I can proudly say that my life began when I joined Ujuzi Manyattani vocational training program. Being a third born out of eight children, I knew for sure that my education stopped at form four as my parents were poor and could not afford my college fees. My elder siblings had also not studied further than that.
My father is a casual laborer, while my mother sells charcoal at my village in Nakoprat conservancy after I completed my form four education, I started assisting my mother in the charcoal business. Sometimes I will be lucky enough to get odd jobs like washing people’s clothes for a small amount of money to supplement our income.
At 26 years old, life was difficult for me, with no hope of a better tomorrow. I was always so stressed. I would wonder if things will ever be better for my family. That’s when I heard about the Ujuzi Manyattani program from other community members. People were talking about this free mobile, village-based vocational training; that was recruiting women and young morans in conservancies to train them on how to diversify indigenous livelihoods and entrepreneurship skills.
I did not waste time and decided to register for the program in June 2021. There were many different courses to pick from like, mechanics, mobile phone repairs, tailoring, and carpentry. I chose hairdressing & salon. People in my community had to travel to distant urban centers/towns and pay costly transport to receive salon services. This course was going to help me open a nearby salon, make life easier for them, and at the same time help me earn a sustainable income.
After three months training, I was able to gain entrepreneurship skills which helped me start up my salon and barbershop at Archer’s Post, Samburu County. At ‘Classic Salon’ I am able to offer great services. This has helped me bring in new customers and retain others. I am able to earn great income daily and grow my business. I also learned the importance of supporting other people in the community, which is why I currently have two employees who assist me in the day-to-day running of the business. In the future, I hope to grow my business even more to a point where I can train others and impact them the way Ujuzi Manyattani has done to my life.
My advice to other youths is to be willing to join training programs like ujuzi manyattani because they are for a short time, but the knowledge, skills, and benefits you gain will last you for a lifetime.
I am also very grateful to USAID and other partners for supporting this program. Their support has changed my life from someone who could only depend on my parents to someone who can now support them and my siblings. From being uneducated to educated, unemployed to employed, not to forget I am now a great entrepreneur in my community; thank you.