No experience, no job; no job, no experience

Many youth experts and institutions have realized the severity of a deep cutting constraint that is facing today’s youth. In recent times especially, this issue has become more and more emphasized as unemployment continues to be deemed a national disaster.

As we know the job market today, it is a prerequisite of sorts that one must have some experience if one is to stand a chance at a job vacancy; the irony , right? In its most absurd demand, the experience is often a minimum of two years. So what happens to the fresh, well-skilled and learned scores of graduates released into the corporate world each year? They end up adding on to the already unmanageable and rapidly growing unemployed section of the demography.

However, it is clear that the Jubilee government has a genuine interest in mainstreaming the youth agenda thus presenting an obvious disconnect; a thorough disconnect between the government and the job providers both in the private and public sectors.

It is not enough to preach empowerment with no action and that said, it is evident that someone somewhere has failed.

While that stands though, finger-pointing has never worked to this great country’s advantage. So solutions need to be suggested, evaluated, decided upon and implemented.
Many youth organizations (such as the Youth Agenda, the UNV and many more) are on an impactful volunteerism hype, especially following this year’s International Youth Week during which volunteerism was largely preached and defended to be the best possible way to acquire the experience that all employers seek in prospective employees.

With devolution, it seems most favorable that volunteerism programs have a lot of potential to reach far and wide. As such, we would like to call the county and national governments to join forces in initiating and implementing volunteerism programs at county level and to come up with a legal framework to rid the programs of malicious exploitation which strains volunteerism in the world over.

If, really, we look to better the youth’s means of livelihood, since they already know that we have their best interests at heart, then let everyone under whose jurisdiction youth matters fall, work towards promoting volunteerism among the youth as a means of gaining experience prior to employment.

Matters Uwezo

Being in a position where every piece of information regarding the Uwezo Fund is at my every beck and call, I am guiltier than most of you are regarding the staggering and somewhat dismal uptake of the same. The fund has been set up for you. Correction; YOUth. Yet somehow, we still have all manner of excuses to justify our complete lack of enthusiasm in as far as tapping into the fund goes. We want to cry day and night, that this country has no jobs for us; that it is virtually impossible to earn a decent living; to make good money that goes far, far beyond basics and upkeep and that accessing the Uwezo fund is an extremely difficult process.

So, I went about my research to get tiny bits of relevant information to compile into a juicy document that will not bore you with regards to language and format. I compiled it and figured that the following really is all you need to know about the criteria that deem one legible or illegible to access the fund.

The Uwezo fund has only four conditions that we have to adhere to in order for us to be able to access it; top of the list is that we have to form groups (and for crying out loud, how hard can that be?), thereafter we are expected to register the groups using relevant government institutions (this is only so basic and so out rightly a necessary requirement whenever doing anything official so let’s not whine about that one), the groups need to be composed of members aged between 18 to 35 (because that is the age bracket that has you deemed as a YOUth in Kenya) and operate a table-banking structure or any other group fund structure where members make monthly contributions. That wasn’t so hard now was it? I’d like to think that this entry gives you hope and motivates you to apply for the fund. The youth are an obvious priority to the Jubilee government. And I’m not just saying that; remember their manifesto and the actualization of the fund? Or how about the 30% public procurement for the youth, women and persons with disability? So the facts are in their favor, we should strengthen ourselves by taking advantage of the opportunities presented to us.
I feel like they have done their part by availing the funds the final bit is for us to apply and grow ourselves. Besides, you can put food in a baby’s mouth, its decision to chew and swallow is solely dependent on it, right? Have a fruitful week fam!
See you on the UWEZO side!

Image sourced from Google images

On Mental Health

Sourced from Google Images

On mental illness, there is much that we do not know. There are the more severe kinds that require you to be in hospital taking jabs of all sorts of medicine and then there are the daily occurrences that hardly have us thinking twice that we could be suffering from mental disorders and/or illnesses. That tiny tantrum you threw this morning for absolutely no reason or that massive mood swing you had because your sugar dish ran out…or how about that bout of cursing you did because you sent the baby of all typos on that text to your boss…or how you just loooooove ‘comfort food’; that could be a sign of a mental disorder, a startup symptom so to speak; the irony that is life, right?

There’s more than the average range of mental disorders that are mostly known to us. These include the likes of anxiety disorders, mood disorders, psychotic disorders, eating disorders, impulse control and addiction disorders, personality disorders, OCD, PTSD, adjustment disorders, dissociative disorders, factitious disorders, sexual and gender disorders, somatic symptom disorders, tic disorders, dementia or what is now commonly known as Alzheimer’s Disease just to name a few, most of which you thought were normal occurrences that one could attribute to weather changes , changes in diet, sleep patterns, bodily functions etc, right? WRONG!

So journey with us for the rest of the week as we give you insight on exactly what all the above mentioned could be. And learn why you mustn’t take any for granted because, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but even Alzheimer’s starts with very mild or negligible symptoms that we deem normal.

It is also very important that we familiarize ourselves with these disorders not only for ourselves but even for those around us and the people we love. I have read heartbreaking stories of people who have had to take care of their loved ones that have unfortunately fallen victim of mental illness that could have well been avoided.

Not only for purposes of prevention but also so as to understand victims of those really-hard-to-manage diseases in a bid to build tolerance and courage to face.

I’m no doctor, but I know how to gather information, how to manage it and share it. Trust me, you’re better off knowing than not. Besides, information IS power, right?

Welcome aboard!

My two cents on Masaku 7s

Following the recent buzz on social media regarding what has since been described as the biggest even of the year, I would like to give my view. I like to talk after the flame is calm because research is very important. So yes, it is confirmed that whatever happened. There’s photo s doing rounds all over the net. Everyone is busy sucking their teeth talking about “The youth today…”
I will not post today to condemn anyone or what-not. I think waking up on Monday with a hangover from here to hell and a revelation of your photos doing rounds on the internet in which you are in compromising situations that you can’t remember is more than enough punishment for anyone. Yikes: trouble in triple deck; that must really juice out life for you.
Anyway, by the age of fifteen you more or less have a rough idea of what’s wrong and what’s right. Even with catch phrases like YOLO, you still know. You cannot unlearn the principles that society has founded as part of your growing up. As such, no victim of the ‘paparazzi’ can say they didn't know. No, I'm not being Momma Bear, I know people who were victims of this and I told them the same thing.
So as the youth, we are apparently known to corrupt just about anything we get our hands on - and maybe it’s true. When it comes to practicing democracy which was oh so graciously given to us by our forefathers, we are the first to turn to violence whenever we are unhappy; when we lose a soccer game, we have stones in our pockets (never mind that we were searched before entering the venue…how??? We should really tap into this creativity and channel it to more important things, aye? ); when we are accorded the rights to protest peacefully, we want to loot innocent raia, stone people and basically just ruin everyone’s day; when we have rugby tournaments that are aimed at celebrating the game, treating true fans to day of action and bring Kenyans together, we want the entire world to know how much liquor we can buy (I won’t get into how much we can consume because if we could really handle our alcohol then we would be talking about saba saba… not saba saba, NACADA, Mututho, Masaku Sevens, Nairobi Wire, and all the bad behaviour witnessed this past few weeks).
So I sat down and thought long and hard about this issue. Obviously, this isn't the first time we've heard all this but to this extent? That is news to me too. How do we help to preserve our events and rid them of crude aftermath photos? Simple. If you have no business relating to the event, steer clear of the area. Those who really love rugby were busy at the benches watching the games. The busy bodies and thousand idlers that turned up for the event to turn up are sadly the ones whose raunchy photos are doing rounds everywhere.
We love our events; we love that our leisure time can place us on the maps as among the most fun countries to be in. Heck, our president is the second most followed president in Africa on Twitter. We are proud of our events that pull thousands, so be so kind as to not ruin it for those who the events are aimed at. When your event comes up you too will appreciate it when idlers don’t turn up to ruin it.

T-minus 5 Days

Since the saba saba rallies were announced by opposition everyone has had something to say about it. Some even forgetting that we have a myriad of problems that we need to discuss right this second. I am not trying to downplay the rallies; in fact it is faaaar much a bigger deal than what we thought.  Being only five days away, the countdown has come with it many unexpected reactions. Now, obviously, we are not all in one camp regarding the rallies but keep calm m’dear. I don’t like to discuss politics in opinion and loyalty… people always get too touchy. Just to prove it; go through your Facebook homepage and tell me if you won’t find people hurling insults at each other for differing on a politics-related topic.

What I never saw coming, though, was the circulation of hate speech –filled leaflets in Naivasha and the Tana River Delta and, even more to my shock, the fleeing that is happening in Naivasha and who-knows where else. I was quite so stoked and suffered a mini heart attack when I especially saw the photos. No, it’s not one or two people fleeing, we’re talking families here. One local newspaper reported that women and their children were fleeing and leaving their men to monitor the situation. Already families have to separate because we have allowed tribal differences to be the benchmark of everything including the entire process of running the affairs of this country. So for me, obviously, it is this ginormous sense of insecurity and spirit of fear that is my biggest concern during this countdown to the rallies.

It is not proper for anyone to live in fear in their own country owing to our ‘incapability’ in as far as appreciating and accommodating diversity on ethnic grounds is concerned.

Countries thrive at the diversity of their people. They find unity in that very diversity. We somehow look at each other as threats rather than brother and sister. The sad thing is that this ethnic based conflict became apparent to Kenyans after post election violence occurred and nearly brought this lovely country to her knees.

It seems to me that this fear is a classic example of ‘once beaten twice shy’. We are in fear of executing the political processes that concern us because we have allowed ourselves to attribute everything to ethnicity and that it is seemingly marking the downfall of Kenya and its people.

We have not healed from all the mental and emotional wounds we suffered back in 2007/08. Our physical injuries suffered from the violence have since turned into deformities, amputations and scars. Kenya and her people need to find healing and it is our responsibility to ensure that it is achieved.

Whether the rallies go down or national dialogue is agreed upon, resist, refrain and desist from raising your arm against a fellow Kenyan, hate speech, spreading propaganda, defamation, slander or destroying property. Keep your heart pure and maintain clarity of mind. Rid yourself of any negativity and advocate unity.

#WeAreOne for #WeHaveAlwaysBeenOne

Daima Mkenya :)