Hub and Ujuzi Fursa Africa.
"This is a great opportunity for our youth and we intend to use this first cohort as a case study so that we can see how effective it can be and scale it up," the MP said.
The programme is open to those who did not get the Swahilipot Hub sponsorship, and they will be paying the programme fee in weekly instalments.
Those in college can enrol in the programme to diversify their skills and serve the community.
Edited by A.N