paper says Kenya’s population is full of
young men and women it has they call it
a youth bulge this is could work both
ways for Kenya both a say an opportunity
and also a challenge long-term
population changes and long lasting
economic stagnation resulted in large
informal sector and strong pressure on
the labor market large youth and
employment challenge in Kenya where the
youth cannot find a job in the formal
sector and it’s making them so hard even
to find a suitable job in the informal
sector in this same study UNDP said that
the Kenyan government has instituted a
lot of programs to confront this
challenge and one of it is putting the
technical industrial vocational
education and training in its education
system as a matter of fact in 2013
parliament has passed Tivat Act of 2013
to regulate an institutionalized
vocational education in Kenya however
both in the rural and urban areas in
Kenya negative perception towards
vocational education still exists
because as soon as you can see in Kenya
education is a they put a very class a a
premium in education which is good but
those who cannot pass the case here see
this the National exam rate
have are relegated to youth polytechnics
where boys are learning carpentry
masonry and any roles that boys are
relegated to for two years and girls on
the same predicament or studying dress
making hairdressing cooking and other
roles again dictated to them by the
society again for two years I don’t say
that
this is discourses are bad I’m just
saying not at all I’m saying is these
courses are relegated to the sidelines
when in fact the whole world are putting
premium on vocational education and
vocational skills development there was
a study I made in 2013 in catuey
which is a semi-arid area covering
Catubig RESA moranga and Nakuru where I
found that two-thirds of them two-thirds
of youth Polytechnic students don’t even
want to use their skills that they are
quite for two years while they are there
when I asked what did they want to do
they said well we want to move to the
cities they want to move to Nairobi
zoom over Mombasa and to do what a
carpentry student who has been was about
to graduate say to drive my tattoo I
think it’s more lucrative to do Matata
than being a carpenter girls I ask what
do you want to do with your skill and
addressing I said you just want to move
to Nairobi to find a job and her
dressing if not then a storekeeper or
house helper so they end up most of them
here in Nairobi they migrate the urban
areas to find something for themselves
something for their families back home
and here in Nairobi I walked with them
from the ghettos from Madurai guru
bangle and Dora even in Kibera I walked
with them in early mornings most of them
walk to the factories of manufacturing
companies
in milonga
given in kitten gala they work there
hoping to land a job to get them by for
that day but most of them will walk back
home with nothing except hope that again
tomorrow they’ll find something I came
here in 2012 as a volunteer a technical
vocational advisor actually it’s a cool
name cool job description for a plumber
I was I was they recruited as a plumber
that’s a plumber in where he to me of
all places
hakuna Maji there’s no water in catuey
or even in Karissa so yeah I ended up
advising youthfully techniques in
cattivo in Matheny alley in rural areas
in catuey and in Karissa here in Nairobi
to make a difference to change lives
it’s the motor of my organization I came
with a preconceived ideas of how to
change how to make a difference but what
I saw and encountered in Kenya instant
changed me
as a matter of fact really changed me
the first art that I arrived in Kenya as
belted in hotel someone came into the
hotel into my room while I was in the
shower took all my money away they left
me with my coins my Philippine coins I
reported to my organization and a Monday
after two days of not eating and all
they say is the same how do you say when
someone visits you in Kenya how do you
say it
kuriboh Kenya exactly
they said caribou Kenya said what
caribou Kenya said it’s as if it’s just
normal mark in Kenya I worked in the
Ministry of Youth and Sports then before
the the Revolution and I was surprised
on how things are so slow they even come
to a halt at how he took a dog oh I call
it KK he’s an everyday thing on the road
I Drive a motorbike in Quito and every
day I have to do something about passing
by the road and I thought it was normal
but it was in that my country not in
anywhere but here in Kenya I said it’s
normal but even how my organization lack
compassion even that even when typhoon
devastated my island at my school and
the Philippines they destroyed
everything for 10 of my neighbours died
instantly in the typhoon 2014 they
didn’t even give me a ticket ticket to
go back home so I stuck in Kenya um I
was so bitter it was too bitter about
the frustration frustrated as well of
the negative experiences that are having
Kenya I’ve been our house was broken
into twice twice broken into and the
last time they went with everything they
and I’ve been to jail thrice here in
Kenya
one for being a Muslim just they told me
you look suspicious you come with us so
I went to jail okay but still even
living and working in the ghetto has
changed me actually my perception
especially when I talk to an elder in a
nearly I was so frustrated I said ah the
scan is giving me a hard time he said
well don’t tell me about what Kenya is
we know about it we know about what we
are Kenyans tell me what you can do to
change things it was a challenge it was
a challenge for me and I said yeah what
can I do
once I went to into to Madurai where my
school is we saw this fire a firetrap
came three firemen board and the
families just went into the hosts
do the hosts this family doesn’t have
enough poke a hole at it and business so
what I saw from this is anywhere you go
as they said the singer said the ghetto
is not only about the bad things there’s
hope amid desperation in the ghetto
let’s hope and every time I go to my
school every time I look at the the the
you that I train I see hope in their
faces I see hope and everything they do
to tell me that I can do something about
this I was reminded by a movie do you do
you recognize this movie I think it’s
Evan Almighty a conversation between God
and Evan who’s a reluctant
profit yes I said let me let me tell you
what when you ask God for for patience
this does God give you patience right
away or does it give you the opportunity
to be patient when you got ask God for
for courage does God give you courage or
less God give you the opportunity to be
courageous when you as ask God that a
family will love each other that’s
that’s God just zapped you with past
feelings and saying hey we love each
other or does God give you the
opportunity to love and care for each
other what was missing in all this when
I came to the Guiteau
when I talked to two people in the
Guiteau what was missing was the
opportunity the opportunity that I have
actually what do I have I have the skill
to teach I’ve been teaching vocational
courses in the Philippines I’ve been
teaching in the in the slums as well in
the Philippines but I have the I can
teach still I still have my voice I
still have my my ability to teach and
that I also have the ability to give and
in the dito everyone has the ability to
learn and everyone has the ability to
give I instituted a program in the Quito
for that I call it a pay forward system
a system of teaching vocational
education to anyone who is willing to
learn and it’s willing to give just –
it’s a pro bono thing no payment asked
nothing I just ask you two things can
you learn because when when people go to
polytechnics or trainings all the asks
was do you give certificates me I don’t
give certificate
I give skills and if you’re willing to
learn that skill I’ll give it to you but
no I’ve never certificates probably I’m
not the owner besides I
go to jail if I give certificates is it
correct
yes I go to jail if I get certificates
so I give skills and I call it pay it
forward means expression for describing
the beneficiary of a good deed repaying
to others instead of the original
benefactor
I have people have given me
opportunities as well they’ve given me a
scholarship they’ve given me everything
that I I am now I’ve been to jail as
well and the Philippines I’m a political
prisoner so people have also given me
freedom so I pay it forward here my
program is a learn and earn program no
one would go to a youth no one would
ever go to a program size you can learn
something out of this and nothing for
their family special in the ghetto
everyone is doing what do you call it in
shame hustling yeah everyone is hustling
in the ghetto
for them to eat for that day so in my
program they learn 20% of their time in
classroom and earning 80% of their time
with me in the field part of that
earning goes back to the program to pay
others when they come for the next
session isn’t it cool you earn to learn
they learn five set skills in my program
because I I talk to industry what do
they need they need carpenters very good
carpenters they need Masons they need
plumbers they need electricians they
need people who can install renewable
energies and I can teach anyone
carpentry to women and surprisingly
and this concept can be learned or can
be done with anything you can use it
I’ve been running the program for over a
year now
and people have been asking me will this
work in Kenya so of course I have two
batches finished two batches on my own
hopping from classroom to classroom for
from people who are kind hearted in the
slums and people who believe that the
youth can change given the opportunity
and with the support of my partner who
who feeds me who clothed me and she’s
also she came here us as volunteer and
yes I said yes they do but then they
asked again will this work really when
Kenyans are perceived to be
individualistic and tribalistic I said
it doesn’t matter too much chasing after
and after have trained 40 well trained
men and women I think it works and I
tell them it works only because you have
invested on it people have been paying
forward and these students have been
paying forward and just last week we
were able to register our own school
it’s called Technical Community Training
Institute the first ever paid forward
technical vocational education training
we will be training Kenyans for pro bono
for free you come to our school you
train we gave you job because our school
it hasn’t only trained you we source our
jobs most schools here in Kenya they
train you but they then after that you
just look for your fend for yourself but
that it doesn’t close the loop you have
to close the loop in order for them to
pay forward if they don’t earn they may
cannot pay for the next but so in our
school we say we give you learning we
also give you the way to earn and I’ve
convinced my own countrymen
who are my students and the Philippines
who have been working abroad to come to
Kenya to volunteer their time and skills
for one or a or your or a or one year or
two and they said yes we will pay it
forward and my 40 students has also
formed their own company it’s called
handymen International it’s owned by
them run by them in the slums of Madurai
and Kibera and he said we will help your
school together we will make a
difference in Kenya as long as everyone
pays it forward
I am a challenge to all of you here to
anyone listening let’s support Kenyan
youth by paying it forward thank you [Applause]