- Promoter: Strathmore Educational Trust
- Recipients: 50 young people between 18 and 25 years and 2 teachers
- Harambee Contribution: 19.671,72 euro
Description
The project will take place in the city of Nairobi in Kenya. The overall objective is to contribute to the improvement of living conditions in the country. The specific objective is the availability of a training course in electronics for disadvantaged young people working in the informal sector. The project results will be: – availability of a laboratory for the training in electronics for 25 people; – two scholarships for the specialization of two teachers; – 25 students a year receive technical training in electronics; – students also receive a management training to start their own businesses; – manuals for micro entrepreneurs in the electronics industry. The beneficiaries will be young people between 18 and 25 years with no ethnic or religious discrimination. The origin of the beneficiaries is mostly from the slums of Nairobi.
Justus, 22 years old. Thanks to your support, he will start a shop in electronics (and he will change his life)
Justus Okello Odhiambo is a twenty two year old young man from Embakasi in Nairobi. He is the first born in a family of six children. Justus qualified to join secondary school but he dropped out after only two years, as the family’s income from farming was very little. Among his siblings, Justus is the most educated so far. At the beginning of 2011, a close relative in Nairobi pitied the situation of Justus. He offered to accommodate and have Justus trained in a technical course at the Informal Sector Business Institute (ISBI). Although this assistance came in handy, it was not enough to cater for all of Justus’ needs. “I had to walk for not less than three hours and survive on two meals every day when I was attending my classes”, he recalls. After completing the basic courses in ICT, Life skills and entrepreneurship, Justus did a technical course in Electronics. He attended his classes with a lot of enthusiasm despite the hard life he was going through. “I believe that I can change my life for the better and I want to do that. That is what keeps me going”, he remarks.
This training opened a whole new world to Justus. A joy that he could not hide and which led him to convince one of his friends back at home to come and join ISBI too.
He finished his three month course at ISBI in June 2011 and is currently doing his internship at Georges Electronics shop in Eastlands. “At the moment I am not making money, but I am happy with the continued training that I am receiving as I assist at this shop”, states a confident Justus as he reaches out for a soldering gun at the workshop. In future, Justus plans to open his own electronics shop. With the skills that he has acquired and a bit of help from his relative, this sounds like a very possible venture. His role model in all this happens to be George Giathi, the owner of Georges Electronics and a former student of ISBI. “I plan to open my own repair shop and change my life, like George”, says Justus with a smile.
