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The answer lies in nothing other than being steadfast, having a positive attitude and paying attention to what is good about your life. Life is unpredictable. A predictable one is again very boring and bland. Today is a king in disguise. Make hay while the sun shines.
There was this program started by the Kenyan government. It was in its sixth cycle of implementation. It was being executed by KEPSA-KYEP and funded by World Bank. It was to give the youth a chance of working in a corporate or jua kali setting, having a chance of getting a worthy employer and most of all, and earning while being taught on various facets of work place etiquette in the quest to being an intern. Internship would probably lead to a permanent job.
When such big names are involved in a project, it has to be venture that is highly credible and worth giving it a try. It was a program meant to provide a platform for young guys to hone their skills in becoming who they aspire to be. In Kenya, going straight into the career you desire in life is always tricky. You need to pull left, right and centre until you become content that what you are doing is actually what you are passionate about especially if you studied it.
The KEPSA-KYEP project had two phases. The first phase involved being trained in preparation for internship and the second involved going to the workplace after successfully passing an interview. The first phase was divided into three parts and took the longest. There is the commendable and worthy part which involved being trained on Life Skills albeit it should have been taught to those not yet conservative about life. Life Skills training was very transformative and did change many by equipping them with skills that were very essential. It was the best part of the training.
The second part was too somnolent. Being in a class where one has to act like a student for eight continuous hours in an detached one man show classes which left many daydreaming as a way of killing boredom. It was the Core Business Skills classes. Although it was a worthy aspect as part of a process, it was poorly executed because some of those who were facilitating the program did flout the rules of engagement. They made many feel indifferent and muggy because they disregarded the course manual they were to implement, focusing on what they thought was right even though they only read word for word on what they had been teaching in college.
The last part was being retrained on Life Skills, dubbed 'Advanced Life Skills' which was more of a recap of what was learnt in the first Life Skills training. It was a so-so venture. Not as serious as the first life skills training.
You need to start from somewhere, even that somewhere can be quite a daunting task to find when everything looks bleak and far-fetched. My main intention of going through the program was to learn one or two things that would reshape my scope of thought. It was not an avenue of it being a means to an end. I had the freedom to decide on what I wanted. Ideally, I wanted to delegate some duties to worthwhile professionals who could adroitly do it because it was a challenge doing it on my own and they promised to deliver (which they did).
KEPSA program is not for the faint-hearted and those who never take risks. I liked it because I got to hear new stories, someone matching my skills with the right job as I did loll waiting for a response and meeting new people which was paramount as people are the source of stories. Stories I would never have heard had if I had continued with my quest in life of only applying for jobs, waiting for an automated reply, hoping things will be well and probably securing to be called to one or two interviews which are sometimes an effort in futility because Kenyans have become very cynic as potential employers sometimes want to give jobs to those they know or those experienced.
I must give credence where it deserves. The program was indeed an inspiration to many. It changed the attitude of many not forgetting the fact that it also imparted those who had no skills with the requisite avenue for gaining knowledge on aspects they had never known existed in life. Kudos there.
The objective of the project was well thought. Implementation was the only gaffe it had to address. KEPSA never came up with a proper mechanism of implementing the program. It was dragging too much. You take 5 months being trained on a process that should have lasted not more than two months. Most of the time, you are waiting. Waiting to attend an interview with a prospective employer (not employer but a place to do your internship) who has the prerogative to take or leave you. You are at the whims of both KEPSA and the prospective employer. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in the process.
Another folly is that you never choose who you want to work for. However, you have the chance of rejecting an offer if it is not in line with your career objective. Some out rightly rejected offers of which come to think of it, the prospects were offering a better leeway that could they could have harnessed if they were not all too cocky. At the end they would have thoroughly gained.
Ralph Marston once wrote that, “The person you are inside, does not depend on the things happening on the outside. A life of success comes from remaining steadfast to your own purpose. And using, rather than being consumed by, the whims of circumstance.”
Indeed being yourself in this world that is trying to make you someone else is very tricky. You have to look at all the avenues to make it in life. When one does not work out, you find another that is rewarding. It is an accomplishment to stand erect amid the challenges bequeathed by Mother Nature.
KEPSA still remains as an outstanding option as an avenue of empowering the youth in comparison to other programs you have to pay for. It offers what other programs that have been started by other body corporate have failed to abridge. It is free, you get paid even though the stipend is barely satisfactory, you get to network, find solace that you are not alone in the search for employment and most of all, you not only have a high chance of getting a job, but you improve on your CV because other than having a chance of attending interviews, it builds on ones self esteem and personal awareness among other components that one never really knew. Also those mercurial enough started companies and youth groups. Overall, it inspired many and opened new doors to a majority set for few who quit along the way.
My friend Peter is one good example. He knew exactly how the whole project was to impact in his life. His main motivation was to attend, gain some skills, and help pass it on to other youths who needed the motivation to walk through the storm even when the weather was continuing to exacerbate. The job objective was not paramount to him as such. He had seen how the society back in his home was degenerating and he thought of using the knowledge acquired to better the society as a result of his engagement with other youth who had resigned to life’s fate. He was probably going to address their plight having gone to university and expanded his breadth of knowledge through this program because drugs were taking rein of a generation that is the future of the country and county not forgetting the high drop out rate because many see no need of going to school when you never secure a white collar job.
Hitherto, I had had a feeling that I was retrogressing and probably wasting my time while going through the project. Even in campus I sometimes felt like things were not working out. But I never did relent. I did surge on like I did with KEPSA. I remain hopeful that there is light at the end of the tunnel even though I have been lackluster in interviews which I realized am not very good at. I deserve a pat on the on the back which I will give myself for having been steadfast persevering amid vexations that life bestows.
On the flip side, KEPSA had its own challenges. While some people were going for interviews, others were never attending. Some got placed in places they had no clue even though KEPSA insisted they had filled a form on their academic capabilities which forced them to find these young men and women a place that matched their skills. Some went for interviews only to be told they had not been scheduled for such.
Also, the number of people they were dealing with was kind of overwhelming. As such, they could not effectively meet the deadline as there was spillover, meaning those who had not got internship in time had to wait. A value that many lack. Patience pays, but many a youth want a quick exit plan to the next stage (I am part of them only that I am never rigid. I know the essence of growth).
What’s more, I have been thinking, what if I qualified to be an intern in the jobs I was to undertake. Would I not have been well placed to have a good exit strategy that would have been effective in executing my action plan.
I wish my eyes would have not given me a set back (I am shortsighted). I would have gone to the police recruitment exercise today and tried my lack in starting a career in being a cop. Haisulu. There is always a way in this life. Maybe, I should look into the bigger picture. Who knows, the fight has been one challenge that is very good and worth every bit of it.
Verdict on KEPSA-KYEP.
I will not endeavour to besmirch the whole exercise. Obviously, there are those who talk ill while in a way they did benefit. In comparison to those who have found a place to start off to those who have not, it is prudent to recognize the efforts of those who work tirelessly to ameliorate the lives of the youth. Those who felt betrayed, you always got something. Even if it means increasing your phone-book size, that is a benefit. Joining a whatsapp group that helps in keeping you posted on what’s trending, jobs, alerting on what is on offer, insecurity and those videos that make you laugh out loud. I bet the list is endless.
The incubators of the idea should have gone further and forewarned that it is not absolute to graduate. I wish I would have addressed each and every issue but my perspective is not as wide as that of a group, I may have faltered in being brisk and brazen. From the facilities of choice, the facilitators, the cheap food (I could not come to terms with eating chicken at Sh. 50, why lie). Knowing new people, seeing beautiful ladies who are also giving men a run for their money, receiving money you wish you could save but can’t because it is so meager. However, listening to the stories of others, those who have made it and those still trying, those who had lost hope but their river reemerged because KEPSA offered them the water to replenish it.
If only the project could be given a new lease, reducing on the drop out rate because it was too high, then, it would have gained the right traction to project the youth at a trajectory of ensuring they fulfill their dreams. In the meantime, life continues, lessons learnt, mistakes made and wisdom gained is what gives life its wholesomeness.
SITUONANE.
[Photo Source: Google Images]
