Project Launch

A couple of days ago, I had the honour of attending the project launch of one of the grantees of the 2011 Y2Y fund. The project launch took place deep within the Korogocho slum of Nairobi. The project launch went well and participants were taken through the details of the project and were also shown some of the final products. We were also treated to drama and music performed by the slum residents. The guest of honour was the German Ambassador to Kenya. She was very pleased with the project and thanked ILO – YEF for their support of this and other similar projects. In her speech, Mariam Wanjiku the project coordinator of Link to the Hidden Treasure expressed her gratitude to YEN – Global College for sending me as she said the project wouldn’t have been possible without my help.

A little more about the project:

Link to the Hidden Treasure is a network of young women that collectively address issues affecting other young women at the grassroots level. The name “hidden treasure” refers to the young women as a treasure that is hidden and needs to be linked up to development. Their mission is to empower, inspire and assist these women to achieve socio – economic development.

 The group was established by young women in Korogocho slum, Nairobi with the aim of reforming young women engaged in commercial sex work, trafficking of drugs and small arms and the selling of illicit brew. Link to the Hidden Treasure will use their unique outreach strategy experience to train, empower and expose young mothers from Korogocho to various income generating activities. This project will train these marginalized young women on how to make necklaces from waste paper, recycling of hair additions and making of liquid soap. A comprehensive training on entrepreneurship will be incorporated within the training. In addition, there will substantial training on HIV and AIDS and gender related issues. The project will keep these young women from slums busy as well as generate a much needed income for them - leading to a meaningful and positive life.  These women have been significantly discriminated against and this project aims to empower them. As Kofi Anan (former Secretary General of the United Nations) once said, “there is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women."