Notes from Nairobi

Happy New Year!

Unfortunately this is my last month as a YEN Associate. Thank you YEN and Global College for the extension, I am very grateful. Things are getting back to normal in terms of work now that the holidays are over. Over the break I travelled to the marginalized and extremely arid north west of Kenya. The final destination was Lake Turkana. I went for 12 nights overland and stopped in many unique places and came across some fascinating cultures. It was definitely the path less travelled - a life changing experience. I was able to appreciate and understand the beauty of the place as well as learn more about the culture. Apart from this I also to make use of the skills acquired thought my placement at the ILO in various ways to assist a few of the improvised communities. Furthermore, I had a chance to educate these extremely poor youth about Y2Y fund. Many youth, especially the marginalized women could benefit greatly from this competition.

Since my return I have made sure that Y2Y fund grantees have received the first installment of their money from our implementing organization. Payment had been delayed due to various reasons but I’m happy to report that they have now all received their money. I am also working together with the grantees to ensure that they have hired an appropriate consultant and also on track with their project launch. I have also been assisting them in refining their budgets. As of next week, I will start visiting the project s to make sure everything going on as planned.

 I have also mapped out the 2011 Y2Y winners from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Please take a look and the link below.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=217486308895557416472.0004b305...

Bad news - The Kenyan authorities have alerted the public to a heightened threat from terrorist attacks in Nairobi! It’s a bit scary, but apart from this things are good.