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Queenter, STEPUP participant

Safe Spaces in Unexpected Places

Creating safe spaces for youth to create their own pathways to employment

“I am dreaming again!” says Dennis, 22 years old, after spending 14 years living with two million people in Mathare, a slum the size of Central Park. There are no roads, no sewers, and sanitation facilities are overstretched.

Dennis, STEPUP participant

Dennis, a STEPUP participant.

Dennis is one of 672 youth living in two the world’s biggest slums, Kibera and Mathare in Nairobi, Kenya, who has been placed into jobs and internships with 222 employers. These young people are supported through Skills Training Entrepreneurship Program for the Urban Poor (STEPUP), a partnership between the Mastercard Foundation and Shining Hope for Communities that provides young people with skills assessment and pathways to employment.

“There was no space for dreams here. I moved here when I was eight years old. I lost my mother to breast cancer two years later. Hardship and pressure in the slums took me to the street after my father was not able to pay my high school fees. I wandered around for food before a well-wisher enrolled me in Migori High School in western Kenya. After that, I gained a scholarship to enter a teacher training college. I graduated in March 2018.

Finding work is not easy in slums, I was afraid I was going back to wander around for casual labour, but I came across SHOFCO, which connected me to Mathare Outreach Community Centre Prima­ry School. I am now a subject teacher, teaching geography, history, and science for class five and six.

I remember when I was myself a pupil in Mathare. I can relate with my students. I know the pressure and hardship they live in. I am more than their teacher. I am their mentor. I talked to their parents about the importance of keeping their kids in school. I hope my class will become a safe space for them to learn, thrive, and dream!”

Beyond accessing a job and earning an income, young people aspire to secure work that they view as dignified and fulfilling. At the Mastercard Foundation, we define this as formal or informal work performed with an employer or for one’s self that generates an income and does not violate fundamental rights such as the right to free choice of work without coercion, exploitation, or abuse.

Helping youth secure dignified and fulfilling employment, in Dennis’s case, or providing links to further training prior to work placement, ensures that young people have safe spaces to create their own pathways to employment.

“Little can mean so much” says Queenter, a 23-year-old STEPUP participant. Queenter is one of 288 youth that have been placed into jobs by SHOFCO after receiving training from over 10 training institutions, including Foundation partners, CAP Youth Empowerment Institute and Samasource.

Queenter, STEPUP participant

Queenter, a STEPUP participant.

“I lost my mother at age eleven. I have to take care of my baby boy and my dad who is handicapped. SHOFCO trained me in employability skills and linked me with the African Center for Women in ICT for a six months training. After my graduation, SHOFCO linked me with G-Tech, a network construc­tion company that builds internet infrastructure in Nairobi. I joined evening first aid classes.

I am now a Tech­nical Assistant for G-Tech, also serving as a first aid assistant on site. I will earn my first salary this month. I am excited for Leeroy (her child). He is almost four, and I am happy that I can afford to put him in school.

Little can mean so much. While in training, the little stipend that SHOF­CO gave me made me feel safe as it was enough for my transportation and daycare for Leeroy, giving me peace and space to focus on the training. It transformed my life!”

STEPUP also supports thousands of young entrepreneurs living in Kibera and Mathare so that they can move themselves and their families out of poverty.

“I used to earn 200 Ksh per day, but now I am making almost 800 Ksh per day. I would have never imagined this can be a safe place to build a better future for my kids, but now I have hope!” says Ana Tieno, a 29-year-old STEPUP participant.

Through SHOFCO’s group savings and loans, Ana went from selling mandazi, a fried bread, to opening a shop that sells bread and milk. Mentorship, business development training, and lessons on record keeping have helped Ana expand her business and open a second small shop that sells sandals. With SHOFCO’s support, more than 8,500 youth have been able to meet, learn, save, and get loans in spaces that are considered safe.

As we mark International Youth Day under the theme “safe spaces for youth,” we are celebrating the success of thousands of youth like Dennis, Queenter, and Ana, and the partnerships that provide safe spaces for young people to learn skills, access finance, and earn incomes.

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