Kitui Darling Kenya Training Center
If there is one thing that nobody can take away from another person, it is the ability to do something with their hands and knowledge. If one is conversant with a particular line of work or training therefore, that is likely to stay with them for their rest of their lives and it is also quite possible to make a living from it. That is why TVET is such an important part of the plans that we as a country have for our youth today because those who take vocational training seriously and make use of it will always have something to put food on their tables.
Godrej Wezesha Youth program is in the process of training over 20,000 youth in hairdressing and beauty therapy in different parts of the country. In Kitui county for example, the company already has a training center and is expected to open two more by the end of 2019. One center is within Kitui town and the other two are set to be set up in Mutomo vocational training center and Mwingi vocational training center.
Kitui is not the only county to benefit from these trainings from Godrej which are running in partnership with the Council of Governors which will enable the company to access the counties better. The Wezesha Youth Program is being rolled out nationwide to cover 22 mostly marginalized counties as part of the National Government’s efforts to increase vocational training centers. The aim of the Wezesha initiative is to grow sustainable local and medium sized enterprises and ultimately support the reduction of unemployment among the youth. The program will then go ahead to create training labs in different counties to make training even better.
“Through the hairdressing and beauty therapy training, we are empowering youth to identify and seize emerging opportunities that can help Kenya sustain its productivity. They will also be provided with financial literacy, communication and business skills to enable them be entrepreneurs,’ said the Corporate Responsibility Manager for Godrej Kenya Mr. Charles Mugendi.
In the last two years, Godrej Kenya ran a pilot program where 1,000 youths in vocational training centers in Nairobi, Kitui, Trans Nzoia, Migori, Machakos, Kisii and Uasin Gishu counties were trained. Following learnings made in this pilot phase, the Wezesha Youth Program was redesigned for sustainability and scale. So eleven ultra-modern training labs have been established in the targeted counties.