Lobby changing lives one youth a time in Kwale, Mombasa

Life will never be the same again for a section of Kwale and Mombasa youth.

The youth have been empowered and transformed into better and more responsible people.

They are no longer vulnerable. Their resilience towards teen pregnancies, criminal gangs, drugs and substance abuse has been enhanced.

Their minds have been sharpened and their judgment improved.

They are now ready to face the future with a bright pathway and attract development and breathe peace.

Hamisi Kapera, Mehaji Bintiramadahan and Emanuel Oteng are among the more than 350 youth who were empowered.

The youth come from around 13 maskanis (street corners) from Mtongwe in Mombasa to Vanga in Kwale county.

The maskanis are famously known to be the hub of insecurities since youth are easily recruited into criminal activities.

Through a programme dubbed 'Shared Future,' youth receive civic education and mental health and trauma healing services and are provided with grants and business equipment to change lives.

The programme aims at transforming the lives of the youth from ‘maskanis’ and enhancing resilience. 

It is implemented by a Kwale-based NGO, Samba Sports Youth Agenda and funded by Kerk in Actie in partnership with Cordaid.

Recently, the youth received equipment to start businesses and grow socioeconomically.

Kapera and his colleagues received eggs and potatoes, among other equipment. They are going to start a chips business at Makongeni in Kinondo, Msambweni subcounty.

According to Kapera, life is going to take another turn as they need support and startup capital to refine their future.

"I was among the indisciplined youth and through this project, a lot has changed. Business is now our life," he said.

He said in some years to come, they are certain they would have progressed and expanded their business, adding that they have been taken through life skills, business management and entrepreneurship training to capacity building.

Kapera said the streets are hard and they are determined to put a lot of effort into their business to be successful and become responsible citizens in the society.

The young man said before the programme, they had no hope and faced the harsh reality of unemployment.

He said they are now going to focus on improving lives and keeping off from maskanis, which are associated with numerous social vices.

"The time for maskanis is over. We have gotten a rare opportunity to rewrite our story and we will use it," he said.

In Matuga,  Bintiramadhani and the other 16 members from the Tiwi Maskani Youth Group are also going to delve into the chips business.

She said they chose the business to keep themselves busy and shun maskanis.

Bintiramadhan said unemployment and idleness have forced many youth into drugs and criminal activities.

She said the only way to reverse the trend is for them to move out of their comfort zones and commit to changing lives forever through various income-generating activities.

"We appreciate and welcome the program wholeheartedly because it is the only way we can get off the streets," she said.

Tiwi is among the areas affected by insecurity in Kwale, with youth of young age linked to various criminal activities.

Bintiramadhan said such a project would help rescue many youth and tame insecurity cases. She said they would be operating in pairs for six days and rest on the seventh to reflect on the weekly performance of their business.

The young mother said they are going to save the profits and borrow small loans to grow businesswise.

Fatuma Hamisi Dawa from Vuga within Matuga received a boost of beehive equipment and seedlings for tomato farming.

Her group is known as the young generation maskani. They first received grants and now additional equipment.

She said in a few months their lives would have changed.

Dawa said at the moment the project is doing great with some honey and tomatoes expected to be ready in three months.

The 29-year-old said the programme has had a great impact on her since it transformed and restored her lost glory.

Dawa said she dropped out of school at Class 8 and thought life would be blurry but the programme brought back hope and confidence, adding that with the frequent engagements and training, she has become an empowered and business-oriented young woman.

She said through the profits she managed to secure another employment in a saloon and growth is taking shape, noting that her business network has also expanded and gets to connect with various entrepreneurs who inspire her.

Athman Hamisi from Kiteje in Ng'ombeni within the Matuga subcounty received more than 100 chairs.

They are conducting event organising where they will rent chairs at a certain fee.

He said the programme will greatly help youth quit crime and drugs and lead a peaceful and prosperous life.

Hamis said idleness had gotten the better of them but since the programme came, most of the youth are busy looking for ways to beat poverty and decently amass wealth.

Oteng from Bwagamoyo self-help group in Mtongwe, Mombasa county, is happy to get support to start their wholesale egg business. He said many youth in his group have developed a sense of responsibility and decided to live positive lives.

He said the programme has provided them with trauma healing, counselling and business ideas.

"Many of us have realised our purpose. We were lost and felt like living a dream," Oteng said, adding that they had no one to support them and that's the reason youth were engaging in crime and lacked discipline.

He said before enrolling into the Shared Future programme, he was very undisciplined.

"The scars on my face give a clear picture that I was a bad boy," he said.

Oteng said he has now transformed and is looking forward to a better future.

Samba Sports Youth Agenda CEO Mohammed Mwachausa said Shared Future is a two-and-a-half-year programme and targets youth aged 17-25 years since they are the most vulnerable.

He said they intend to curb cases of insecurity by empowering youth and helping them deal with mental health.

The officer said first introduce them to a four-month mental health wellness then intercultural programmes for religious and cultural tolerance.

Mwachausa said they support the young people through businesses and equip them with skills for better management.

"We bring various experts on board who provide training and proper procedure of starting and managing businesses of their choice," he said.