Young Women Transform Podcast Transcripts

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 1: An Introduction

Heather Risley:
Hi, everyone. Welcome to the Young Women Transform podcast. I'm Heather Risley from USAID's Office of Education. To give you a bit of background USAID's goals in international education are to work with the entire US government and other partners to improve learning outcomes. That means just that kids aren't just in school, but also learning and we're also working to expand access to quality basic education for all, particularly the marginalized and vulnerable populations. The ones who are usually left behind.

The work we do is pretty wide-ranging. We work across the education spectrum from pre-primary, secondary, and all the way through higher education. In this podcast we're specifically focusing on youth and their ability to gain meaningful employment. I'm also joined by my cohost, Lindsey Woolf. Lindsey is with a USAID funded project called YouthPower Learning and it's led by an organization called Making Cents International. YouthPower Learning is focused on advancing the approach that we call at USAID Positive Youth Development.

So Lindsey, you want to tell us a bit more about what you work on?

Lindsey Woolf:
Thanks Heather. Since 2015 I've been involved in a USAID initiative called YouthPower, which is expanding the evidence base for what we call Positive Youth Development and assets based approach to youth development programming. We seek to improve the capacity of youth-led and youth-serving institutions and engage young people, their families, communities, and governments so that youth can reach their full potential.

In 2018 YouthPower launched a prize competition called the Young Women Transform Prize. The competition was designed to support youth-led programs working to improve the lives of women and to allow those of us working in international education to learn from their successes and potential struggles.

As part of the prize, small grants were awarded to groups helping to remove barriers to young women's economic empowerment. The goal was to enable these groups to further develop and implement their programs, and we specifically wanted ideas that were youth-led and youth-serving in low and middle-income countries. There were a large number of applicants and ultimately eight of them were awarded grants.

Heather Risley:
We, at USAID, are very excited about this initiative. We really designed it with learning in mind. Just because we're technical experts in youth employment, it doesn't mean that we know what works in every context or what's going on around the world. So, part of what informed this particular initiative was really understanding what is working on the ground within these particular programs, both from those that are using somewhat newer approaches and then some of these other grantees are really using more tried and true methods and we're also using the grants to help them scale up some of those initiatives as well.

We're really excited to explore in this podcast what is working on the ground, what some of these challenges are, and really share that with a wider community through this podcast and making sure that these lessons learned are disseminated more widely.

That said, this podcast is really going to focus in on two specific countries where these grantees are based. One of them is in Uganda and this is the Safeplan program, and the other is in Kenya. It's called the Kibera Community Empowerment Organization or KCEO.

We're going to be actually traveling to these two countries and meeting with people on the ground to really understand how these women and their youth peers are really driving this work on the ground. And we're really excited to be able to meet with them and talk with them a bit more on this podcast. So you'll be hearing from a variety of different people from Uganda and from Kenya and we want to take you along in that journey.

Before we get on that plane and go out to these countries, I wanted to have more of a conversation with Lindsey today to get a better sense of how Making Cents International and she, in particular, have really managed this prize and awarding grants to grantees that are really small organizations and places that USAID doesn't necessarily work with as frequently.

And this is not as common of an approach for USAID and the larger agency is really looking at how to diversify its partner base, making sure that development is locally-led. But that also means that it has some particular challenges with organizations that are managing those grants.

So, I wanted to ask you a few questions about how that was like for you and your organization, and then also to get a little bit more information on the programs themselves. With that, if you could just start by speaking a little bit about how you've been involved in this prize since the beginning. How did the idea come about from your end? And how did this really get off the ground?

Lindsey Woolf:
Sure, thanks Heather. So the prize was established as a public-private partnership. USAID approached Standard Chartered Bank and Volvo Group, the car maker, to be a part of this prize, which is also part of USAID priorities and private sector engagement. And all of these entities were very interested, as you mentioned, in reaching those that are harder to reach in terms of beneficiaries as well as youth-led and youth-serving institutions and those that usually have a more difficult time obtaining funding for their projects. So we were really intentional about that from the beginning and how we designed the prize program and the application process to make sure that we were reaching those local organizations that do not usually have access to this type of funding.

Heather Risley:
Great. Yeah, thanks. So what was the process like of actually creating the prize? You know, it's one thing to hold the actual competition in a US city or town, that happens fairly frequently. But it's completely different to host a competition that covers multiple countries and the people speak multiple different languages, have multiple ranges of experiences both in budgeting and project management and even their technical approaches. So how did you go about doing that?

Lindsey Woolf:
Yes, absolutely. We had to be very intentional about that from the start. The first thing we did was look at the traditional grant application form and really cut that back to something that was much more accessible to a more simple, straightforward application form for these organizations to complete. We also created an accessible online platform for the submission of the applications. We utilize both our traditional networks as well as other networks that we hadn't previously reached of youth-led organizations internationally to really reach the grassroots organizations that are working at a very local level with young women in their communities.

Overall, that was a very successful initiative. We received over a thousand expressions of interest in the prize through that online portal, and ultimately received 365 completed applications from which we narrowed down to eight. So it was very successful in reaching those groups that traditionally do not have access to these types of opportunities.

Heather Risley:
It sounds like a pretty big lift going through all those applications and narrowing down the best ones. I'm sure you were pretty busy during that time.

So, in terms of reviewing those applications, what specifically were you looking for in the proposed ideas?

Lindsey Woolf:
We actually had two types of prizes that we were awarding. The first was a recognition prize and the grantees that were visiting in Uganda and Kenya are both recognition prize awardees, meaning that they had previously implemented an activity that addressed a barrier to young women's economic empowerment and wanted to learn from that innovation.

And then we also had another category called Creation Prizes, which were proposing a new idea or a more traditional idea of being implemented in a new way that were to then implement that idea and see the outcome of it, see how successful that idea was.

So ultimately, across both types of prizes we were looking for those that were really reaching the most hard to reach, that were youth-led, had strong youth-led or youth engagement components, that proposed an idea we hadn't heard of, or utilized an existing approach in a new way. Those that clearly had worked with their community to identify the needs of the young women in that community, and then meaningfully engage those young women in the program design. And for those that had cross-sectoral approaches and/or outcomes.

Heather Risley:
You were mentioning the Creation Prizes where you were awarding some funding to organizations that were testing either a new idea or they were taking a more traditional approach in a new context. Are there going to be formal evaluations of those particular programs across all of them or some of them? Or how are we looking at how those are working?

Lindsey Woolf:
So, the objective of the learning grants in general as we implement them on YouthPower is really to learn what's working and the best approaches in different areas. So each of these grantees has proposed a learning plan, a learning and sharing plan, where they'll be doing, depending on the grant activity, different ways of sharing out what they've learned.

So we have reports, case studies, talk shows like this one that we're on, videos, and other documentation that will document what's working from what they've implemented.

One of the recognition prizes that we're not visiting is actually an evaluation of their program. So there's all different levels of rigor in terms of how they're being evaluated. And we're actually tracking some key indicators across all of the grantees in terms of some of the changes that we're seeing in the young people in their programs.

Heather Risley:
As much as I would love this, we can't travel to all of the eight prize winners around the world. It turns out we don't have money to do global trips, but we do have the opportunity to travel to see Safeplan in Uganda and KCEO. Can you describe what each of the programs concept pitches were?

Lindsey Woolf:
Sure. So very different programs that we're going to be visiting. In Safeplan Uganda's program, they're in a rural area of Northwest Uganda, they're working with rural, out-of-school, young mothers who don't have any kind of access to income. So they're actually doing a beekeeping training program for these young women and they're training them on how to build an apiary site, which we'll be visiting those when we get in country, which is very exciting. And how to take care of and nurture their bees by planting all the plants around the apiaries that the bees like and how to process the honey. And then, they actually have a cooperative that is buying the honey from the women and selling it on to market. They receive a lot of training in terms of business skills and financial management skills to run their beekeeping operations.

So, one very unique rural program, and then in Nairobi we're visiting an organization that works in Kibera, which is the largest slum in Kenya, that is working with disabled young mothers and caregivers of disabled children to help them do small micro-entrepreneurship activities like making jewelry or selling at a local stall. And they're providing them with entrepreneurship training, digital literacy training, and a safe space for these mothers who are traditionally quite marginalized and isolated in their communities and don't have any access to income either.

So, both organizations are working with young women, but in very different ways in their different contexts.

Heather Risley:
Yeah, I'm really excited to visit both and I think we need to add to our schedule, buying some honey. That seems pretty important as part of this process.

Okay. So, what stood out to you the most about Safeplan's approach in particular?

Lindsey Woolf:
Safeplan is very much rooted in the needs of their community. Their office is located in Masindi, which is kind of a tourist spot if you're going out to the national parks on safari. But the project site is an hour north of that and in a very rural area. You'll see when we get to this village, if you're not going to that village, there is no reason to be there. So there's very little economic opportunity for these women and they're very, very grateful and appreciative for the opportunity to earn an income, to have a livelihood for themselves and their families that they would otherwise not have. This area is very, very poor. The majority of the people there work for a dollar a day in the sugar cane fields, so there's not a lot of opportunity. So this program is really much... really addressing the needs of this community in a very impactful way for these young women who would not have any other opportunities otherwise.

Heather Risley:
And how about in Kibera? Did anything in particular catch your attention about their approach?

Lindsey Woolf:
Yes, absolutely. This organization is very much dedicated to improving the lives of disabled young women and disabled people in general in Nairobi and in Kenya. There's a lot of stigma and taboo when you are born with a disability in this country. They're very much dedicated to improving the lives of these disabled young women, and again, without the support from this organization, it's unclear if they would have any other opportunities, so this is very transformative for them and that it is getting them out of their homes and able to earn an income in a context where otherwise that would be very hard for them.

Heather Risley:
As we've said before, this podcast and this trip that we're going to be going on is really focused on the learning here. We've worked together to identify some very specific areas where we have questions as an agency, and it aligns with the designs of the programs that we funded. I want to dig into a little bit more about these particular themes that we've identified. It really ranges from what does it mean to be a youth-led program, a truly youth-led program. How positive youth development operates among a specific group of more marginalized and vulnerable populations, which is different than your sort of more traditional mainstream populations. They have particular barriers and particular needs that they need to be considered. And also a little bit more about the nature of program design in this area.

So, I'm just going to set up a few questions here to dig in a little more about those themes and then we'll be learning more about them as we speak to the grantee organizations themselves. So, could you explain a little bit more on what you hope to learn from this trip in particular? And explain a bit more about what this whole youth-led concept really means.

Lindsey Woolf:
So it's something that YouthPower Learning has been investigating and unpacking for the past four years and we're continuing to do. For us, YouthPower programming is really about meaningfully engaging youth, which means listening to them and then acting upon what they tell you. Being really intentional about asking youth what they need, what that looks like in terms of what they want, their aspirations, and how they'd like to get there and what supports they need to get there.

What I'd like to learn more about when we visit these organizations is how are they engaging their youth? What are the youth telling them? How has that informed what they're doing with their activities and how do they document and pivot as needed around things that youth tell them. And I think we'll see some of that when we speak to these organizations about how they've done needs assessments in their communities, how they're doing feedback surveys and feedback loops with the young people to really make sure that their programs and their approaches are responsive to these youth's needs in a very fast-paced world.

There's constantly changing economies in these countries and so how are they making sure that their programs are really setting these youths up for success in the context of their countries for the future.

Heather Risley:
So, based on that explanation, that's a pretty different way of running a program from the traditional way that USAID thinks about programming, which is a little, can be a little bit more of a command and control sort of approach. Although we're moving away from that approach generally, but it means you don't always have the answers at the outset. So designing a program with not knowing everything from the get-go can be a little bit scary. It can be a little bit challenging.

But with the youth-led approach, we're really looking at integrating youth, voices, and needs throughout the whole entire process. So given that kind of an approach, what kind of questions are you interested in asking and learning about when it comes to program design for these types of approaches?

Lindsey Woolf:
So, I've been thinking about sort of how to ask how the youth voices have been incorporated into program design. I think we have seen that in some of these approaches, but I think something that I'd like to know a little bit more about is how do you design a program when you don't have all the answers at the outset. How do you build in that cycle of learning and adaptation and documenting so that you can continue to learn and adapt your approaches.

So, I think we'll be looking at how they've engaged their youth in their programs and the staff in the programs to really listen to the youth, understand if they're getting what they need out of the programs and if the programs need to be adapted as a result of that. And what are the tools, what are the supports that they're using to better inform their program design.

Heather Risley:
We're also looking at the issue of employment for young women. All around the world, women in particular face a lot of barriers when it comes to employment. In a lot of cases, more so than men, but for a lot of different reasons depending on the context. What are the barriers from your experience in the programming that you've seen, what are the barriers that women face in particular in these settings?

Lindsey Woolf:
Yeah. Women and young women in particular face enormous barriers to income generation, whether that's through formal employment, which young people in general face a lot of difficulties engaging in formal employment. So, the approaches that USAID has been looking at and that we are looking at in these programs are around entrepreneurship and income generation- income generating activities for young women. So not necessarily thinking about formal employment, but ways that these young women can make money in their communities.

Both of these programs are dealing with young mothers. So childbearing is another huge barrier that they're trying to overcome through having accessible spaces for these young women to gather and learn with their children and providing that kind of support, which is very crucial. Dealing with a lot of stigma, especially with the young mothers with disabilities, and trying to break down that community stigma so that people are more likely to engage with these young women in their entrepreneurship activities and dealing with a lot of cultural and family barriers as well.

But there are bright spots. In Uganda, we actually, when we were there earlier this year, we were observing a training of the young women for Safeplan. And one of the young women had actually gone into labor the day before, and so her father was there in her place observing the training because he didn't want her to miss out on any of the trainings.

So, though there are some cultural barriers, there are some bright spots and some attitudes are changing because family members and community members are realizing that when these young women have opportunities that it benefits them all.

Heather Risley:
That's a great story. As you were explaining, not all, women in particular, are not a monolithic population. It's different. Their particular needs and the barriers that they have are different in different contexts. And this particular set of programs are intentionally looking at those who are more marginalized and have particular needs that not all women face.

It's also difficult to find and reach these types of populations. It just so happens that a lot of the USAID-funded programs that we do are not necessarily always reaching the most marginalized and the most vulnerable. So in this initiative, what were the ways that the program was intentional about working with marginalized populations and reaching them?

Lindsey Woolf:
In Uganda, they're working with this rural community, out-of-school young women, so being very intentional about going to that community because otherwise these women would not have any access to these kinds of training opportunities. Being very intentional and using a community selection process to identify the women that the community sees as most in need of this training and that they support to be involved.

And in Kenya, they have identified this community of disabled young mothers because of the extreme amount of barriers that they traditionally have to income generation. So both are being very intentional and specific about the populations that they're targeting because of the need that those populations have and that these organizations can reach them.

Heather Risley:
Can you say a little bit more about the selection process that was used in the Safeplan program?

Lindsey Woolf:
I can say a little bit what they've told me and then we can dive in with them more. But my understanding is that they work with community members, elders, and other leaders, so that there's buy-in in the community for the young people to be participating in the programs from the community side, for the family side, and also from the young people themselves. So it's not a just show up and sign up for this program, it's someone approaches you and says, "We really think you would benefit from this. The community is supportive of you participating and here's how we're going to make sure that this works for you and is a successful experience."

So, I think that intentional community selection and engagement process makes sure that everything from they help the young people get there for the training, they protect the equipment on site. And so there's really... The community sees the value of the young people being involved and sees them having positive outcomes as a result of their involvement. And I think Safeplan has a lot to teach us about how to do that intentional community engagement.

Heather Risley:
Well, I'm really looking forward to learning more from them about that particular approach. USAID is putting even more emphasis recently on engaging the private sector in its programming as a way to leverage funding from other sources that aligns with USAID's goals. For the Young Women Transform prize, this has been designed as a public-private partnership. So in addition to USAID's funds, we are also partnered with Standard Chartered Bank as well as Volvo. How are these companies identified and what are they bringing to the table to this partnership?

Lindsey Woolf:
They were identified through a process with USAID when they approached potential partners for this prize wanting to bring on monetary and capacity-building support for the grantees of the prize. So each of them have brought different expertise and resources to bear on the project. They were all involved in the selection process as subject matter experts in employability and entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility.

And we've been able to use some of the private funds to fund purchases in the grants that would otherwise not be made possible by US government funds, which are a bit more restrictive in how they can be used for certain kinds of purchases, like agricultural products for example. So it gave us a flexibility to fund projects that USAID would not normally be able to fund because of those more restrictive rules. So it gave a really great flexibility to those organizations to make those purchases.

We also have been able to leverage some of their expertise in terms of capacity building to provide some support to grantees on the management side.

Heather Risley:
Well Lindsey, I'm almost finished packing. I've got a few more things to do. I know that you've been busy getting the final pieces in order. We're really looking forward to this trip and to see what comes out of it. We hope everybody listening will continue to follow along on our journey, and together we'll be learning a lot more about what youth-led, women-led programming really looks like on the ground.

And one final note before we sign off. I want our listeners to know that all of the lessons learned generated from these trips are contributing to the learning questions that USAID has identified as part of the Youth Workforce Development Learning Agenda. And you can find those learning questions on education links at the URL www.edu-links.org, E-D-U hyphen L-I-N-K-S.org.

You're listening to the Young Women Transform podcast. Remember to subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast app. We will be releasing weekly episodes as we traveled to Uganda and Kenya to talk directly to the prize grantees.

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 2: Local Solutions

Heather Risley:
Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of the Young Women Transform Podcast. I'm Heather Risley with the USAID's Office of Education.

Lindsey Woolf:
I'm Lindsey Woolf with YouthPower Learning.

Heather Risley:
Last time we talked we were in a very different place, stuck in a USAID drab conference room. And now, we're in a beautiful place that looks quite a bit different. We are in the small town of Masindi in Uganda. It was quite a journey to get here. We landed in Entebbe yesterday, which is where the main airport is located in Uganda. And jumped in a car this morning, and it was about a four-hour drive through some really beautiful country to get here. We're thrilled to be sitting in a beautiful outdoor space. The weather is very mild. So we are looking forward to the conversations that are coming.

In this episode, we're going to be introduced to the Safeplan staff here in Masindi. We're also going to be focusing on the theme of local solutions. We really think that the Safeplan program illustrates a sense of strong community ownership, and a holistic approach to youth engagement in all their activities that they have designed and implemented.

Through many conversations in this episode, you'll hear us talk a lot about the idea of community engagement, and how Safeplan staff work with a lot of different stakeholders within the community. Community engagement is a key aspect of promoting local ownership and local buy-in, so that the activities have stronger outcomes and really meet community needs.

It's a little bit rainy today, but there's a lot of people around and they're all curious about what we're doing. I'm sure they're not used to seeing people with microphones walking around. It's about a 10-minute walk from the hotel. Not too bad. Looking forward to meeting everyone this morning and getting these conversations going.

Safeplan Uganda staff:
Good morning.

Heather Risley:
Hello, good morning.

Safeplan Uganda staff:
Yes, good morning.

Heather Risley:
Good morning.

Safeplan Uganda staff:
Good morning.

Heather Risley:
Good to see you.

Safeplan Uganda staff:
Good to see you too.

Heather Risley:
Hi.

Hi good morning, good morning.

Safeplan Uganda staff:
Yes. We are here-

Heather Risley:
We're already recording.

Lindsey Woolf:
Now we're with Annet.

Annet Birungi:
Good morning.

Lindsey Woolf:
Annet, can you please introduce yourself, and tell us about your role with Safeplan Uganda, and the work you do with the young people of Masindi?

Annet Birungi:
Okay. Thank you. I'm called Annet Birungi. I'm the director of Safeplan Uganda. I oversee all the organization activities that have taken place. I'm part of the programming and organizing. I support the board in recommending the programs, and advising on the activities that are meant to benefit the people and our beneficiaries. And showing that we achieve our objectives.

Lindsey Woolf:
Annet, could you tell our listeners what it was like growing up as a young woman in Uganda?

Annet Birungi:
Growing up was not easy at all. As a rural girl or in a rural woman in Uganda because they are traditionally or culturally, women are given all the priorities. They're not given all the privileges, train for them to plan for the success in their lives. Most of the opportunities are given to boys. So growing up was not all that on a silver plate for me. Also being from a poor family, it was not all that is. Of course as a younger, I was looking at my future. I was growing, dreaming big. I wanted to be someone who is really at higher level, perspective of the community. So it was not easy. So it was through the support of my mother, who was so much interested in education, who are so much interested in seeing that at least the head girl child access to whatever she wants.

I remember my mother could tell me that, I didn't go to school as much as I wanted, but at least I wanted my daughter to reach the higher education of learning. And I want to see that at least she comes or she becomes an important person that everyone will admire. So that was growing up. That one inspired me to be may be who I am today.

Lindsey Woolf:
Thank you for sharing that. That's really interesting to hear how important your mother was in formulating your experience and emphasis that she put on education. So how did Safeplan Uganda get its start? What were the initial objectives of the organization?

Annet Birungi:
After analyzing the context of the youth, the community and also the young women. Then Safeplan Uganda came to design its goals, its objectives. What did you really wanted to achieve for a certain community? Because if you look at the objectives, our main goal is to see that the youth have a secure livelihood. They're secure in their jobs, improved their livelihood. And also looking at the disadvantages in the rural poor, young women and youth. So it was through Safeplan Uganda, even if you look at the name, Safeplan, we are really safe planning for the community. And we are really safe planning for the better community, for the youth, for the young women.

Then, how it came into, about the team, being a community based, people came together to form the community. People came together from different fields, having an analysis so what their community is, and what they would wish to have, or what they wish to achieve in a certain period of time.

Lindsey Woolf:
Safe planning for the future, that's a really-

Annet Birungi:
Yes, safe planning for the future.

Lindsey Woolf:
Very aspirational and inspirational message for the young people.

Annet Birungi:
Yeah. So that is the inspiration. Yes, safe planning for the future.

Lindsey Woolf:
So how is the community involved in supporting the organization, beyond just the local government?

Annet Birungi:
Community supports our organization activities in the main areas. One, they do mobilize. They support us on mobilization. Secondly, if we have trainings, they will give us training venues. Thirdly, when we need the resources, for example, let me put on this side of logistics, like drinking water. Maybe we have gatherings, we do not have water. We have gatherings, maybe we need food. Much as they come, give them little money. But you find that what they are provided is wealth. And also they are helping in the programming. They're helping in designing our programs, because for them they know what is best suitable for them. They know where you can find this particular thing and they know where you cannot find it. And they're really they're much available to identify the people you are going to work with, and how they'll be helped. Just for instance, they local leaders, the counselors and the church leaders. They sensitize. They will come and motivate their people, which we really see that as a very big contribution to help Safeplan Uganda.

What would we be doing, they are already doing it. You introduce to them a problem and I mean a problem, and also they see that problem, and addressing it or by raising more sensitization. And also identifying more gaps that are in the community, identifying for you what areas that are so much of the interest. Which also helped us to redesign our approaches or redesign our strategies, to see that our programs, they really meet the community needs. They really meet the community interests. So yeah, so much various ways that the real community contributes to the implementation of our programs.

Lindsey Woolf:
And how are they involved in identifying the people that become involved in your programs?

Annet Birungi:
We always have what we call a community assessment. As we enter the community, the first stop is always the chairperson of the community, because he's the president of the community at that level. So we get introduced to the community, carry out assessments. What is lacking in this community? How do people feel about it? What do they need about it? If it is not working for them, or if it is not going to work for them, they will advise, they will recommend. And also we usually have to sit with them, and do what can work for them and what cannot work for them. They will guide us on so many other things.

Lindsey Woolf:
It's very apparent how deeply rooted your work is in the community, so it's wonderful to hear more about that.

Heather Risley:
Thanks Lindsey. I really enjoyed hearing more of Annet's personal story. I know next we're going to listen to more of your conversation with Daniel, who's the program manager with Safeplan Uganda.

Lindsey Woolf:
Yes, Heather. I really enjoyed speaking to Daniel.

Daniel was able to provide me some key insights into what it is like to operate a youth-led organization like Safeplan Uganda. In our conversation, Daniel was able to provide some key insights into how a youth-led organization like Safeplan Uganda operates. Daniel and I discussed their experience as a winner of the Young Woman Transform prize. This prize was given to youth-led and youth-serving organizations that promote innovative solutions to barriers to young women's economic empowerment.

Heather Risley:
Sounds great. Now let's listen in to Lindsay's conversation with Daniel.

Lindsey Woolf:
Hello Daniel.

Daniel:
Hello Lindsey.

Lindsey Woolf:
Can you please introduce yourself to our listeners and tell us about your role at Safeplan Uganda?

Daniel:
My name is Akena Daniel, the programs manager at Safeplan Uganda organization. I oversee all the program of the organization. And I also step in to assist in other areas like in finance and ICT. And then other general duties alongside my fellow staff.

Lindsey Woolf:
And how did you hear about the Young Women Transform Prize?

Daniel:
The Young Women Transform Prize, actually we got a link requesting for application. And as user we also expressed our interest. We filled the application form and submitted. After a while, we received communication to provide more information.

Lindsey Woolf:
Why did you decide to apply when you saw that RFA?

Daniel:
I'd say we decided to apply simply because it was aligned to the activities that the organization is pursuing. It's aligned to our goals. And we had a predecessor program which was already set in the organization, and we are still lobbying for resources to make sure that the plan reaches its full completion.

Lindsey Woolf:
So you are building upon the previous work that you had done? That you have received funding for.

Daniel:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We are trying to have a program that is an inclusive program, that brings beneficiaries from the beginning to the end. Always we have seen programs just to entice people. Then when people are supposed to be benefiting, the program has ended, and it ends there. So it kind of doesn't give us very well-calibrated results, that they were at this level, and by the time the program was ending, they had reached this level.

Lindsey Woolf:
So the project site in Nyantonzi, how was that project site selected, that community?

Daniel:
Now, that project site, one of the founding partners used to commute to that site. And he identified the challenges young girls who would face in that community. The distance to the school are a bit large. And it would be very difficult for young girls to really travel this long distance to school. So maybe they thought that this was one of the reasons why there is high level school dropout, because you cannot know what is happening in between home and school and then back. And most of the rural schools do not have lunch at school, so it puts the lives of these young girls at really very vulnerable state.

Daniel:
So this community, coupled with the fact that it is a sugar cane-dominated area, it would be very difficult. The factory is demanding enough sugar to feed in its feedstock so that they can produce the honey. So therefore they need land. So the land is expanding, and the food isn't. So we found it befitting, being a community near the forest reserves, they could use this reserve in a collaborative manner with the government, to also put their hives and benefit from the forest source, other than relying on only agriculture activities.

Lindsey Woolf:
How do you go about building trust with the people that you work with?

Daniel:
Yes, I'd say from experience, we continue to build this trust, first of all by our presence in the community. And secondly, continuing to engage with partners. The community members, the targeted youth beneficiaries, and all those people who are engaging into your program, so that they want to see, they want a moment of truth that yes, this organization exists. It has been here the last two months, now it is six months, it's one year. It's still existing. So we keep on developing, building that trust, from activities we designed. Activities that touch here and there so that, in one way or the other, for instance income generating activity, community-led programs, so that people feel our presence. That these young people have come together for a common goal, and indeed they're trying to do what has brought them together.

Lindsey Woolf:
And how is the community involved in supporting your organization?

Daniel:
Yeah. In the first place, the community must know we do exist. They support us at different levels. Yeah. We get permission from them to operate. We get a certificate of registration. And then when we are going to run programs, we go through the community leaders, the LOC systems, youth leaders and so on, who add us into the community to advance our programs. So when we have reached the community, we always mobilize and conduct information session, or a meeting. It doesn't matter how it is, but at least if we talk to people in their communities what we want to do, and we want to do it here. And then they give the input, we integrate into the program, and then improve so that we keep on strengthening how we approach our community-led activities.

Heather Risley:
Another aspect of Safeplan’s organization is the creation of a board. The board is made up of both older people as well as youth. The board really reinforces the sense of community ownership over the direction of the organization. Both youth as well as their older mentors really drive the decision making, and ensure that the organization is aligned with the community, and the needs of the youth in that community.

Annet Birungi:
Our board members have mixed up old people and young people, who have got different professions, different areas of work. We have the social workers. We have the teachers. We have the environmentalists. We have the health practitioners. So these people help us to guide us more because they have got more expertise. They've got more knowledge on most of the programs we're implementing. So they help us to add on their knowledge. They support us with the resource. And also, the old people come in as [inaudible 00:17:46]. They are like patrons. They want to see this young organization growing up and they have also helped other organizations grow up.

Annet Birungi:
For example, our board member Nick, he has been in patron at other organizations, starting up, growing up. And also he has been there from the start of the organization, helping us in organizing, helping us in the planning. So basically our board members, they contribute their resource because of what we do here. They have their knowledge, and they really feel that they can contribute to designing the programs that really fit the community context.

Heather Risley:
Nick is one of the older members of the board, and made himself available to speak with us. He'll tell us more about the role of the board itself, and the importance of how the board drives decision making so that it's aligned with the vision of the organization. So now here's Lindsey with Nick.

Lindsey Woolf:
So thank you, Mr. Nick.

Nick:
Thank you very much.

Lindsey Woolf:
Can you please introduce yourself and tell us about your role with Safeplan Uganda?

Nick:
Okay. It's a real pleasure. By the names, Nick Ammojo, representing the board members of Safeplan Uganda. And Safeplan Uganda is an indigenous-based registered CVO. It is a youth...registered in 2012. It is a youth-led organization with a core area of environment, health, education, gender equality, and ICDA. And our goal is really to empower, to enlighten and empower the youth in the community. And mostly the vulnerable group, to work with them, and improve their status of life. And indeed, it is a place that you overcome, and give glory to God for really identifying you. You are safe with us.

Lindsey Woolf:
How is the community involved in advising and supporting Safeplan?

Nick:
How are they--?

Lindsey Woolf:
The community.

Nick:
The community. In fact from the beginning, we have to involve nature and culture. We have to involve the community, especially the religious leaders, to identify and get those who are really oppressed or vulnerable or burdened. So the community really has... We have to engage the community, to identify for us those who really need help. Like our load here. These are people who are a bit vulnerable in the sense that they didn't get enough support financially from the parents. So the community, when you join them together, they can identify those people and bring them for training, so that their standard is also raised in one way or another, to sustain the livelihood.

Heather Risley:
I think we had some really great conversations with the Safeplan staff. Lindsay, you did a really great job with the interviews.

Lindsey Woolf:
I really enjoyed speaking with Safeplan about their experience as a youth-led organization, and digging into how they've created systems to really be engaged with and responsive to the needs of their community.

Heather Risley:
I think we learned a lot about the idea of a board, and how that can really drive a sense of community ownership. USAID's administrator, Mark Green, talks a lot about the concept of the journey to self-reliance. That's the phrase we use in USAID to effectively describe what sustainability looks like in programs, so that programs can exist beyond the life of the funding they receive from donors or other outside organizations.

Really the concept of a building sense of ownership from the start is a critical aspect of that concept. It's really clear that Safeplan has been doing this from the start.

Lindsey Woolf:
In the next episode, we'll dive further into how Safeplan Uganda's programs are truly youth-led, as well as hear further about a young man's life and how it was transformed through participation in Safeplan's carpentry training program.

Heather Risley:
Interested in learning more? We have a lot more content for you. You could explore photos and videos from these trips, as well as find guidance and tools related to positive youth development and youth workforce development on the following websites. Go to youthpower.org to find out what works in youth development, or EducationLinks at www.edu-links.org/youngwomentransform, to find more materials on education and youth.

Finally, remember to subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 3: Youth-Led Programs

Heather Risley:
Welcome back to another episode of The Young Women Transform Podcast. My name is Heather Risley and I'm with USAID's Office of Education.

Lindsey Woolf:
And my name is Lindsey Woolf with YouthPower Learning.

Heather Risley:
And today we're going to be talking more about what it means to be a youth-led program and what that looks like in practice. One of the things that really struck me was the variety of different activities that Safeplan is offering youth and the number of different ways they can engage. And at first this sort of felt a little bit overwhelming. It was hard to sort of understand everything that the project is doing, and it almost struck me as being maybe a little bit ambitious, but then the more I thought about it, I think there's real value in offering choice to youth when you're trying to engage a lot of different people who they all have different interests and different needs and different skills, and the ability to be able to offer different types of training, different ways of engaging and meeting people's needs in different ways, I think is a real strength of the program and that idea of giving choice seems really important to me.

Lindsey Woolf:
Yes, I absolutely agree. Meaningful youth engagement is of such interest to the youth development community. We've developed a community of practice for youth engagement under YouthPower Learning where practitioners can learn best practices for youth engagement and their programming. I'll be speaking more with Annet on this topic.

Heather Risley:
All right. Let's dive in. Here's Lindsey and Annet.

Lindsey Woolf:
So to chat a little bit more about your experience as a youth leader, how did you become a youth leader within Safeplan?

Annet Birungi:
That was my dream from childhood that maybe I would wish to be a leader one time I remember after seeing many girls not going to school, women are the ones suffering to, to take care of their families. Then the men are just...I remember telling my mother at the age of 14 that I want to be a leader the one time, but by that time I need to know what category they I should be in, what category that would be in. So, growing up I had did that passion, that enthusiasm that I will one time become a leader. Then joining university of course it was a struggle but I could feel that I have to. So from the university I joined an association of, it was called Kyambogo University community based rehabilitation students association. So this was an association that was advocating for youth opportunities for one youth for one people.
People specifically, I mean disabled. So we did a lot of advocacy work and within that time I saw that, you know, I'm getting, I'm getting there to be a leader, that I am getting mighty that ship. So I'm training with Safeplan Uganda as a leader, and it was through that team, that training that I came to be seen within that time as a community practitioner, as a community president. Then I came to learn about Safeplan Uganda. Within that time I joined the ah, I got to know about the young people who are also doing the same thing, who are also trying to make their life better, who are trying to transform their communities. Then we joined and everything looked a bit, I mean, I was seeing that. I'm getting there too, I'm getting my dream to be a leader. I saw it as a starting point for me.
We joined efforts and we pushed things, mobilized the young people, mobilized communities, the local government leaders, the community leaders. And much as we have nothings, we don't have resources but we can do it. We can get there. Most people think that leadership is about taking political orders, political presses, but leadership you can begin something, influence others and make a decision to ensure that at least you achieve the goal. So joining Safeplan Uganda as a leader, it was my long-time dream, which I realized when I was at that young age and Safeplan Uganda opened for me a way and it was very much accommodative. It was very much welcoming to inspire us young people.

Lindsey Woolf:
So now you're here at Safeplan Uganda and which is a youth-led organization. So can you tell us what youth led means to you and to Safeplan?

Annet Birungi:
Ah, yes. Youth-led programming. I'd say ah, to mean that you design the programs that impact youth. To me it is like you need to actively involve the youth in designing in our approaches. How the context of the youth, what to do the youth want, what do they miss? Then you bring them on board, brand with them together, know what they need, carry out that, the assessments that really impact the youth. Because if you do, if you just sit on your desk and design what you think that to me may be good for them, they will not feel it, that, that sense of ownership of the project or of the book cover or the program you are bringing to youth, they will not feel the belonging, and so our youth programming, that's how it means to me. Engage the youth but split with them. Bring them on the table, bring them on the board, discuss with them the issues, analyze them and together design the approaches, design the solutions that can really improve on their, on their life roots.

Lindsey Woolf:
You touched upon, it's important for sustainability purposes, for really making sure that the youth stay involved in the program. Are there other reasons that you think youth-led programming is really important?

Annet Birungi:
The other reasons is that for most of the time the youth has been, they think that, no, like to this generation. They think that having a formal education or having attained the high form education is the way of achieving success but it’s not true. Most youth have been left behind because of those, those, the criteria that you must go to school and some youth who do not go to school, they see them as a failure. They see them, maybe they cannot make it in life and they do. They maybe, since they think that they have energy, they can go for casually bullying.
They can, they have the right to participate in other activities that they can, that can help them. So you find that the government, the local people, the community, they leave the youth and behind, they focus on the middle-aged people or looking at, maybe the professionalism they have in them. What can they can contribute in their fields or work. And you find that the youth who have not got too much education, who have not acquired high levels of learning, they are left behind. So this is another perspective of youth programming that I can talk about.

Lindsey Woolf:
You mentioned the importance of role modeling and mentorship and we discussed earlier how you recently had a mentorship activity. Could you tell us more about that?

Annet Birungi:
The mentorship, we find it very important because youth mostly they, then to get that space to open up on they, their feelings, their passions. They may not open to me because I know them, they will see me tomorrow, I've been with them. But when they get these other young people, they, they inspire them. They come with the approaches that they tell their stories. They come with the approaches to tell your experiences how they, how growing up, how are they have reached wherever the level they are. Then these youth, the mentees who are being mentored, they see light. They see that, no we asked, we can make it. We asked, we can achieve this in life.
So mentorship, it is there, like, to open the, to make the youth open, have an openness, have an open interaction, and they believe that also, these young people, they are the main task, they have got the capacity, They have got the, the, the potential through their experiences, through what they have been doing to make sure that at least these youth get their track and make sure these youth also get inspired and motivated to concentrate on what they are using to raise their efforts.

Lindsey Woolf:
How do you identify those mentors? Who are they?

Annet Birungi:
Ah, these mentors, mostly we use young people who have gone through the same, the similar experience with these youth.
I take an example, our instructor here who trains in carpentry. He was a refugee. Yeah. He came from Congo, and he was a refugee, he got also a similar approach with training through another organization here in Uganda. So, uh, this trainer had that, that passion also for youth, because he had, he went through the experience which, uh, which looked to us like being a refugee in Uganda and now you have come to this. So mostly when you go to train them, they know to bring up those stories, bring up his experiences, to bring up his examples. So that is another way of how we identify our mentors. We have to find out what is their background, what do they do, what is their achievement, what are their stories. Then we come up with the main task, because we know that they have that unique aspect of them.

Lindsey Woolf:
Yes. That speaks to the importance of role modeling. You cannot be what you cannot see. So in what ways are the programs led by the young people that you serve? How do they provide input into the program activities?

Annet Birungi:
Youth, they're a part of the programs, they are a part of the activities and most of the activities that we carry out here, they are for youth. They really interest youth and the youth are, they are in the fact that, uh, we first have, like, assessments, youth assessments, community assessments. Youth also come and engage in and help us in designing and also in mobilization. Also youth leaders in the community find that we really, uh, that they are part of the program. We engage the youth leaders, we engage the youth learners in, uh, in making their choices in, in making their choices on what they need.
And also, these youth they have got their dreams. They really know what they want, ah, we have, we always have more youth interactions when we go to the community and also if you can look at our staff, it is more the youth. So when they go to the communities by the youth, they talk to the youth, they help, they contribute to designing our approaches. And for us as Safeplan Uganda, we recognize the contribution of youth in development, in designing our programs.

Lindsey Woolf:
So youth have a choice, as I understand, when they come to your skills training programs to choose between the two activities that you offer. Correct?

Annet Birungi:
Mostly yes. Youth come with the choices. They come with a choice, what they really want to learn. Then also, of course, Safeplan Uganda, we also show them what we really have for them. Then it takes time to change their mindset because, for example, if a youth has come with an interest of, like, welding and we do not offer welding. So it is a process that we shall help this youth, to show him or her an opportunity in tailoring, to show how there is an opportunity in the, in carpentry. So that process that you bring the youth to come to love that topological activity that you offer.
It is really uh, an important route for us because for them, they believe that if you don't go for what you like, then your, your, your opportunities are closed. No, there are more opportunities, and also we have more options for them that they can really engage in and we, we have to assure them that we are really, we are really there to support them as Safeplan Uganda, who really help them to embrace what we have and also help them to achieve what they really want.

Lindsey Woolf:
We'll be right back with our interviews. Now, we want to tell the story of a group of young boys whose lives are being changed by participation in training activities that focus on carpentry. Carpentry is a skill area identified through an initial needs assessment conducted by Safeplan early in their program. Like many of the other activities run by the organization, it complements other areas of programming. We met Gilbert, David, Joshua and Derek who were constructing covers for the beehives used in the Budongo women bee enterprise program.

Heather Risley:
So we're looking at a couple of young boys in the community who are practicing their carpentry and we're outside in the courtyard now.

Lindsey Woolf:
The small number of tools were provided through small grants and other materials were obtained through partnerships with members in the community.
The spirit of the training is to engage an initial group of youth in constructing simple products that align with market needs. The training is designed to provide quick wins, which keeps the youth more engaged.

Heather Risley:
So we're just watching, watching them do their work.

Lindsey Woolf:
The training itself lasts about three months and the products they make only take a few weeks from the time the work begins until they are sold. The young men are also highly encouraged to recruit and train others interested in making more income through carpentry. The model not only builds practical skills in woodworking, but also encourages community building and leadership. Derek is already a leader within his peer group. He's mentoring other young men to build skills in carpentry and has been hired by a professional carpentry business just around the corner.

Heather Risley:
So right now we're watching a couple of the boys construct a wooden frame, which will eventually be the cover for the beehives that are used for the beekeeping work that the young women participate in. So, this is a good example of how the training activities, or just the activities under Safeplan Uganda, are really interconnected and support each other.

Daniel Akena:
The thing you give in cabinetry is a basic training. They learned how to, they learn how to measure, how to cut and understand the tools.

Heather Risley:
Safeplan staff explained to us that the product ideas come from the boys themselves.

Daniel Akena:
So this product is a product which is having ready market and simple it is good for teamwork, and you make about 1000 or 500, then they get to like this one, the cover and the plate, a kind of cylinder or stick cut into pieces and it fits into there, that's enough. So they fix it, brand it, and then, there, it is ready for market.

Heather Risley:
So this clothesline that he's working on was his idea because he saw a need in the community for a space so that people could hang their clothes. And so now he makes these clotheslines that are very popular and can sell in the market so he can make money.

Daniel Akena: So if a young man gets about $2 a day, it’s just good enough for him. If he can sell about three or four of these, about $6 that's a lot. At 30,000 you can buy soap, you can buy, sell it and if we add something to put on.

Heather Risley:
If these young men weren't engaged in this activity, they'd likely be sitting at home. The carpentry training is a productive alternative that responds to their interests and helps them become leaders in their community.

Daniel Akena:
Cut and fix. That's enough. That's enough, cut, like, two...

Heather Risley:
I think this carpentry example really demonstrates Safeplan's approach to keeping youth engaged by giving them quick wins that put a little bit of money in their pocket that keeps them engaged in the program and excited and wanting to continue, and it's also giving youth options for productive activities that are alternatives to sort of sitting at home and not doing much and contributing back to their communities.
All right, now we're gonna switch back to our interviews. Here's Lindsey.

Lindsey Woolf:
Now I'm sitting down with Ronald who's been involved with Safeplan for quite some time, previously as a volunteer, and has recently come on as a project coordinator. Ronald, can you tell us more about why carpentry was chosen as a training?

Ronald Mujwiga:
Well, looking at the nature of the people, what they are going through and the young, specifically, carpentry is one of the simple skills that you can acquire as a young person. We believe that we work on something hands on. So within the three months while they set these young people can begin simple joints, simple chairs, which can help in the kitchen, which can help in homes, which can help in maybe their bedrooms. So we thought, why is that, if carpenters or these people acquire these simple skills, they are income generating, they can easily bring up simple money for the young to start up with.

Lindsey Woolf:
Can you tell me how the products are chosen that the boys decide to make?

Ronald Mujwiga:
We look at the, the, the community where we living in, the nature of the people, how they live their life. Most of them do simple work. So if you make as chair, that is something that will love will, that will be loved by most of them. If you make a simple table, definitely that person would wish to have a simple table at home. If you, uh, if you make a hang line, of course most of them would wish to have something affordable, but which can look more organized in the room. So those are products people can begin with.

Lindsey Woolf:
Can you tell me how young people have ownership over the projects?

Ronald Mujwiga:
First of all, these young people, we encouraged them to come up in a team, to own the projects, to feel that it is them having these projects, not us, because in most cases, for the person to feel loved, for the person to feel much useful in the community, the person has to feel this, feel a sense of belonging in that person, who you always plan to set up to gain skills which can help these people, instead of maybe looking at them as something that can be attained or achievable at two-years’ level, maybe three years. Why can't we take three months so that we can see these people change their lives.
So, the reason why we are successful is because we do it voluntarily. We do charity, it’s charity work. We don't want to look at how we gain, but ant to look at how a person is uplifted from down to up, so with the engagement of the community and to the other, the government officials. We put in much time. We work hand in hand with the young ones. We run an extra mile to search down deep in the earth to find what they want and how can we help them and also. we bring them to understand that this is their community. This is their work. It's not us who is being here, it is you.

Heather Risley:
In that last conversation, Ronald really talked a lot about the different ways that youth are really at the forefront of the decision-making in this program and all of the different ways that youth’s voices are heard in the different activities. Now we're going to hear more from Daniel about some of the challenges of this approach.
What are your main challenges as a youth-led organization that organizations which are not led by youth don't face?

Daniel Akena:
I think a lack of trust. Partners think that, because we are youth, we don't have the capacity to manage a certain level of funds. We we are not yet stable. Maybe when we are given funds we shall not account for it, so it is a bit of a limiting factor to some other organizations. Also, when you mention youth-led, people look at young people, they don't know that you are also building up a system that is going to grow and youth will not remain youth forever. They also going to be adults, so a lack of trust and they also look at us in terms of, uh, we are temporarily available. They think that we still have other aspirations and maybe one time we shall not pass to the organizational objectives, so we are considered last. But yeah, above all is the issue of management and accountability.

Heather Risley:
We covered a lot in this episode. I think there were definitely some key themes that stood out across all of these interviews. One of them for me was about how in all cases, youth are actually being engaged in the design of the activities directly, which is a core component of what it means to be a youth-led organization. In addition, and I think we really heard this in the carpentry story that we heard earlier in this episode, is the importance of quick wins. If you can show youth the payoff more quickly through the activities that you design, it seems like they're more likely to stick with the program, be more engaged, see that the programming is worth it to them. In the case of the carpentry, the staff were explaining how what it is that they were training on resulted in simple products and could be, the actual skills could be learned, you know, within a few months.
So not only is the training itself short, but the time it took to sell the products that they made in the end wasn't very long either. So, the actual payoff of seeing income in their pocket in total didn't take very long. And I know that Safeplan pointed that out as a strength of their programming and why, in many cases, youth continued to stick with the program. Another thing that I noticed was role modeling and mentorship, which are both key components of the positive youth development measurement framework, particularly under the enabling environment and healthy relationships and bonding.

These are key components for positive youth development outcomes. Next episode we'll be focusing on the topic of women's employment. We'll be traveling to the small town of Nyantonzi to learn more about what the young women there face in gaining employment. Remember, you can always learn more at the following websites, youthpower.org or EducationLinks at www.edu-links.org. If you haven't already, remember to subscribe to this podcast in your favorite podcast app.

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 4: Barriers to Women's Education

Annet Birungi:
Growing up is not a term, as any role girl or any role in Uganda.

Heather Risley:
Hi everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Young Women Transform podcast. I'm Heather Risley with USAID’s Office of Education.

Lindsey Woolf:
And I'm Lindsey Woolf with YouthPower Learning.

Heather Risley:
You just heard Annet Birungi, the Executive Director of Safeplan, talking a bit more about her personal journey growing up as a young girl in Uganda. We'll be hearing more of her personal story a bit later.

Lindsey Woolf:
In this episode, we're really going to focus on women's employment. Since this is such a rich area of learning and programming within USAID and we got so much great content from the people that we spoke with here, we're breaking this up into a couple of different episodes. In this episode, we're going to be focusing specifically on barriers and the challenges that women face, particularly in rural areas of Uganda to gainful employment. In the next episode, we'll talk more about how the Safeplan Uganda organization addresses those barriers.

Heather Risley:
Safeplan’s BUWOBE project is operating in the rural area of Nyantonzi, an agricultural community that primarily relies on sugarcane growing. Though this is a lucrative sugarcane production area, women reap the least amount of benefits from its production. We spoke with Daniel and Annet from Safeplan to explain what life is like for women in this area.
We passed by a lot of the sugarcane fields when we were visiting the Nyantonzi village, and the surrounding area. And you were telling me earlier about how the sugarcane industry employs a large majority of the community members, so I'm interested in learning more about how the sugar cane industry affects the women in particular in the village and how that affects their lives and their employment opportunities, and their ability and their family's ability to earn a good income. So if you both of you could speak more to that issue, I think our listeners would appreciate that.

Daniel:
The sugar cane factory is located in the target, in the project site and it is estimated that over 90% of the arable land, land that would be used for farming is being occupied by sugar cane growing, so to that effect, the community will definitely have job employment opportunity, but at different levels, so the high-class level will get the high paying jobs, and then the lower class level will definitely remain in the lower paying jobs, so especially women, the women because of their vulnerability and the challenges they face in life, you find that they zero down to the lower cost jobs because of a lack of the required qualification, a low level of education and with a lot of other responsibility in the family. Because they also need to survive, they have to go and look for something within their reach that suits their level of education, and what they can really afford. And it is to that level that you find that they can work for as low as $1 per day, and they are working for long hours because they have to leave their home very early. The sugar cane fields are really distant. They spend the whole day working and then they come back in the evening.

Heather Risley:
Thanks. That's really helpful background. Annet, would you like to add to that as well?

Annet Birungi:
More so supplementing on what Daniel just said. Ah, that sugarcane area, most of the other, the community members, they are migrants from the Northern part of Uganda affected by the war. So they came there to settle with limited resources, they don't have enough land to do other economic activities like improved agriculture like maybe raising goats, maybe raising cows, so they go to the factory, which has already established seats or sugarcane plantations to employ these young women as casual laborers because that is the only option for them to acquire income.
The engagement from morning, let's say for example 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM in the evening, approximately 12 hours per day, doesn't leave these women to participate in other productive activities like joining the serving groups, like participating in the modern agriculture, and in that community, traditionally, women are the ones that provide for their family. Now, many who may have more opportunities to acquire big land, who may have opportunities maybe to hire acres of land to practice agriculture, also they are manipulated by the factory promising them large sums of money after harvesting their sugarcane. Mainly found that the women in the community have less power to make decisions, have less power to influence, so this one is really affecting the employment, the economic opportunities of the women.

Heather Risley:
It was really clear traveling around this area, the prominent role that the sugarcane plantations play in the economic productivity in this area. So I thought it was really important that we talk about this in the context of women's employment opportunities and how it contributes to a number of the barriers that they face. At this point, we want to focus more on Annet’s story. She herself is a youth leader and she's female and grew up in this community. So we wanted to hear more about her personal experience as a young woman and the barriers she faced personally in her journey to becoming a leader.

Lindsey Woolf:
Annet, could you tell our listeners what it was like growing up as a young woman in Uganda?

Annet Birungi:
Growing up was not easy at all as for the rural girl or in the rural man in Uganda because they are traditionally or culturally, women are not given all the priorities. They are not given all the privileges to help them to plan for their, for the success in their lives. Most of the opportunities are given to boys. So growing up there was not all that on a silver plate for me, also being from the poor family, it was not all that easy and of course as a young girl I was looking at my future, I was growing, dreaming big.
I wanted to be someone who is really at a higher level of perspective with the community. So it was not easy. So it was through the support of my mother who was so much interested in education, who was so much interested in seeing that at least her girl child accessed whatever she wants.
I remember my mother could tell me that, you know, I didn't go to school much as I wanted, but at least I want my daughter to reach the higher education of learning, and they wanted to see that at least she comes or she becomes an important person that everyone will admire. So that was growing up and that one inspired me to be maybe who I am today.

Heather Risley:
Thank you for sharing that. That's really interesting to hear how important your mother was in formulating your experience and the emphasis that she put on education. What barriers continue to be problems for the young women as they pursue work or start a business?

Annet Birungi:
Lack of capital to start their own businesses and also the support from the family. Specifically now young women, who are in a relationship, who are married, they are not always supported by their husbands. Their husbands feel that if this woman gets support, if it gets more money, we’ll become the owner of the home. We’ll no longer be submissive. We no longer perform her roles. That is, I bring it as a culture perspective and the traditional perspective of these young women to embrace new skills.
Also there are limited opportunities for them available, and also lack of information. What skills are more marketing and what skills are on the market, what skills can bring for them more money, and also what businesses that can bring more profit. So, those are the barriers that young women still face in starting their businesses. You find that much as I'm willing to do the business, but I lack support from the people who are around me, my family, my spouse, and also a lot of responsibilities at home. Women are regarded as homemakers, reproductive roles. They have to take care of the family. They have to provide foods for their families, so they're not supported. And men, they're the ones who are given a free life to move here and there. So we find that the women are always staged in one particular area, they do not have opportunities to move. They do not have opportunities to access new information, to share and learn from others. So those are a few of their barriers.

Heather Risley:
Another person that Lindsay and I wanted to meet was a man named Sandy, whose title is Vice Chairman of Budongo sub-County, which really means he's a local elected official that is engaged with the sort of small group around Nyantonzi and really knows that community well and the challenges that these women face. So the next part of this conversation will be focused on Sandy as he explains the very specific barriers that women face in that area.

Sandy:
Now, when you look at the young population of Nyantonzi in the early stages of education, very many people, very many children are enrolled in schools. But as they continue in the system, our educational system at the primary level takes seven years. Now, after seven years, you find the number decreases and it is more with the girl child. Now, our children begin basically average, they begin education at around five years. So if you add on the seven years that they're supposed to spend in school, you find at P-7 [Primary 7], averagely, our children are around 13 to 14 years of age.
Now, meaning that if the girls do not complete the P-7, it means that before the age of 15, very many girls and boys are already at home. Now, when at this age children are at home, it means they have not been given chance to have a basic education that could give them employment, that could give them the knowledge and skills of life that when they are growing up, they're able to mend for themselves, do livelihood activities for themselves. So these are children who are in the community.
So it means that our community has a very high level of dependency on a few groups of people. It means that our community is exposed to the early marriages. It means our community is most exposed to epidemics and pandemics. That is how our youth and young people are.

Lindsey Woolf:
Who out of the young people here are the most vulnerable and marginalized? And what challenges do those young people face?

Sandy: Yeah, the most marginalized and vulnerable are the girl child because of course you know the nature of a girl child. First, like I put it earlier, they are exposed to forced marriage at early age. You know, in our culture it is when you produce very many girls, they say you are wealthy, that you're going to marry them off, and they give you bride price and bride price makes that feeling, makes their parents think that girls who drop out of school get married quickly. That's one of the vulnerability.
Secondly, it is in our communities that you find alcohol and drug consumption in every party--marriage party, but any party, any community party there is alcohol consumption and it is the men. Now when they consume the alcohol, you know what takes place when somebody has drugs, is intoxicated, and the man who goes and batters their wife seems to be the person who can manage and the man, a woman who is married to a mild man who does not beat, who does not batter, it seems to be that the woman is above the man and this is the kind of reasons. These are the kinds of families our people are in. And secondly, due to also lack of knowledge diseases, HIV, AIDS, people are not used. They don't know how to use the contraceptives. Family planning is not anywhere near their reasoning, meaning that they produce children, which they cannot, whom they cannot manage, and that is coupled by what we, lack of livelihood activities. So in all of these aspects, it is the woman who is more vulnerable.

Heather Risley:
We were able to speak with some of the young women in Nyantonzi, and they echoed a lot of what Sandy was just talking about. One of the major issues that they identified in almost every single interview we did was the problem of early marriage and the expectation of having children early on, where they didn't have a choice in their own family planning. This is tightly connected to family expectations in the community and men's expectation of their wives, and brings up a lot of difficult cultural attitudes around women's role in society.
So, while Sandy touched on a lot of this, we're also going to hear from Annet around how Safeplan engages directly with families and women's husbands around how they are trying to change cultural attitudes.

Lindsey Woolf:
You mentioned how families are so crucial in either being supportive or not of these young women, have you been involved or witnessed conflicts with these young women and their families and how have you helped resolve those conflicts so that they can see the light as you say, regarding the empowerment of these young women and how that helps the whole community?

Annet Birungi:
Ah, yeah. We have had family interaction where these young women come from because we have to get to know the limitation and how can we solve it. For example, there is one of the board members I interacted with some time back and she said that she was facing GBV, gender-based violence that her husband was threatening her and whatever she could, like she's coming for the meetings, she's coming for the training and the husband is kind of threatening her, harassing her, so we looked at this issue and together with our coordinator, we talked to this family, we talked to the lady and talked to the entire family, specifically to the spouse, what are the benefits of this lady getting exposed to opportunities, learning, having knowledge, how would it impact his family. After some time we're ready to assess, to assess the impact and find that the lady, she's now active and she's even in the first people to bring her saving every Friday. You find that the lady, she's really, she has changed the meaning after talking to her spouse or to the partner, has really helped supported her, changed the mindset of the husband. Now you're looking at achieving together. So that is how we get involved to speak to the community and to the families.

Lindsey Woolf:
The women have expressed, you know, that this family issues are sometimes a hindrance. Are there other issues that they've expressed that they need support around in order to be more involved in your programs?

Annet Birungi:<
They need set-up kits, startup capital of their businesses. They need resources, materials. If you have trained them in a certain skill how can they start up, like a tailoring. They are very poor, they cannot buy tailoring machine. They cannot buy expensive garments that people will buy. They cannot buy other materials. So mostly they will tell you, yes, we are so much interested in this. We have learned it. We can start, but we do not have startup capital. We don't have startup kits. We do not have a way to begin from.

Heather Risley:
As we know, young women can't be the only ones involved in improving access to employment opportunities for women. Young men are also a critical component to changing the cultural norms around gender equality and how men and women interact with each other. So now we're going to hear from Daniel on this topic.

Lindsey Woolf:
How are the barriers that young women face in the community different from the barriers that young men and adult women face?

Daniel Akena:
If a young woman misses school between maybe seven to 13 years, it will be very difficult for that person to start again, because this is the time that the brain is very active. So, if they miss that opportunity, it will be hard for them too. So you get to find out they are really affected. It takes really a strong-minded parent to really put a lot of resources in educating the young girl because they think they are more vulnerable, they're exposed to more problems, so it may be a waste of resource. So this affects their life because this problem comes at the early stage where they need to really make change upon their life.

Lindsey Woolf:
How do you go about changing mindsets?

Daniel Akena:
Yeah, changing mindset is the ... there is no good tool in changing mindset apart from talking to people.
Yes, we reach out and talk to them. We talk to them as a group but we also single out them one-on-one or in smaller groups so that they better understand that, what they are going through, either some of us talking to them or other people we interact with have also gone through such kind of experience.
Sometimes they feel they don't have free space to open up. Maybe they have developed some, their attitude towards some of this talk, it may or may not be good, but if you have a range of people, you are two or three, they may have a better attitude towards them or the person, so you ensure your interest is actually achieved. Guidance, giving inspirational short stories so that somebody can understand that no, I am not alone.

Heather Risley:
Among everyone we spoke with, they all talked about the many barriers that women face to gaining opportunities. For example, a few that stood out to me include women's lack of capital and the economic barriers that they faced to gaining income and equal status in the household. In addition, the lack of education that women in particular, girls in particular face and that there seems to be a lower value placed on educating girls among the family.
Lindsey, what did you hear?

Lindsey Woolf:
In addition to those, I was also struck by the cultural expectations on the young women of early marriage and early childbearing, and the responsibilities that come along with that, that make it difficult for them to have time to do productive income-generating activities.

Heather Risley:
In our next episode, we'll be focusing more on the solutions and what Safeplan Uganda is doing to really address these challenges. In addition, we'll also be telling the story of the prize-winning Budongo Women Bee Enterprise program. You'll be hearing from the young women who are participating in this program and the changes that are being made in their lives as a result of the program.

Heather Risley:
Remember, you can always learn more at the following websites: youthpower.org or Education Links at www.edu-links.org. If you haven't already, remember to subscribe to this podcast in your favorite podcast app.

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 5: Solutions to Women's Empowerment

Heather Risley:
Welcome back to another episode of the Young Women Transform podcast. I'm Heather Risley from USAID's Office of Education.

Lindsey Woolf:
I'm Lindsey Woolf from Youth Power Learning.

Heather Risley:
In episode four, we talked about the barriers that women face. If you haven't already, you might want to go back and listen to that episode before continuing with this one.

Lindsey Woolf:
In this episode, we want to switch to talking about the solutions that Safeplan Uganda has thought of to address some of these barriers. We'll be going out to a different part of Uganda in Nyatonze to see what this looks like in action. We finally arrived in Nyatonze which is a small village about an hour from Masindi, which is where we were saying before. This is the area where there's a lot of forests and it's where the bees are kept, and it's where the women do their beekeeping, so we're excited to be here and join a training this morning.

We'll be speaking to some of the women in the program, a chance to see the bees, and just learn a little bit more about how this program works. The women here have very little economic opportunity outside of the small enterprises that they can start through the beekeeping program.

Heather Risley:
Now, here's Lindsey speaking with Ronald.

Lindsey Woolf:
How are you involved with identifying the young people that are involved in the training programs?

Ronald Mujwiga:
First, we came to the community leaders, most especially the church and that's the reverend. We created an awareness. The reverend ran for us the campaign. We reached and people were called. They were many in number regardless of the age, but we were more specific of the youth. When they came out, we selected. We had a criteria which would choose from the elderly and young, so we captured their age. Of course, the youth are ranging between 15 up to 30 or 35. We also came up to bring the young who were at least 18 and above. According to the law of Uganda, people who are supposed to be working are supposed to be above 18.

We said, okay, let it be 18 and below 29. We selected majorly the young mothers, that is one of the key areas we looked at because these are the people mostly affected.

So we thought that if this young mother are engaged in, it would also be a vital beneficiary for us. Then we also brought in the young men who would help in some various skills, for example, maybe in carpentry. You may find that these ladies may not be able to handle this hard work to do. We thought of also men would also come in and since also they're workers, mentors sometimes, they always say you need a need to lean on, so we thought they would also help them.

Lindsey Woolf:
How has the beekeeping training benefited the beneficiaries?

Ronald Mujwiga:
These are the young people who we found at the village level without any skills. They were loitering around, most of them were in the houses. When we came up with beekeeping, most of the areas affected is sugarcane plantations. If you look at the nature of the bees, these are simple insects. We don't require much time that you always go early in the morning, maybe be there full day. These are insects which require the wee hours maybe when everyone is at rest. You can get 30 minutes, go, check on your boxes, and then come back.

We looked at a project that can be done by these young people, most especially the mothers that won't make them feel exhausted. Because once you have installed your box, your beehive box, it is much easier to inspect with the other safety gears. You'll find that these people will love the job and it's something simple compared to maybe going to the garden, maybe you have the kid, the kid is disturbing you. It is a project or business that is simple to manage, but again with high value because honey has a lot of value. It has a high market and it is medicinal.

You would find that most of these young people, they don't have the money to go to the hospitals, but if they get this honey, honey is something medicinal. If maybe you have cough, flu, those are things which affect their babies, so if by spoonful you take one, it is something that you'll be gaining from whereby we are avoiding the other expenditure in terms of treatment, and also living a better life. At the same time, if the person harvest, he sells the honey to always find that person at her place.

Lindsey Woolf:
In addition to the beekeeping training, are there other services you've provided the young people that have benefited them?

Ronald Mujwiga:
Yes, we train them in business skills. Most of them were doing their simple businesses, but they didn't know how to plan for them. They didn't know how to do simple savings. They lacked some of other skills, for example, group savings, whereby if they would make their money maybe go to the market, sell their cassava flour, you would find that is very hard for them where to put money. Since they have hostile husbands, definitely they will come, pick the little they have gathered from the market, take them away from those people.

When we came up, we said that if these people start saving in a group, at least every Friday, the market is always on Thursday, so if every Friday they come and put that they have saved to the group, no one will be able to access because the group is a bit strict and has some governing laws. We found it wise that let them come, sell, remain the little they have acquired from the market then save it. That was the business skills which helped them. Actually, they are even loving it so much to avoid the dangers of people taking their money.

Then another skill we trained them is leadership. Most of them lacked communication skills, lacked how to handle each other.

Leadership is something that we always believe that comes from God, but before or maybe someone if not told or maybe not informed on how you can lead others, it will always be hard. We train them in leadership skills mostly which would help them gain confidence both at home and even at the market levels and how they work with their customers.

You will find that even in the group we created, we emphasize that let the leaders come within themselves. In the BUWOBE project, these are the same people who are leading themselves so that they can look at success of their program.

Lindsey Woolf:
The Budongo Women Bee Enterprises program is Safeplan's signature activity recognized by USAID's Young Women Transform Prize program trains primarily young women as well as a few young men in how to keep bees and harvest honey for use and herbal cough syrup.

Heather Risley:
We're off to see the bees. We are going through this grassy field right now. There's a lot of small structures, homes around the area. As we understand it, it's been a little bit challenging finding land where they can put the bee structures, so they've had to space them out on different family plots rather than having them all together. They're trying to work out a partnership with the National Forestry Unit to use some of the government lands to house these be so that the women have a space to do their beekeeping. We are traveling with a bunch of the women right now to go check them out.

Daniel Akena:
They've been very kind to us. They offered us about four trees to cut and make timber so that we can have a start-up of the beehives.

Heather Risley:
This is Daniel Akena speaking. He's been leading us through the various sites where the bee heavy areas are located. You'll hear him interviewing many of the women in the village throughout some of this next part of the episode. Many of the women here don't speak English, so you'll also hear a little bit of their voices, but then you'll hear Paulina, one of the Safeplan staff doing some translation.

Daniel Akena:
We contributed some little money together with the trainees, the beneficiaries. The trees were cut down and split into timbers. We have a number of them. We're expecting more than 20 boxes are from the timbers he donated to us. We have produced about seven with the little resources we have and he's continuing with the work. This type of beehives is called Kenya Top-Bar, it originated from Kenya, abbreviated as KTB. These are the top-bars where the bees make their hives and put the honey. There is one side this way and then the other side where they can lower the hives, then they can make the honey from there. Since she started, how has life changed for her?

Villager:
[speaking]

Paulina:
What she has seen and changed her life, how to put beehives and even have made for them beehives and they have placed in their sites.

Daniel Akena:
Does she remember any two or three things which she has liked that she has learned from BUWOBE project?

Paulina:
She learned about empowerment, how youths are supposed to be empowered.

Daniel Akena:
We identified this site. It has a lot of support of the parents. The parent identified this place so that the girl can put here and we are very happy that he's even allowing the neighbors so that they can use this site to put their beehives.

Lindsey Woolf:
So it's the parents who are supportive of the women and they have allowed them to use their land because they don't own the land?

Daniel Akena:
Yes, so that one was very important to us and he's the very person who gave us the trees. We expect about more than 50 hives here which I'll have in lines. Some of the trees which are like these ones are going to be removed and we leave only those ones that we prefer they are good like coffee and leucaena, and so on. About three people are going to put their hives here to start with so that the project can kick-off.

Heather Risley:
Do many of the women have to travel far to get to the beehives or are they established very close to their homes?

Daniel Akena:
That is a good question. From the start of the project, those were one of the hiccup in the program because, like we said, they have a bit of challenges getting land, so sometime they allocate long-distance places. It's a bit of a challenge to them, so with the support of the staff coordinator who is going round to really identify a site where these people are going to put the hives, we guide them that no, it is the most appropriate place to put the hive because of security, easier management, and so on.

We are still wishing, God willing, if we have expanded, we may have a community approach so that as we are trying to strike a deal with the National Forest Authority, they can allocate about 5, 10 acres so that people have communal way of farming bees. Each one would have his 50, 20 and so on so that the issue of land can be sorted by the forest reserve we already have.

Lindsey Woolf:
This is Lindsey here, walking through Nyatonze viewing some of the apiary sites and the beehives. We were here in this exact same spot a few months ago when they were preparing the apiary sites, and we just got to see some hives placed at the sites. So it's really exciting to see this progress coming together.

[goat bleating]

Heather Risley:
I guess you can't have a podcast in a rural village without a screaming goat, huh? Okay, seriously, here's Lindsey.

Lindsey Woolf:
Beyond the beekeeping skills, they also provide entrepreneurship training and basic financial management, communication skills, leadership, and functional literacy. Safeplan staff say that as a result of their involvement in the program, the young women are becoming more confident and willing to express their opinions. Like the young men participating in the carpentry training program, the young women of BUWOBE are encouraged to take a leadership role in their community and train others to start their own businesses. We met many of the women who said this program is changing their lives for the better.

Villager:
I'm a businesswoman whereby I got the knowledge from Safeplan whereby they taught us how to save. Long-time ago, I did not have that knowledge because I was doing my business minus saving which was bad. Right now, I have the what? The knowledge about saving whereby you can use, another one you save for future plan.

Lindsey Woolf:
Thank you very much. Hi, how are you?

Badar Agnes:
Hello.

Lindsey Woolf:

Can you introduce yourself and say your name?

Agnes:
My names I'm called Badar Agnes.

Lindsey Woolf:
Nice to meet you. Why do you come to this program and what is the biggest benefit for you?

Agnes:
I come to this program to learn about more many things and to do other knowledge in this program.

Agnes:
As me, I'm a businesswoman and to buy a produce. When I'm doing my business without learning, I've not make any other records, but now we are in Safeplan, we do and we keep records and we start saving our what? The money for the business.

Lindsey Woolf:
We heard from the women of BUWOBE that the training provided them, not just the technical skills related to beekeeping but also the soft skills of self-efficacy or awareness of one's potential along with critical thinking skills that are key to their empowerment. These skills have been identified in research as crucial for positive cross-sectoral youth outcomes. Now, over to Heather for her conversation with Daniel and Annet.

Heather Risley:
I noticed when we were at the sites that where the beehives are, what I really noticed was the way that there were many different interconnected activities that the BUWOBE program provides to women and other community members that was a very holistic approach.

I saw that when we were viewing the beehives, it wasn't just about the beekeeping, you were also looking at planting other varieties of plants and products around the beehive that supported the business, and the fertilization, and the quality of the honey that would be produced, and then the variety and different types of skills training that you were providing, from not just how to do beekeeping and how to do financial management but also in leadership skills and in savings programs. So I was very struck by just the number of different services and skills that this program provides to support, in a more holistic way, a variety of different income-generating options that the community can have.

Would one of you like to speak more about your approach to providing those opportunities for women in particular when the employment opportunities are so few?

Daniel Akena:
You have mentioned a holistic approach and I want to emphasize that we are using what we call a four-dimensional approach to address the challenges these communities face. They have already mentioned they're immigrants and we have also mentioned about the sugar cane. The sugar cane is consuming most of the land and leaving little or no land for agriculture activity. Now if there is little or no land and the women do not have enough rights to claim that I want to plant here maybe food crop, it becomes a bit of a challenge.

Our four-dimensional approach is we are looking at how do we protect the environment, how do we increase the income of the women, then how do we associate to them, how do we put them together in the society, and then how do we bring in social services so that it improves the living condition of the people around?

Annet Birungi:
Planting trees also it was a driving force to convince all to make a partnership with the National Forest Authority to allow these women hang their hives as they participate in other activities. For example, because it is a low-intensity economic activity, it is different from other agriculture activities like growing beans, growing crops, whereby that you have to put your hives there. It is a matter of keep on supervising once in a while as you participate in other productive activities like modern agriculture, saving groups, and so on.

Daniel Akena:
If a youth knows how to produce an item, he also needs to know how to market, he also needs to know how to keep his proper records so that he stands a better chance of being supported. Most funders, banks and all other people who really want to support enterprises growing, need the proper record, need really proper track of what you are doing for them to better understand that you really understand what you're doing.

Now the newly introduced technology, we are trying to work on improving honey to produce herbal syrup. It is really a venture that we want these young people to get into because it will create a lot of job opportunity for them.

A number of them will be in the process of producing the honey, packaging, branding, marketing, and so on. Those are skills that we need to impart in them. Hands-on training, entrepreneurship, and then leadership so that they can become responsible people in the community.

Heather Risley:
Thanks to you both. I think you've really illustrated the point of the sheer number of activities that you're thinking about and wanting to make sure that they all align and support each other, so I really appreciate that. Thank you.

So, Lindsey, that was a really great day. I really felt like I learned a lot from seeing the sights and really hearing from the women themselves. I'd like to take a little bit more time now to focus on our own reflections from today and what we've learned about some of the solutions that can address the barriers that we identified in the last episode. Do you have any reflections on that that you want to share?

Lindsey Woolf:
Yes, I've really enjoyed seeing Safeplan progress through this project. The solutions implemented by Safeplan are cross-sectoral and responsive to the realities of life for the young women of the Nyatonze, the majority of whom are young mothers. The BUWOBE training and beekeeping approach to income generation adds value to the honey production and the Women's Cooperative provides access to the market, and they are working with local partners such as the National Forest Authority to ensure the success and sustainability of the activities.

Heather Risley:
While it was clear from visits to the bee sites, they still have a few months to go before they can actually see honey being harvested, it's obvious that a lot of the benefits from the training and the work that they've already done is benefiting the youth in this rural community who otherwise, it's clear don't have very many other opportunities to earn any kind of meaningful income or have goals really. I certainly was struck by just the amount of enthusiasm that the youth expressed around the potential for what this program can do and the changes that they can make in their lives.

While the effort is still in its relatively early stages, many of the youth expressed their plans for what could be if this program is able to continue and more people become involved in the program. It was really exciting just to see the potential and the excitement among these youth, and to see USAID's commitment in our presence there and our support for what they're doing. It was very inspiring. Next episode, we're going to be addressing the topic of youth engagement. While much of the Safeplan Uganda focuses on young women, they also recognize the importance of including men in the conversation as they are also critical in changing the culture so that young women have equal opportunities.

We'll also be learning about the story of Simon and Peter, two young men who are participating in the BUWOBE program who are changing their lives for the better. Remember, you can always learn more at the following websites, youthpower.org or education links at www.edu-links.org. If you haven't already, remember to subscribe to this podcast in your favorite podcast app.

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 6: Youth Engagement & Skills Training

Heather Risley:
Welcome back. This is another episode of the Young Women Transform podcast. I'm Heather Risley with USAID Office of Education.

Lindsey:
This is Lindsey Woolf from YouthPower Learning.

Heather Risley:
In this episode, we're going to be focusing on youth engagement.

Lindsey Woolf:
As part of engagement, youth are developing soft skills as well as technical skills that will prepare them for meaningful employment. At USAID, we looked at the literature, which has identified key soft skills that produce positive youth outcomes. These include higher order thinking, the development of positive self-concept, self-control, and communication skills. Throughout this episode, you'll hear more about how the youth are helping each other in order to develop these skills.

Heather Risley:
We had a number of conversations with staff at Safeplan Uganda, about what youth engagement looks like within their programs, what their recruitment strategy is, and just their general philosophy about how to keep youth engaged and how to get more youth engaged. I think one of the takeaways from those conversations for me was, it's really about changing mindsets.

You do that just through having conversations. The fact that Safeplan staff are local and are members of the community themselves, as well as youth, I think makes it easier for them to connect with the beneficiaries of the program and create a more trusting relationship, where youth can share their concerns and their fears and brainstorm solutions to how they might overcome some of the challenges that they face. We'll be talking more about creating that open space for trust and open communication. We'll be talking about what incentives there are for youth to keep engaged in this program. We’ll also be hearing about a story of two young boys who participated in Safeplan’s BUWOBE program and how they're really working together and really inspiring their peers to be creative in generating income for themselves and creating a positive influence on their community. Here's Lindsey and Annet.

Lindsey Woolf:
How do you recruit other young people to be involved as volunteers and staff?

Annet Birungi:
We do not really follow the formal recruitment of the young people or the staff to join us. We look at the spirit of volunteerism of the person joining us or the young person joining us. We have to look at, what is your dream because these people also, they have their own beliefs, what they want to follow, what they want to be. Most of our staff, they have that spirit of volunteerism, much as we are growing a small organization, may not have all the resources to take care of the staff, maybe to pay salaries and whatever.

Our recruitment is based on those approaches, spirit of volunteerism, willing to serve your community. Then willing to bring innovative ways in the organization that can really improve the fellow youth, that can really improve the community. Looking at determination, how determined are you, how passionate are you towards your community, towards developing the community.

Lindsey Woolf:
You mentioned the spirit of volunteerism and determination and a willingness to give back to the community. Are there other qualities or characteristics you look for in the young people that serve as volunteers or staff?

Annet Birungi:
Yes. We have five areas of programs and they’re broad, they’re very open. That is also part of the skill because someone may come, “I'm good, maybe I'm good at IT, maybe my passion is to become an ICT Specialist. I want a gender-equality something, I want to see women coming on board.” Someone may say, “I'm passionate about environment, climate change.”

What do you have? What is your input? What are you willing to change in? Basing on our five programming areas, also contributes to us, to find, to identify a young person, to identify a staff joining us. The background skill, the background story is the one that saves us to say, “No, this is a young person, really knows what we want and who can help us achieve the objective.”

Heather Risley:
Now we're going to switch over to Lindsey's conversation with Daniel about technical skills.

Lindsey Woolf:
What skills do young women need to have in order to start their own business or pursue work?

Daniel Akena:
In the first place, young women need to have the skills to do what they want to do for themself [sic], then after having those skills, they need to be guided. How do you keep record because business without record, you cannot know whether you're earning or not. To come out of that, they really have to have the skills for something that can bring them income and then have some skills to record them.

Then other aspects of leadership and all these other things will come later on because if they have income, they can meet most of their urgent needs. Especially at family level, they know they will not wait for their spouses to provide for meals, buy a simple panadols, antibiotics when a kid fall sick. In that way, they will be a bit comfortable, then other things will follow later on but they need to have the skills to bring in money. Then, how do we manage this money so the money can grow and help them in their households?

Lindsey Woolf:
Are there other services you've provided the young women in addition to the training that has benefited them?

Daniel Akena:
One-on-one training, we provide counseling services. Sometime we have short-med programs that run for maybe a week or so, to young people. Like the sanitary pads, linking up with other partners, see that we reach out to the community and talk to them about something that can improve their lives. We have other program, outreach program where we reach including churches, social places, to promote the idea of how do we fight stereotype thinking of-- Especially in technical training.

Can we have the ladies also join carpentry, building and so, so that we don't end in training only but we also go and change the mindset. So that people have an open-minded thinking for them to better take decision on issues that affect their life.

Heather Risley:
Okay, and now we're going to take a break from our conversations with Daniel and Annet to focus on a story of two boys named, Simon and Peter, and the partnership that they have developed together. As part of USAID’s youth workforce development learning agenda, a key question is about effective ways to develop skills. One way of doing that is through mentorship. In this story, you'll hear how this is working in practice. Here's Lindsey to introduce the story.

Lindsey Woolf:
Simon is one of the senior Youth Ambassadors for the Budongo Women Bee Enterprises program or BUWOBE and lives in Intonze. He was one of the first to join the trainings offered by Safeplan. He told us about the difficulties he faced. He had to drop out of school early, for example, and struggled with what to do with his life. When he learned about BUWOBE, he said, he started to see some hope. Now he's a community advocate for the program. He's recruited another young boy Peter and trained him in beekeeping.

The two now work together to pull their resources, participate in savings programs and earn income together. They have big plans to expand their number of beehives and plant crops that can support in healthy ecosystem, contributing to the food security of their community and supporting a sustainable environment. Can you introduce yourself and say your name?

Simon:
My name, I’m called Obema Simon, a senior member of Safeplan Uganda

Heather Risley:
Wonderful. What, as a senior member, do you do? What is the biggest benefit of this program?

Simon:
There are so many benefits out of this program. I can mention them but not all, just due to the time.

Heather Risley:
Okay [chuckles].

Simon:
Actually, before this program had started, I used to face a lot of challenges. As you see me here, I'm still a youth [chuckles], I'm not that old even if you see me with these beards [chuckles] and so on. I’m not that old. I've been facing a lot of challenges after my education though I didn't complete due to some problems. Since Safeplan came in, as I was passing by, that gentleman, that old man you’re seeing there, was seated under that tree.

I was called, then I had to pay attention to them. It was just like a spiritual thing. I made sure that I have to come and I came. Since by then, the knowledge that they impact into our brains up to this state, I've seen a lot of changes in my life and already. There is where they say you may be taught something to put it in action, but if you just hear it and take it for granted, it will make no yield. As per now, I have gone so far with help of Safeplan and some of the things that you are going to see this day of today.

Heather Risley:
Wonderful. It sounds like this has made a big impact for you. What do you hope for yourself in the future?

Simon:
Something big because actually this organization came under beekeeping. As time went on, I realized that it wasn't only all about beekeeping.

Heather Risley:
In these conversations with Simon, I'm really hearing more and more about how his experience in this program really goes beyond just the beekeeping activity itself and the technical skills he's developed in order to just do the beekeeping. In his descriptions, you can really hear how he's changed his outlook on life. He's become more positive. He has more hope. He's developed an ability to see how he himself can effect change in his own life. This goes back to the concept that I spoke about earlier. One of the key soft skills that were identified was positive self-concept. You can really hear that coming through these conversations. Here's Simon again talking more about those skills.

Simon:
There are some other things that came behind it there. For example, business skills, empowerment and some other things. I have a lot of youths who have turned up and who are even interested to join this group. Why? We are taught how to do businesses, how to save expenditures and so on. You understand? We were told about empowerment. I've collected some youths who have turned up, who were in very critical condition. I love it. I love what I'm doing right now. I love what you brought to us.

Heather Risley:
Now, we'll hear from Peter, one of Simon's friends, he has mentored in beekeeping and who has learned a lot through this process.

Peter:
I'm called Opio Peter and Simon is my friend. The first time we met together was the first day when government members from the office of Safeplan came to the ground. We are the first people they met together with him. From there, I just built love for that. When they taught us that they're coming to give us the training about beekeeping. I was already having that hope that I was must one day keep bees. What was lacking is that I did not have the knowledge to go over with it and the knowledge plus the funding for starting.

That was what I lacked. When they came to ground, after the first training which was beekeeping, they had come for business. We also went ahead, learning how to do the business and building more hope that we shall have one hive. When they donate us one hive, from the one hive, we can still get more of the hives. From one hive, where we mean when the hive is colonized and the bees get into it, we harvest the bees. From the money we got from the honey, we can still get more hives and come together with him. We just built the friend. We say, "Let us build a partner. Let's stay together so that we can manage it together," and that's how we came into working with him making this site.

Heather Risley:
It was so great to meet Simon and Peter. Their relationship is a really interesting dynamic that came out of this program. It shows how the peer-to-peer learning is working in practice. Since Simon was an older youth and really got a lot of out of the program, he was able to seek out Peter, bring him into the program and now they're working together to achieve some common goals. Now we're going to switch back to our interviews. Here's Lindsey speaking with Annet.

Lindsey Woolf:
What are the opportunities for young women in your community, and what skills do they need in order to tap into those opportunities?

Annet Birungi:
Our target is convincing young people, they are youth. We come in and we help them to initiate and start their job opportunities, their own income-getting activities. This one is packaged with skills, what you talked about. We have various skills. Firstly is the tailoring skills, measured in garment cutting, you make the fashions, the designs of the clothes which are in the trend because we know that they can market. Then another scale is carpentry and joinery.

All these skills are short skills. They take a period over three months because we believe that these are the basics that we can really give them and having the limited resources, I know we have the short skills that can enable them to go and begin in the job market. Then another skill is the metal cutting and fabrication. That is a very good example of making frames of the stoves. Then also the boxes for packing for school. Those are the skills. Then candle making.

We are looking to adding value addition to beeswax after harvesting honey. We don't want to see that beeswax as a waste. Our members involved in beekeeping, we give them that skill to produce candle from the beeswax that we also add the citronella to repel away the mosquitoes because most communities are living near the forestry reserves. They are prone to mosquito bites and government programs like health centers are rare. They don't treat there and we want to introduce other skills, which now we are still designing, which can take like one day or two days to learn, like soap making or bookmaking, these books.

Then another skill that also we wanted to introduce that would be not very far long ago is the shoe polish making. We are looking at those skills which take not more than at least a week or considering the resources and availability of the trainers to help them. Our skills, we really emphasize the participants to carry on them as commercial purposes, as businesses, transfer these skills to other people.

Heather Risley:
That wraps up another episode. I think we've really learned a lot. Once again, some of the key reflections that I have are how this program is really taking a youth-responsive approach. Also, how they really offer a variety of skills. I think this really comes through quite strongly in answering the question of what are the effective ways to build skills and just the sheer number of activities that youth can choose to be involved in. Also, this idea that Annet talked about finding skills that take a fairly short time to develop, so that youth see the quicker return on investment that helps them continue to engage in the program. Lindsey, is there anything else you want to add to that?

Lindsey Woolf:
From our interviews with Simon and Peter, we also learned about the importance of the opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, for both the mentor and the mentee. This provides an empowering experience whereby they can not only improve their incomes, but also strengthen their relationships and become leaders within their communities.

Heather Risley:
I agree. That was a really important concept that came through strongly in that story. In the next episode, we're going to be talking more about program design. We're going to dig in with Daniel in a deeper way of how the different components of the program work together and the approaches that they take overall to designing effective programming.

Remember, you can always learn more at the following websites, youthpower.org or EducationLinks at www.edu-links.org. If you haven't already, remember to subscribe to this podcast in your favorite podcast app.

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 7: Program Design

Heather Risley:
Hi, everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Young Women Transform podcast. I'm Heather Risley with USAID's Office of Education.

Lindsey Woolf:
I'm Lindsey Woolf with YouthPower Learning.

Heather Risley:
In this episode, we're going to be talking about program design. It's going to cover a lot of different areas. We're going to dig in both to the technical side of program design, and talk specifically with Daniel, the program manager here about some of the needs assessment work they've done, how they're evaluating their program, what impact looks like. We're also going to discuss in more detail what the experience was like for this small young organization to be a grantee with USAID funds, which can be challenging for small organizations to manage.

From listening to Safeplan staff talk about their experience, I know they've learned a lot about accounting, record keeping, and a lot more. Now I'm going to turn it over to Lindsey and her interview with Daniel, Safeplan Uganda's programs manager. They're going to talk in detail about Safeplan's Budongo Women's Bee Enterprise program or BUWOBE.

Lindsey Woolf:
Daniel, would you be able to walk us through the process of how BUWOBE provides the hives to the community and then buys the honey back from them? What are all of these steps exactly?

Daniel Akena :
The way the program works is that the enterprise gives the hives to the community, the community keeps the bees, they raise the honey and sell back to the enterprise, so that the enterprise takes some percentage to recover the cost of the hive, then the other percentage to the person who has brought the honey. By so doing that, the hive has a productive life of three to five years, the person continues to reap from that very hive. If the person maybe the income increases can so wish to buy another one.

We expand from that starting point. The BUWOBE, maybe something that we need to again highlight is that the tools we got, was the basis of that project, to make beehives. Now they are making the community we have trained the young people, they're helping us here to make some parts of the hive, so we make from here, we go and complete from there.

We are trying to create a way of how do we have the hives to the community. When it is formalized and we are really fully funded, we shall have a well-established production for hives where we are planning to produce in hundreds or thousands.

Then we can expand to other districts, other communities and so on. That is the model that have it to the community. They keep the honey and sell it back to you so that we can have more honey. They will be earning income.

Lindsey Woolf:
Who is the target market for these products that they're selling?

Daniel Akena:
We're initially starting with the community, first target beneficiaries, who will also help us do the research because when that product comes out we are going to do one of the two things, either subsidize the price or give them for free and they use. After three to six months, we would have known how the product performs, then it can push the market. Once the product has been fully developed, we plan to register with the authorities, National Drugs Authority and other relevant authorities to so that the product is fully recognized.

Then we can move out to outside market across the district through the National Drug Authority, and in 5, 10 years, maybe we can cross the borders Kenya, Southern Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and so on. We are starting here and we hope we get there.

Lindsey Woolf:
BUWOBE is a cooperative model. Could you tell us more about that and the products that they're producing?

Daniel Akena:
The cooperative model gives the power to the members to have a say, to control how they want to be managed, and how they will be producing their things, and how they will be benefiting. Then the beauty about that is that according to the original design, let alone the funds, is that if this model can really be developed so well, there can be a unit that these women in the village can also be benefiting from National Security support, because if you are poor, you are not earning anything. If you get old, that is the end of you.

If we have a system that they support by bringing the honey, we give them some little money, some money is saved, they have Social Security Fund, they can also benefit in future. This unit can also help them to maybe borrow school fees to pay for their children, and then address some of the emergency they would be facing. The model is that community should get together to produce something that gives them money, and the marketing of the product should be really formalized. That's why we are doing training. We are very hopeful we may get fund in future and support them with more boxes.

We want to improve the quality of the production so that if we can have good market. We are aspiring to be really major, well organized social enterprise across East Africa if God blesses our plan.

Lindsey Woolf:
How are you adding value to the honey that the women are produced?

Daniel Akena:
Initially we would just get honey and pack and sell, but it is coming the challenge of out of season, and even the income we get. It's just get to the honey, pack and sell. There is a little control on the product we take out, so we are trying to improve the chain by having high-value product like the honey syrup. We are also planning to integrate other product like the lip balms, maybe jelly so that there is more earning in the honey value chain. It doesn't end with the producer. For us, our work is take them the box they produce the honey, they bring back.

By so doing that we think they'll be more engaged, they'll be more income, they'll be more jobs for them, and life may get better for them.

Lindsey Woolf:
You're training them to make those value add products?

Daniel Akena:
Yes, the skills must be with them because they are the target beneficiaries. We want a village-based enterprise where we can easily recruit from the village because they have lower competitive advantage because of their level of education, exposure and so on. This is an opportunity we prefer nearer to them in the community they live in so that they see how this thing can change their life.

Heather Risley:
We're going to take a quick pause here, Lindsey and Daniel have covered a lot of ground on the actual business model that BUWOBE is based on. I think in a small scale project like this one, a cooperative model works really well. It gives community members more control over the process and builds in sustainability. The idea of adding value to the honey value chain is also very forward-thinking. Their plan for developing additional products out of the honey that can sustain them through the offseason could become a huge help to people, particularly women who are living on so little each day.

Here's Lindsey and Daniel again talking about Safeplan's use of needs assessments and evaluations.

Lindsey Woolf:
You utilized a needs assessment for your training design. Can you tell us more about that and how that informed the training that you provided?

Daniel Akena:
When we go specifically to BUWOBE, we had to conduct needs assessment to really consolidate the program and the needs of the target benefits so that they can better be realigned. One of the tools are those evolutions form that captures information that you want to hear from them, then how you want to help them, then we follow up it up with short teller meetings, we interact with them so that they better understand what the program is going to do to benefit to them.

Lindsey Woolf:
How do you measure your program's success?

Daniel Akena:
Program success is we use quantifiable and qualitative result, how many number of people we have supported within a period of this year. Maybe if we have designed a program, how many people have benefited, that in terms of numbers. We also break down in terms of age. Are they within the age group? What could be the challenges like some programs you may prefer for young people. Maybe young people's remain a bit jumpy and maybe they don't have time to stay on program that take their time, they always want to go and play and so on.

We measure this in terms of numbers. The other qualitative part is, what is the change in somebody. You didn't have funds before, you were not able to make decisions. Now because of the training, because of the aspiration you've had from your friends, now you can make well-informed decision for your life. You make decision for yourself, not other people to make for you. You can freely live in the community, choose what you feel it's okay for you. You know what's right and what's not right for you.

Lindsey Woolf:
You do some evaluation with the people that participate to see what effect their participation is having?

Daniel Akena:
Yes. Actually, in all our programs, there is a baseline survey, it will not matter how we conduct the baseline survey to collect those data from the beginning, then we compare it to what we shall get at the end of the program to see whether we have achieved this result or not. Those are the information we get and we discuss amongst the members and then we document so that it helps us to improve the program design.

Lindsey Woolf:
How do you incorporate feedback from program participants so that the program is responsive to their needs?

Daniel Akena:
When you we have collected our evolution form, for instance, we have a section whereby we ask you if you'd like us to contact you. If you so wish to be contacted and we have a concern that we feel you need more information, we give you a phone call. They are the community we live with them, we also reach out to them and try to create a casual talk and seek to understand, "How did you take up this?" "How did you reach out to this point?" Then after picking those information for us as staff members, we come and sit down and get those feedback. We discuss, then it helps us improve how we next time go back to the community.

Heather Risley:
We'll be right back with our interviews. Now I want to talk about the story of Esther who is a key member of the Safeplan organization who works quietly in the background. She's a young mother with few opportunities in Masindi to earn an income. In order to find a way to maintain a more steady inflow of funds to Safeplan’s organization and increase its sustainability, Safeplan has come up with an ingenious way to accomplish a number of interconnected goals, including giving Esther a better life. Safeplan found a local market for more environmentally friendly methods for cooking.

They now make clay cookstoves that reduce the amount of charcoal needed by 70%, which is better for the environment and the health of the women who usually are responsible for cooking meals.

Esther:
This here is the production area for our cookstoves of our food.

Lindsey Woolf:
Wow. There's a lot of them.

Esther:
We bring them, then this is where we pack them first. The lady, she's preparing to make the soil, to make mud for packing so that it can come maybe a finished product like what we have seen there.

Lindsey Woolf:
Are these for sale, these are going to be sold or?

Esther:
These ones, we tie them with wires. To make it more firm and to be more durable, we wrap it with a wire, so that even if it breaks, the wire can still hold it. Then ready for sale.

Heather Risley:
We're told that in Kampala, women have dominated the market for making cookstoves, but there really aren't any women in Masindi doing the same kind of work. Esther felt the need by becoming an expert and making these cookstoves using locally sourced mud and metal buckets. Esther sells these cookstoves in the local market, making some money for herself and also putting a percentage of the profit back into Safeplan to sustain the organization.

Esther:
The beautiful part of it is that it consumes less charcoal and even if you finish cooking, it remains hot, your food remains warm and you can still put other things like water. It consumes less charcoal compared to other metallic cookstoves.

Heather Risley:
In the future, Safeplan hopes to expand new markets, creating a bigger profit stream that can help keep them afloat. It was great to witness firsthand the work that Esther does. She doesn't say much, but she clearly works really hard and knows what she's doing. From the looks of it, the sheer number of cookstoves they make, we probably saw close to about maybe 100 on the premises, the products sell really well. We're going to return to our interviews. You're going to hear from Lindsey and Annet, Safeplan’s executive director as they dive into the details of how BUWOBE integrates savings groups into their co-op model.

Lindsey Woolf:
You mentioned the savings groups, is that one way that you're mobilizing those resources for the capital?

Annet:
Yes. After realizing that limitation, then we introduced the saving group. We believe that they may not have a large sum of money to start the business, but through savings little by little per week, the money can accumulate then maybe put a borrowing scheme, they can borrow, they start the business and share the costs of starting the business. It is very easy when you’re in saving group to start a business because we help you either to borrow money and maybe as you save your money is getting more.

It’s hard someone has get trained now to look for money to start business in the short-term, but when they’re in saving groups, they save together, they borrow together and find that they support each other to start their businesses.

Lindsey Woolf:
Unrelated, could you tell us more about the cooperative model that is BUWOBE and how that's helping the women with the access to market of their products?

Annet:
BUWOBE is a cooperative bee farming. They do farming together. They do most of their activities together, production and other activities. Safeplan being also in the network of many other people, they produce their products and we help them in marketing, in the packaging and also in marketing their products. Their approach is that they’re in the community, they work together and the products being produced for the benefit of the community. They start within themselves to market the products.

If I'm a member of BUWOBE and I’ve produced my candles, they are mosquito repellent, I've used them in my house and they are working, so that is a marketing strategy to also tell my neighbor about it, to tell my fellow women about it, "This is the product. We are marketing it together and it is working for us." Then also Safeplan Uganda, we use other channels to help them market their products. We are in networks, we always go out, we use the many other channels like online platforms. We have the website, we’ll put their products there.

Of course, we use also the most common social media, Facebook, WhatsApp to advertise the BUWOBE products. Mostly, the member themselves are so much committed to ensure that if things work for themselves, they work for the better. Before Safeplan Uganda comes in, they have really done their part, they are putting more efforts in seeing that this product, the marketing is there and they can access the markets and they’re contributing to access to the markets of their products.

Heather Risley:
In one second, we're going to switch back to Daniel, as we hear about what it's like being a prize winner. We're spending a bit of time on this topic because often it's difficult for small local organizations to compete for USAID funds. The standards that are required of an organization to receive USAID funds can be relatively onerous compared to US companies or other large NGOs that have more mature infrastructure. It's been a challenge for parts of USAID to find the right balance between safeguarding US taxpayer dollars, but also allowing local organizations to take the lead, which is the way we all want to see development happen. Here's Lindsey and Daniel.

Lindsey Woolf:
How did you feel when you found out that you were a winner of the prize?

Daniel Akena:
We were very happy. We were the most happiest. Again, on the other hand, we became a bit naive because we were going to deal with a partner we have never dealt with. All over people were wondering, people were telling us, "USAID is very strict here. How will manage?" We said, "No, we are going to try." We made a number of consultation meeting with fellow staff and collaborating with other partners who have money-similar grant or worked with the USAID to just garner experience and gain more confidence so that we ensure we develop a good relationship with USAID as a partner in ensuring that we implement our program.

Lindsey Woolf:
How have you found the grant process now that you've been through it? Was it as complicated as you thought originally or not?

Daniel Akena:
Not necessarily because we have one but the grant process is really good because it takes you through steps. Sometimes they ask all information at once, it breaks us so much, but we would like grant partners to ask us some information then we add, then we add, even if we stop at certain way, at least helps us that we reach this level, but we were not able to reach the next stage.

Lindsey Woolf:
Is there anything you wish you had known when you applied that you know now?

Daniel Akena:
Yes. I wish we had known that we really need to set a very clear financial system. We wouldn't have had a lot of again, going back to kind of reclean up the process. If we had those systems in place already, it would make the work simpler. The prototype we had, then the questionnaire we keep on correcting so that we have the system set running.

Lindsey Woolf:
What would you tell other youth-led organizations about applying for a prize?

Daniel Akena:
First of all, before they even apply, it would be good for them to prepare themselves have basic systems in place because however small the fund is or in a small unit like a family there's need for structures and systems in place to manage issues and the issues of money, things like that. Small organizations need to have structures first, they need to have hierarchy of leadership, they need to assign themselves roles, who is supposed to do what at what level? At what point do you come together to reinforce each other's effort? Sometimes it needs money, but it is what they put in there so that when you get the funds it can easily be implemented.

Heather Risley:
That wraps up our episode on program design. We covered the BUWOBE cooperative business model, the use of needs assessments and evaluations, the integration of community participation and long term sustainability, as well as what it's like working with USAID as a grantee and the operational challenges that come with that. Throughout these conversations, you can hear about how Safeplan has evolved and its way of working and how they use an iterative approach. There's continual incremental improvement along the way, which I think bodes well for the future success. Lindsey, was there anything else in particular that stood out to you?

Lindsey Woolf:
Absolutely. I also was really impressed with the many ways that they are helping the women through the co-op. Being honest, programs have been introducing beehives to rural areas for decades now, but what makes Safeplan really unique is the extent to which they are providing technical training in other areas to make sure that these women are successful. They are helping with marketing and leading the charge with innovative ideas, such as the herbal cough syrup. Daniel didn't mention this during our recording with him, but later he said that they are working with the university to come up with a special formula for this cough syrup, that is taking beekeeping to the next level.

In the next episode, we'll be talking more about partnerships and how Safeplan Uganda works with various stakeholders such as the local government, other donors, small NGOs, and the networks that they belong to, to further their leadership development. Remember, you can always learn more at the following websites youthpower.org or education links at www.edu-links.org. If you haven't already, remember to subscribe to this podcast in your favorite podcast app.

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 8: Partnerships & Networks

Heather:
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Young Women Transform Podcast. I'm Heather Risley Risley with USAID's Office of Education.

Lindsey Woolf:
I'm Lindsey Woolf from YouthPower Learning.

Heather Risley:
In this episode, we're talking about the importance of partnerships. We're defining partnerships pretty broadly because they play a role in Safeplan's work in a lot of different levels. They include relationships in the local community, engagement with government representatives who play a role in policy development that has a big impact on community development, as well as participation in professional networks that helps Safeplan staff grow organizationally, as well as individuals.

You'll hear a bit about all these types of partnerships sprinkled throughout this episode. In the end, we'll look at how laws at the local and national level can contribute toward improving women's employment and livelihoods. Right now, we're going to start with Lindsey's conversation with Annet, the Executive Director of Safeplan Uganda about how they work with the local government. Here's Lindsey and Annet.

Lindsey Woolf:
To what extent is the Ugandan government involved or aware of your program? Local, regional, national?

Annet Birungi:
Local government, because we're still at a local level, we work with the local government which is at the district level. Right now, we're in the process of finishing our partnership for signing an agreement with the National Forest Authority, the local office. To allow our members to use the forestry reserves, to put their hives, so that they can utilize the government free land as they conserve it.

That is how part of the government support us, our programs. Then another aspect is where they support our programs is through community sensitizations. When we have outreaches, they come in, they talk to their community sensitizations.

They give them information, the government programs what they have, they give them information. What are the district development plans and see that the community engage more or come to know the government services like the health part of it. Raising awareness on, for example, illnesses like HIV. Raising awareness on climate change, environment. They do not to give us monetary things, the government, but there are other ways that the government really support us.

Lindsey Woolf:
Could you tell us more about the networks that you're a part of either as an individual or as an organization and how those local, national or international networks are supporting your work?

Annet Birungi:
One I will start with the recent one, YouthPower Learning. Of course, I'm in youth lead, director of discussions that happen there. They share with us their resources that improve on most of the programs. Of course, these sources mostly they are categorized. You are doing youth engagement, this is this, we have resources here. There's a lot of sharing, there's a lot of learning.

Also, the webinars being organized there, we find the resources and help us to improve our capacity. Then another network is the Young African Leaders Initiative, YALI. Of course, now Uganda chapter. We partnered with them last Friday, they came and they did the mentorship program. They did the mentorship activity. It was very amazing. It was very good. We saw a lot of change, we saw a lot of openness and interaction among the young people which we believe that is going to bring more impact in the community.

Heather Risley:
I want to take a quick pause to give some background on The Young African Leaders Initiative that Annet referenced before, which we also call YALI. This is a US government initiative that was started in 2010 to empower young people through academic coursework, leadership training, and networking.

This partnership between USAID and the State Department has been successful in training thousands of young African leaders across the continent, including many of the prize grantees. As part of the USAID youth programming in Washington, building and expanding networks for young leaders is a huge priority such as to the newly developed youth lead platform. That's a website you can visit.

You can hear in Annet's explanation how important these networks are for growing and gaining access to greater experiences and opportunities. Here's an Annet again.

Annet Birungi:
Then we also we're in another network as an organization which is called Masindi Skills Platform Network. It is a network of the stakeholders who are promoting skills in young people or sharing knowledge, and also discussing opportunities and marketing systems that are in these networks. The beautiful part of it, we are on the steering committee of that network.

Our manager is the communication person in that network, so we find that whatever is taking place, being discussed is meant to improve our organization activities on how we can improve our design more, become more creative in designing this approaches activities that are meant for the youth.

Lindsey Woolf:
You're in a lot of networks. Are there any out there that you would like to be a part of that you're not yet a part of?

Annet Birungi:
Yes, I may not know them, but I believe that networking networks are part of development. Are part of bringing you closer to the opportunities that would help you to grow your organization. Opportunities of learning, opportunities of sharing, the resource mobilization.

I believe in networking because you cannot walk alone. You cannot say that now the network I have is enough, you need to expand more networks. The network I want to be [laughs]-- As an organization of course now, we're in youth lead, youth power, but now I'm looking at being in a network of USAID. USAID's greater team. Also those are big organization again to be in network of USAID people.

Lindsey Woolf:
As a youth leader, what are you most grateful for? What support have you received as an individual that you appreciate the most?

Annet Birungi:
This Young African Leaders Initiative. We had an intensive training in leadership, social inclusion, personality. It is a great support that me individually that I've already received that has helped me to grow to be at this particular level.

Lindsey Woolf:
It sounds like you've taken great advantage of all of the opportunities that have been given to you both as an individual and as an organization. What support do you still need to grow as an individual and as an organization?

Annet Birungi:
I still need to grow capacity. I need more knowledge because still as much as I'm doing this I feel that I'm not perfect enough. I still have more to learn, so the support I need more exposure. I need more learning, I need more sharing experiences. How do other people do it? What have they achieved? How can they help me to achieve this? How can they impact this to achieve this?

Organization of course, Safeplan we are growing, but we still lack so much. We need to increase the capacity of organization in implementing the activities. The organization effectiveness is so much important. Then the resources. We need resources that can support us to achieve our mandate, to implement our mandate and achieve our goal.

Heather Risley:
I was really struck by how aware Annet was of the importance of networks and the need to be continually learning and growing. When it comes to supporting small organizations, they just don't need financial support. While this is very important, a big part of their success is due to the networks of people that they're able to work with and learn from.

We need to be constantly looking for ways of bringing people together so that they can learn from one another. In this next segment, we're going to shift again to talking about the local government and what they are doing to support women's economic empowerment. First, we'll hear from Annet expanding on this issue and then Lindsey will talk with Nick, an older community member who is on Safeplan’s board.

Lindsey Woolf:
Do you know of any policies or programs locally or nationally that are helping young women start businesses like BUWOBE in Uganda?

Annet Birungi:
Yes, what is there is the gender policy, which talks about women equal opportunities to development and also access to equal opportunities. Then there are many other policies that have been put in place, being formulated. That see more women in business, there are other which have also helped in formulating these policies.

For example, we have Women in Development which has been moving on a while and it helps women to come in, get engaged to participate in economic activities. Then we have environmental economic resource policy because most policies now it wants women to come in to engage women. We are not looking at only talking about men. We want also women to have and also engage in these activities.

That's why we came with this Budongo Women Enterprise. Of course, we have some few men, but we felt that if you bring something like Women Enterprise, women will feel more sense of ownership. They will feel that they belong to the group. So that it can pull more women much as men are there but the higher percentage to be more women.

Heather Risley:
This is Nick from Safeplan’s board, a community elder who facilitates access to local government and beneficiaries and who helps to provide legitimacy to the youth-led organization. Nick, are you aware of any support programs for local community-based organizations provided by the government of Uganda?

Nick:
CBO or NGO supplement government effort. There's something they are doing, there is progress. The government is doing a lot, but we are also getting some support because as now, as the project, we are not doing any isolation. The local leaders and central government. There are DC that represent the- representative of the president, the LOC chairman someone for the district elected by the community and his technical craft they always give us help.

They guide us, they train us, because they have a mission and vision. We have to work with the vision of that district Masindi. They have their vision, they say, "Food security, involve those people in growing food." On the skilling, train them so that they're able to do something at their own.

Heather Risley:
Are there suggestions that the local government or community have made to you as a board that you have then passed on to Safeplan regarding their activity?

Nick:
The local government what they have done to us when we go there they welcome us. They join us in the community and they give us maximum support like security. It is not easy. Then when we are recognized by them both local, they support us. They know that that person is working there. He is given enough security. Is given enough freedom to do the work and where possible they offer us piece of what- may be an office or space to do the work.

Actually, their acceptance, accepting us and recognizing us is so important to play our role. When we call them, they come in, they give guidance to the people. They encourage the people to join us to do the work like what we are doing in the past with the five- over seven partners. You are the eighth, the USAID. Those people find some activities for us and we enter in the community.

Heather Risley:
It was really nice to be able to talk to Nick. Throughout the time we spent with Safeplan staff, he was always in the background quietly overseeing what was happening and clearly taking pride in the organization's accomplishments. He plays a key role in connecting CBOs like Safeplan to government officials. Having a board made up of both young people and individuals like Nick provides an array of valuable strengths that Safeplan can draw upon.

Next, Lindsey is going to talk to Sandy who we heard from in a previous episode. He's an elected government representative in Nyantonzi who is actively involved in the work that Safeplan is doing there. He is particularly well placed to talk about the role of government policies. As I mentioned, Sandy represents the county and works as a representative to the government.

He isn't part of Safeplan, but very aware of the work they are doing. This conversation was recorded in front of the BUWOBE beneficiaries in Nyantonzi. You might hear some kids and women in the background. Here's Lindsey talking with Sandy.

Lindsey Woolf:
How is the government enacting policies or helping enforce them in the community to help make young women less vulnerable?

Sandy:
Yes, of course at the level of the government, especially at the national government, there are a lot of programs to ensure that the girl child is in school, to ensure that the girl child is protected. However, also locally, at our level, at the sub-county level, we have also passed by-laws to ensure that we protect the girl child. We ensure that we promote the girl child's education, a lot has been done but in terms of skills development, to ensure that the girl who has dropped out of school is being made to be self-reliant.

That a girl tomorrow in the morning is able to go in his or her hotel, maybe in her confectionery, maybe in her knitting that one has not been done much. Although at the government, there is a policy that each sub-county is supposed to have a polytechnic but at our level as Budongo, there is none. A lot has been done even by some other development partners, but not to the level of skills development.

Lindsey Woolf:
You mentioned a moment ago some of the policies and laws that have been enacted to help women. Are there any policies or programs in Uganda specifically to help young women pursue a career or start a business?

Sandy:
In Uganda, there is what they call UWEP, Uganda Women Entrepreneur support Program that is in government. At the national level, there are policies to ensure that each sub-county has a community polytechnic. At also the national level, there are laws concerning the rights and the protection of children. Meaning that those laws go a long way to protect these women, but also at the local level, at the sub-county level, we enacted laws especially on the control of alcohol and overconsumption of alcohol, the harm.

There some closures in the law protecting, barring children from entering bars. Barring children from attending disco dances, barring the use of children in selling and exposing them to drugs. Which will deter them from maybe attaining education and exposing them to the risks. Those are some of the policies I know. Also at the local level, we are advocating for at least giving support to the girl child, especially in primary schools.

In terms of provision of sanitary conditions to the girl child. Those are a few of the policies that are taking place to ensure that the girl child is assisted to be in school and protected.

Lindsey Woolf:
Are you seeing improvement in the quality of young women's lives through the implementation of those policies and laws?

Sandy:
At the national level, I can say yes. Also at the local level, I can say yes, but a lot of challenges are still at hand because like, for example, the policy, the laws to be enforced, to be learned, to be known to the public, popularized, it has not gone so much. Because a parent in the village might not know that the law exists and if he broke it, there's nobody to follow him up. For example, somebody can withdraw the child from school, the headteacher here will complain but nobody is there to follow it.

I think it is important that these laws need to be enforced if possible. The policeman at Katanga or Masindi is not aware that a child in Budongo has dropped out of school. The law is not popular-- the policy is not popularized. Doesn't know that if a neighbor's child is at home it is illegal according to the national laws. You will also be comfortable with it but if it was popularized, if cultural leaders were told that it is wrong to marry a younger girl. If they were told, I think much more could be achieved.

Lindsey Woolf:
How do you think you get that message out there in an ideal world, how would you make sure that men in the village knew the laws that they had to follow?

Sandy:
In my own perspective I think if partners, we partnered up all of us, government, civil society organization, international community, whoever. If we partnered and took the message on ground, if we supported entities like Safeplan to have the programs reach the rural community, I think the message can reach the community and they can begin doing better.

Heather Risley:
That wraps up another episode of our podcast. My big takeaway is just how important networks and partnerships are for helping small organizations succeed. They are the intangible inputs that can make a big difference in scaling programs. Whether it's someone being able to provide a valuable referral, exchanging lessons learned among other youth or something more impactful like influencing government policy, these partnerships and networks are critical. Lindsey, did anything else stand out to you?

Lindsey:
With regards to policy, I realized how helpful it is for organizations to be aware of the national and local policies and see how they can align their work to government initiatives. At the same time, there was a lot of work in this area that needs to be done. For example, Sandy listed some of the laws that have been passed yet there are often difficulties with enforcement, so there is still a ways to go.

Heather Risley:
Yes, especially when it comes to working in rural areas that are far away from the capital. They can be really hard to reach and that's one of the reasons why I think it's so important to invest in small organizations that are doing great work to support these more marginalized communities. Well, we've spent a lot of time in Uganda speaking to a lot of different people and learning quite a bit.

Next episode we'll be looking at big-picture trends and speaking with some of the people that you've already heard from to hear about their hopes and dreams for the future. Remember, you can always learn more at the following websites, youthpower.org or education links at www.edu-links.org. If you haven't already, remember to subscribe to this podcast in your favorite podcast app.

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 9: Looking to the Future

Nick Emojong:
Our dream,

Sandy Eyotu:
I am dreaming to see-.

Annet Birungi:
I want to see female speaker coming from this community. That's my dream.

Nick Emojong:
Our dream is really to see that we expand and we get recognition.

Daniel Akena:
A women-led social enterprise.

Sandy Eyotu:
I am dreaming to see a community, a society that is self-reliant, far much outside poverty.

Heather Risley:
Hi, everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Young Women Transform Podcast. I am Heather Risley with the USAID Office of Education.

Lindsey Woolf:
I'm Lindsey Woolf with Youth Power Learning.

Heather Risley:
We hope you found these conversations as rich and inspiring as we have. In this episode, we're wrapping up our journey in Uganda and preparing for our next adventure to Kenya. A lot of what propels these young people who we've been hearing from throughout the podcast, are their hopes and dreams for themselves and for their community.

We figured we'd end this segment by sharing what they hope for in the future. Before we go, Lindsey, any final thoughts going into this last episode?

Lindsey Woolf:
Overall, it has been great to see the progress that Safeplan has made since I last visited Nyantonze three months ago. It's exciting to see things come together. I'm very hopeful about the future for them.

Heather Risley:

Definitely, me too. It's been a privilege to meet these impressive young people and hear their stories and that the executive director of Safeplan, is taking her leadership role seriously and is an inspiration to other young women in that community. We think it's appropriate to begin our conversations with her.

Lindsey Woolf:

Moving forward, what are you most excited about for the future?

Annet Birungi:

I'm looking at a community a society where women and girls are living to their-- Are living full of their potentials and they actively contribute to their development. That's what I'm so much excited and it is like my living dream. I want to live the legacy, me individually. I want to leave the legacy in the community.

Even though tomorrow I'm not in Safeplan Uganda, I'm not in Masindi, but at least someone will talk about me that, she was here, she was doing like this, she was passionate about these. I'm not looking at my personal development, but I'm looking at the development of the community I live in, how can I impact the community? How can I change my own community I live in?

Heather Risley:
You might remember Ronald from previous episodes, he's the project coordinator at Safeplan. As we got to know him, his ability to connect with young people and really understand their needs is obvious. Here he is sharing his thoughts about where Safeplan is going.

Lindsey Woolf:
What do you need to grow your program to make it more successful, reach more young people?

Ronald Mujwiga:
Well, we need to have a bigger team because, seriously, our human resource is less in number and there's much work down there at the community level. We need to expand these services, not looking at one village, at least looking at the sub-county as a whole, because it's the same area which is being affected by the same problem.

Many are still left out who need to be addressed. Also, I would wish to see when we have a scaling center around there, that can be community-owned or based by those people, so that they can easily transform themselves from what they're going through.

Human resource, more, more, more physical assets that can help us ride faster, or maybe drive faster in hardships, because you find that maybe in rainy seasons it's always hard for us to reach there and maybe also hard to intervene with community leaders.

Maybe if we have a team, which is near them, which has set maybe a simple office or center down there, it can always be easy for us to reach out to them.

Heather Risley:
We were really lucky to get Sandy's time. If you remember, he's the local government representative in Nientunsee. His commitment to the community on behalf of a government that often feels disconnected from daily rural life is commendable.

More than most, he really drove home the message that youth can be the solutions to the problems they face and that the community, should really work together to address challenges. Here he is, again speaking with Lindsey.

Lindsey Woolf:
What does a successful future look like for the young people who live in Nientunse?

Sandy Eyotu:
The future is very, very bright. Sometime back I did make a comment. There is a paradox here, that whereas we drop very many children out of school, but our children are very bright, very, very bright. Indeed, if you looked at those ones who are able to go out to study, who are given the opportunity, they are always among the best.

Meaning that if they are given opportunity, if they are put somewhere, these children have a bright future. The community has a bright future.

Heather Risley:
I think we all remember Daniel at this point, as the program's manager at Safeplan, he keeps the wheels turning and he's always thinking of new and creative ideas to expand programming.

Lindsey Woolf:
What do you need to grow your programs?

Daniel Akena:
For us to grow our program, we need to improve on our capacity in terms of staff, then we shall need a bit of more training, networking with other partners to share a good practice resources that we can assimilate into our system, so that we reduce the cost of going to train formally and come back implement programs. If we have a further support, we want a long term support.

This has been very good support to us for 12 months, is reasonable amount of money. If we had an extension of maybe two years, then we can be evaluated three years. It would really expand our program, because there we shall be sure that our stores will not go into rent, it will do other community work.

We are sure of rent the staff are comfortable. The facilities are there to reach them to the field so we can mobilize very freely without any hindrance.

Lindsey Woolf:
Moving forward, what are you most excited about?

Daniel Akena:
We are most excited about our ambition. Our plan is really burning to us, we feel that we need to reach there. We are looking at really a large, well-established social enterprise. We have read stories from Latin America and the Caribbean, where people are doing good job. They are progressing because they are together, they're in a cooperative system. The members have a lot of benefits.

The community have benefits in terms of jobs and they command larger grants, larger support. It may not be only grants but may be equity funds, debt and so on. Right now, we can't because we don't have-- We have not reached that level. We think that there are people out there who have money to invest, but they cannot invest when they are no proper structure.

We are excited at becoming that dream. We are trying to dream to be the largest in the region. We could be like-- We can be like these other people we are reading in the other reports.

Lindsey Woolf:
I think you answered my last question, but what are your dreams for this program?

Daniel Akena:
Actually, I've answered maybe I'll just re-emphasize. [laughs] The leading producer of honey in East Africa, a women-led social enterprise that takes women at percentage than men and targeting mostly rural women, because the urban women are already better off.

We are looking at very vulnerable people with a low-level education, so that even them they can support their little ones, so that this issue of illiteracy, "my child is not learned", it should not be there anymore.

Lindsey Woolf:
Every person has a dream for themselves and their future. Identifying goals and thinking big is a positive motivator when life gets hard. What are the dreams of staff at Safeplan?

Annet Birungi:
I want to see a female speaker coming from this community, in the parliament.

Lindsey Woolf:

That's great.

Annet Birungi:
That's my dream.

Lindsey Woolf:
I think I'm looking at her.

[laughter]

Nick Emojong:
Our dream, really, we want to be leaders in technology, in training. Our dream is to train and to improve the living standard of the youths. You see, youth is hard reach, but we have taken it and we shall have the chance because as we know their problem, we are able to reach them.

Our dream is to see that there is more training going on. We get more tools, we get more financial assistance. From there we expand in this district. This district has many-- The area is big, but we have just been only at Buobe, with the young women group. We are needed in many other areas, because, I said we have five-fold areas. There is a need for training these young girls, young boys.

There's need for gender, going human rights, getting funds to teach them on human rights, the girls and boys, which we are lacking. Our dream is really to see that we expand and get recognition, from CBO to an NGO in the district. That's my dream. Our dream is really to increase and to make people live abundant life.

Sandy Eyotu:
I am dreaming to see a community, a society that is self-reliant, far much outside poverty and vulnerability, exposure to epidemics and pandemics.

Lindsey Woolf:
Thank you.

Sandy Eyotu:
Thank you.

Lindsey Woolf:
We're done.

Heather Risley:
We've come to the end of our first week. We'll be continuing our journey shortly over to Kenya. We have really learned so much from our time with the Safeplan staff here in Uganda. For me, I think what stood out the most is, the variety of activities that the Safeplan project has going and the interconnectedness and the holistic approach that they have put in place.

You can just tell the commitment from the staff to the youth in the community and the passion that they have, for young women in particular and really fighting all of the extreme challenges that young women face both in Masindi, as well as in the small village of Nientunse. Just the passion the staff has, who're trying to tackle these really hard challenges with not a lot of resources.

It was just a really inspiring trip overall. It just made me feel good about the work that USAID is funding. I think we just got really a lot out of this. How about you Lindsey, what do you think?

Lindsey Woolf:
I would definitely agree with all of those points? I also enjoyed hearing how the staff is really been committed for a long time. Many of them were volunteers before they were brought on as paid staff. They've been really intentional about the youth that they're reaching. Those that are out of school, the most vulnerable, those without any other opportunities than those that Safeplan can provide.

Even in Nyantonze, really reaching those young mothers who need some kind of economic activity to help support their families.

Heather Risley:
Absolutely. It was very clear that-- It didn't seem like a lot of other organizations, donors, or other outside NGOs were really active in these areas. You could really tell that the need was really strong and the work that these people are doing is really just amazing. Looking forward, we will be heading back and it's about a five-hour drive from here in Masindi, back to Entebbe. Then onto another flight over to Nairobi.

In Nairobi, we'll be visiting the Kibera settlement. This is to visit the organization called the Kibera Community Empowerment Organization. I think we'll really be struck by the difference in context when we get to Kenya for sure, since this is an urban environment and not a rural environment, which is where we've been in Uganda so far.

I'm really looking forward to learning how the KCEO organization really approaches the similar goals, but in a very different context. I think that will be really interesting.

Lindsey Woolf:
Yes, I agree. They're working with also a vulnerable population, but particularly disabled young mothers and caregivers for disabled children, who really struggle in the environment of Kibera to do any kind of income-generating activities. KCEO's prize-winning activity works to incubate these young mothers to help support their entrepreneurial enterprises.

Heather Risley:
We've got a full day of travel ahead of us and we'll be seeing you all next in Kenya.

Lindsey Woolf:
Remember you can always learn more at the following websites, youthpower.org, or EducationLinks, at www.edu-links.org. If you haven't already, remember to subscribe to this podcast in your favorite podcast app.

Young Women Transform Podcast Episode 10: Local Solutions

Heather Risley:
Hi everybody, welcome to the Young Women Transform podcast. I'm Heather Risley with USAID's Office of Education.

Lindsey Woolf:
I'm Lindsey Woolf with YouthPower Learning.

Heather Risley:
After a week in Uganda learning from Safeplan Uganda's work we caught a flight to Nairobi, Kenya to meet another youth-led organization that won the Young Women Transform Price. We've had a day to recuperate, so Lindsey and I are really looking forward to meeting a new group of inspiring young people. We're going to visit staff from the Kibera Community Empowerment Organization, also called KCEO. This project is mostly located in an informal settlement called Kibera, which is part of the larger capital city of Nairobi.

It's a really different context than Masindi or Nyantonze where we were in Uganda. Rather than a remote rural village, these young people serve a community in a poor urban area. Lindsey, you also visited this project a few months back, can you give our listeners a description of what Kibera is like?

Lindsey Woolf:
This is my second trip to Kibera. I always love meeting Rhoda and the staff here at KCEO, but I am struck by just how many people live here. Based on some recent statistics that we found, the population could range anywhere from about half a million all the way up through a little over a million, depending on which villages one would include in the area of Kibera itself.

We're talking about a really large number of people in a relatively small geographic location. Almost all of the housing is still very informal, with no paved roads. Electric wires have been put up everywhere and there's no underground sewer system. That's the context in which this program is operating.

Heather Risley:
Right, so in terms of how this program is set up, incorporating a social enterprise is key to KCEO's approach. Like Safeplan Uganda and their production of cookstoves that they sell on the local market, KCEO sells handmade shoes in bright colors and different styles which are actually available for sale online. I definitely wanted to check that out.

The business is called K Shoes. Beyond just understanding their business model, we're looking forward to hearing from the staff and talking about their work and supporting young mothers who are disabled by helping them gain employment and changing the community around them.

We're also going to talk about the prize winning activity called the Young Mothers Incubation program. They're really doing some innovative work. For example, they have this thing called a Pitch Fest, which is basically like the Kibera version of Shark Tank, where they pick which businesses to support based on a number of socially focused criteria. It's pretty cool stuff. What are you looking forward to Lindsey?

Lindsey Woolf:
I'm really interested in seeing how the organization is doing. How they're progressing and how their grant program is adapting based on what they're learning so far, and digging in to how they're addressing the needs of this marginalized community in Kibera. I'm really interested in seeing how the organization is doing, how they're progressing and how their grant program is adapting based on what they're learning so far and digging into how they're addressing the needs of this marginalized community in Kibera.

Heather Risley:
In addition to introducing you to some key staff at KCEO, and providing some background and introduction to their work, we're going to also focus on the theme of local solutions again. Way back in one of our first episodes, we explored how this theme related to Safeplan Uganda. The KCEO project is also very much grounded in the local community and the context here. We'll be discussing what that looks like.

[background noise]

Here we are, the team has arrived in Kibera and we are in the K Shoes office, which is the place where the social enterprise for KCEO is located where they make shoes from some of the leftover waste materials that's found in this community. It's both a sustainable approach as well as providing income to sustain the organization and their skills and training activities.

We are looking out over a pretty large area that is very much sort of an informal economy with lots of sort of temporary structures, a lot of dirt roads. You can also see some established primary schools in the area along the way, so it's interesting to see somewhat kind of a mixture of both the informal and some of the more formal structures. We're really excited to be here, learn more about this area, and speak with some of the KCEO staff.

We'll be hearing much more from them about their programming and their approaches. We look forward to that. Now here's Lindsey with our interviews.

Lindsey Woolf:
When we got to KCEO, I sat down with Rhoda, director and she told me more about Kibera. How KCEO got started and how many people they've helped so far. Rhoda can you please introduce yourself to our listeners, and tell us what your role is?

Rhoda Ayieko:
Thank you very much. My name is Rhoda Ayieko. I'm the founding director of KCEO. I oversee all the roles, all the activities happening in the organization. That's what I do as at now and I'm also a co-founder at K Shoes.

Lindsey Woolf:
Have you lived in Kibera all your life?

Rhoda Ayieko:
Not really. I wasn't born in Kibera but I was raised in Kibera so I can say I've lived-- The longer part of my life I've lived in Kibera.

Lindsey Woolf:
What was it like for you being raised in Kibera?

Rhoda Ayieko:
For me, I can't say it was something pleasant. It wasn't, because most of the times we could spend the night on empty stomachs because we couldn't afford just food for the day, let's say that. Again it's been a learning lesson for me as an individual. That's why I am where I am today because I would love to see other people's lives change and not passing through what I went through growing up.

Lindsey Woolf:
How big is Kibera and how many people live here?

Rhoda Ayieko:
Kibera is very big. The Kibera itself is divided into seven villages. There are different villages in Kibera. KCEO is situated in a village called Gatwekera.

Lindsey Woolf:
Why did you want to work in Kibera with the community here?

Rhoda Ayieko:
Being raised in Kibera, I've seen very many opportunities. I've experienced very many problems in Kibera slums and I just felt like this needed to change. There needed to be a change in Kibera and that's why I'm striving to create that change.

Lindsey Woolf:
How many beneficiaries have you reached through your programs?

Rhoda Ayieko:
Wow, there are so many beneficiaries. When we doing the calculations of our beneficiaries, we include the direct and the indirect beneficiaries. So far, I can say it's around 150,000 beneficiaries.

Lindsey Woolf:
That's very impressive. How many direct beneficiaries are in a typical training cohort?

Heather Risley:
I just wanted to jump in here and explain one thing. Part of the case KCEO model is a series of trainings around business skills, among other things. Rhoda is going to refer to training cohorts which are just individual small groups of women who go through the same class at the same time. Okay, back to our interview.

Rhoda Ayieko:
In a year we do four cohorts; the training of the young mothers. Each cohort, we get 25 women, but they are normally so many applications that come through because we don't just go picking women with disabilities. There's a structured formula that we use. We make our applications open for the young mothers with disabilities, and so they bring in their applications and we take them through some interviews. Then from there, we get to choose those women with potential. A typical cohort contains 25 women. It means in a year we do 100 women.

Lindsey Woolf:
We also had the chance to speak with Malaki, a local youth who was involved in some of the KCEO activities. He has a background in art and design and spoke a little bit about the culture of innovation and art that exists here in the Kibera community.

Malaki, can you tell us more about the creative arts culture in Kibera?

Malaki:
Yes, I can say art and music, it's culture. Art is everything, art is lifestyle. Kibera has brought up many artists being from music to art, to talents, sports. I can say it's the cradle of talent.

Lindsey Woolf:
Cradle. What do you mean?

Malaki:
In Kibera, most of the youth are talented. Nowadays, the most of youths they engage in photography, art, graffiti but they don't have a platform. There is a lot of talent here. Even if you walk around, you'll realize everything is art in Kibera. Starting from the railways, to bridges, everything, to shops, it's art. I can say it's a matter of setting up more stations and encouraging the youth to get involved, because the talent is inside, but it cannot grow.

Lindsey Woolf:
I also spoke with Malaki about K Shoes, KCEO's related social enterprise. K Shoes is a bespoke shoe company, which capitalizes on the creativity in Kibera. K Shoes is one of those platforms through which young people can express their creativity. You have quite vibrant cloth and colors and styles of the shoes and everyone here is quite fashionable in the clothes they wear.

Malaki:
I can say even from their shoes that they make, they create employment for the shoemakers. The Kitenges, the designs and it's cool. It's the new trend. Everybody loves those shoes. It's art. I can say it's art.

Heather Risley:
As an outsider going to Kibera for the first time, the first thing I noticed is the level of poverty and the amount of trash everywhere, but on talking to people like Malaki here, he's not focusing on the problems. He's focused on the freedom that young people have and how the arts are flourishing in the area. This is a really beautiful example of capitalizing on a strength that already exists in this community, which may not, necessarily, be visible right away.

A local organization like KCEO sees the artistic talent that already exists and is really harnessing those talents for the benefit of the community. One of the original visionaries of KCEO is Joshua, a co-founder of K Shoes. Here's Lindsey with an introduction to Joshua.

Lindsey Woolf:
Can you please introduce yourself to our listeners and tell us about your role at KCEO?

Joshwa Tambo:
My name is Joshwa Tambo. I was born and raised in Kibera slums. It's a childhood environment for me and I was so privileged to have been raised with an entrepreneurial mom, who believed in the power of education.

I decided to found Kibera Community Empowerment Organisation after university to give back to my community, as a way of appreciating where I grew up. I had key interest in women empowerment because my mom worked really extra hard to put food on the table and to give us education. I believe that women like her should be given more support to raise more people like me for our next generation.

I co-founded it alongside with other friends and we leveraged on partnership with local institutions and local experts to identify, train and mentor women living with disability on social entrepreneurship, leadership development, and digital literacy. We harness locally available resources to invest in their social ventures.

Currently, I'm serving as advisory board to KCEO. It's 100% women-led and I'm also taking lead role in fundraising and attracting more investors and more partners to work along with us.

Lindsey Woolf:
Could you tell us a little bit more about how K Shoes supports the work of KCEO?

Joshwa Tambo:
Interestingly, K Shoes is one of the businesses that were incubated at KCEO. We tested this model locally and we learned that mostly, local people loved our shoes. Then when we tested international market, we even got more positive results, in terms of more sales. We decided to make it a KCEO subsidiary company.

It works with skilled artisans, making shoes, selling them locally and in the international market. We pull the resources, the generated revenues to build an investment fund that is managed by KCEO. We invest directly in businesses that KCEO has incubated to kick them off in their startup phase.

Lindsey Woolf:
You mentioned how community sensitization education is so important, and I know part of your prized activity is to do some work with the community and produce some products to help educate the community around people with disabilities and their potential. Could you tell us a little bit about those products and how they're going?

Joshwa Tambo:
We have community advisory sessions and as I mentioned earlier, we have plugged in gatekeepers and opinion leaders. It's very easy to influence 50 women through their leader, their chair lady or their youth group leader. We have identified these people and bring them into our space and telling them, "Look, if we give women equal opportunities, if we give them access, if we give them platforms, then this is the possibility of ripple effect that we're going to have in our community." We show them the injustices that these women have gone through and possibly what we can do collectively to address these injustices.

They begin to see the sense and they start preaching the gospel of inclusion and equality and before you know it, they begin influencing people. We take advantage of networks that already exist, we take advantage of the media that reach mass, like the local radio stations. Just run a session and talk, maybe one afternoon, about women with disability and the challenges they face. People call and they give their views. At the end of the show, people are educated.

When I was young, we used to have chief barazas. This used to be a powerful event in my community, but I think with the new governments, with new structures, as times goes, chiefs' powers have been reduced significantly. Chiefs were the most important and powerful people in communities.

What we're doing with this new price is reactivate this. Start showing chiefs that, "You have the mandate to build a better community, and we're creating a platform for you. Bring people-- Influence people to come to your baraza." Which is a gathering. "We will use that gathering to educate them about what we do and why it's important." Chief barazas has worked very well. Community advisory board has worked very well and we're still in the progress of working on running the shows in the radio stations which is also reaching a good number of people.

Lindsey Woolf:
How has your community been involved in supporting your work?

Joshwa Tambo:
I'm coming from an amazing community. I'm coming from a community that believes in what I do. I have taken advantage of our local leaders, of local successful entrepreneurs. I've taken advantage of people who believe in social change. I have been involving them in designing our programs, in running our activities, I've involved them in making decisions to expand our operations.

I learned the power of partnership and I learned to appreciate local resources. Some of them are these local expertise. That is how I have been working hand-in-hand with them to harness their potential in building what we do in Kibera and across Kenya.

Heather Risley:
Lindsey, there's so much to talk about in this episode. I'm starting to get a good sense of how closely integrated the work of KCEO is in this specific community. Before we talk more about that, I was struck by what Joshwa said inspired him. He mentioned his mother and all the work and uphill battle she had to face in order to put food on the table and a specific reference to the importance of education.

If you remember Annet from Safeplan- Uganda, said the exact same thing. It speaks to what an important role mothers, in particular, can play in their children's lives and the transformative power of education. It sounded like this influence was a big reason why Joshwa and his colleagues originally chose to focus on women. Lindsey, I know there's a lot we could talk about but what were your highlights in terms of how KCEO is providing local solutions?

Lindsey Woolf:
KCEO was founded with and for their local community and capitalizes on the most important local resource, the innovative and creative people of Kibera. The local people identify the most pressing issues and those most in need and also contribute to overcoming these challenges by supporting the work of KCEO. Such as by providing referrals to beneficiaries and a physical space for their offices and by producing shoes using locally available materials.

They also engage local champions and leaders who are more likely to directly influence their networks to raise awareness around the importance of inclusiveness and the issues that women with disabilities face.

Heather Risley:
I know we all wish we could have spent more time with these great people. They're really doing innovative work. To me, this was a good example of why we really need to be supporting local solutions. I don't think an outsider would come to Kibera and think, "We should probably start a shoe company here." That's what K Shoes is doing as a result of a local response to a problem.

Lindsey Woolf:
KCEO's innovative, sustainable business model, is one worth highlighting. The money that comes from the social enterprise, goes into an investment fund, which is funneled right back into start-up capital for local businesses that KCEO has helped get off the ground through its training programs. I'm interested to see how they scale this model beyond Nairobi as there are plans to expand to parts of Eastern and Western Kenya.

Heather Risley:
Yes, that sounds really exciting. I'm looking forward to seeing how they might scale it up as well. In the next episode, we're going to explore how leadership is crucial to youth-led organizations and look at what Rhoda and Joshwa are doing to attract talented volunteers to their organization.

Remember, you can always learn more at the following websites: youthpower.org or EducationLinks at www.edu-links.org. If you haven’t already, remember to subscribe to this podcast in your favorite podcast app.

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 11: Youth-Led

Rhoda Ayieko:
For me, I love having friends who are better than me because from there, you get to learn very many things from them.

Heather Risley:
Hi, everybody, welcome to the Young Women Transform Podcast. I'm Heather Risley with the USAID Office of Education.

Lindsey Woolf:
I'm Lindsey Woolf with Youth Power Learning.

Heather Risley:
In this episode, we're going to be exploring what being a youth-led program looks like in Kibera. As with most things, leadership is so crucial for any program success. Both Rhoda and Joshwa are definitely visionary leaders who know how to attract other people to their programs. In this episode, we'll really dive into where Rhoda gets her encouragement from over the course of her leadership journey.

Lindsey Woolf:
A couple of times we were able to interact with some of his friends and mentors and they seemed to have a wide pool of high caliber people who are volunteering to support the women in their program. I think that this is a result of this program genuinely being youth-led. In our interview, Rhoda mentioned that they're looking for people who are passionate, realistic and have integrity. Both her and Joshwa definitely have all of those characteristics, which makes them attractive people to be around.

Heather Risley:
All right, then let's hear more from them. Here's Lindsey Woolf and Rhoda.

Lindsey Woolf:
KCEO is a youth-led organization. Can you tell us what youth-led means to you?

Rhoda Ayieko:
In different areas there are different definitions of a youth. There is a difference age gap and all that, but for me, a youth is anyone who is passionate, realistic and smart. You can be maybe 40 years, but you're still realistic and you're passionate. What you want to do, you will do it. That's how I can describe a youth.

Lindsey Woolf:
That's good. What strategies do you use to engage young people in your work?

Rhoda Ayieko:
We use various strategies. We involve them on internships, like one person you've met earlier and also, in terms of maybe security, you met the guy earlier. Like in organization, we basically work with youths. Just as I define the youth to me, if you're passionate, to me your youthful and you're able to deliver what we want you to deliver. Anyone who wants to be associated with the organization and is passionate and realistic, we are very much open to them joining us and being part of us.

Lindsey Woolf:
Why do you think it's important for the youth involved to be passionate, realistic and have integrity? Why is that important?

Rhoda Ayieko:
That's very important because integrity is needed everywhere. You have to be a man or a woman of integrity. I believe, if you have passion, if you put your heart or your mind to do something, you will do it.

One of the things that maybe we look for when we're recruiting the women is passion. If you have passion for something you won't let it like go down if you're passionate. Like for me, I'm passionate about working with women with disability. Yes, I don't have a visible disability, but for me, I don't have a visible disability, but I believe I just am passionate about working with them because they need love, they need care, they need mentorship. They need someone to walk with them the journey not only business but also just showing them the way. Most people don't want to get associated with women with disability. I don't know the reason, but I'm passionate about working with this women.

The last value you talked about?

Lindsey Woolf:
Realism, realistic?

Rhoda Ayieko:
Realistic. If you're not realistic, you won't achieve anything. You have to be realistic. You really have to be realistic. For example, as an organization we are saying, we want to make women with disability, each one of them- they are 70 and each one of them we would love them to start up their business in one week. Is that even realistic? We won't achieve it. So, being realistic is essential.

Lindsey Woolf:
How are decisions made within the organization?

Rhoda Ayieko:
It takes a while, for decisions to be made. First of all, we as a team, we talk about a certain issue. Then after that, we forward the specific things we talked about to the board; we have a board as an organization. Then, they come again to us. Again, before even discussing this within ourselves as staffs, we have to involve our beneficiaries about the specific decisions.

Let me make it clear that our organization, we use the bottom-up approach model, we don't use the up-bottom, or the top-bottom. Our beneficiaries are our number one, they are key, because without them there's nothing we can do as an organization. We really strive to incorporate them into our decision-making process.

Lindsey Woolf:
How do you incorporate the beneficiaries in the decision-making process?

Rhoda Ayieko:
For example, just as I said earlier, when we wanted to change our curriculum for the training, we had to involve the women. We had to ask them, "What do you think we need to do better? Where have we gone wrong during this period?" You see, they bring in their ideas and we take them into action.

Heather Risley:
You can really hear the enthusiasm behind Rhoda's voice in this interview. What a lovely way to define youth: passionate, realistic and smart. I guess by that definition, I'll be calling myself a youth from now on. Seriously though, it was interesting to hear how when you asked about what youth-lead means, what Rhoda responded with was really more about like organizational values. Embedded in those values is Rhoda's dedication to involving beneficiaries and board members in their decision-making process. She was especially concerned about not being a top-down, or what was that, up-bottom approach? [chuckles] I think I actually like that one better. Yes, working with the youth, involving them throughout the decision-making process, a real bottom-up approach, which is evident in a lot of what Rhoda described.

Next, we're back to Joshwa. Interestingly, Joshwa wasn't even scheduled to be with us this week as he was traveling in the US, but I believe he changed his flight to come back early to be with us. The pressure is really on, hopefully, we lived up to his expectations. It's notable that he did this interview shortly after his 14-hour flight from New York, which is more than I can say for myself. Nothing says dedication and passion more than getting on a mic after that kind of journey. Here are Lindsey and Josh.

Lindsey Woolf:
Why did you want to become a leader?

Joshwa Tambo:
Well, I found myself in these- I believe that young people in my community has the potential to leverage their expertise, their skills and their talents to change the face of our community. I just started little by mobilizing people in my community. I was impressed to see that they're interested in what I'm doing. That made me believe that I could influence more into beginning the journey of creating sustainable development.

Over time, I have found myself working with different teams. I learned that, oh, I have to equip myself with the right leadership skills to be able to work with different teams to bring change that we want to see in our community.

Lindsey Woolf:
That's really interesting to hear how you found yourself a leader and then went out and found out how to be a better leader as a result. What are the risks of being a youth-led organization in your community?

Joshwa Tambo:
Several, one would be it seen as a tool for political mileage and that pose risk to us as people who are behind these organizations because sometime, politicians are very much aware that you have a command of women behind your organization and they want to tap into the network. We are so careful about bringing politics into the organization or working with a particular politician. If you are slippery from working with them, they start sabotaging your work.

But in other words, also we have challenges with people who want to maintain the status quo. They believe that bringing this kind of empowerment opportunities will kill their businesses. Like, you know very well Kibera has been a hotbed of political violence or youths have been used for wrong things like drugs and very illegal things. When you bring in a platform that awakens them and tap into their talent, the business of the status quo gurus is at risk, and it means we become their enemies. It's been a big challenge, trying to work in a dangerous community and going against the grain, going against the will of people who control that community.

Heather Risley:
The next interviews are going to focus more specifically on youth leadership, what it means to be a leader, what leaders need in order to be successful in their own growth, as well as how some of the KCEO staff, most of whom are youth got to be leaders in the organization.

Joshwa Tambo:
One of our team member, Rose, walked into our space. She didn't even know how to use mouse. She had never even touched a mouse, and in a span of six months- Actually I had one on one with Rose for six months. I was working at KCEO office during that time. She became our lead digital trainer. She has devolved the skills she got from our digital literacy classes across the networks of women in our team.

Lindsey Woolf:
The trainee becomes the trainer. That's a great model to pursue. Now we're going to hear from the same Rose that Joshwa was just talking about. Besides running her own business. Rose is the program director of KCEOs prize-winning Young Mothers Incubation Program. Who supported you to become a leader within KCEO?

Rose:
I can say for me, I was one of the women that were just sitting around, thinking that there's no job, there's nothing but I thank God for Joshwa Tambo. He's the one who supported me, trained me in the leadership, and then identified that I had something in me that I can help someone out.

Lindsey Woolf:
Why did you want to become a leader and help other young people in Kibera?

Rose:
Why I decided to become a leader because as you can see, we have many leaders, but they don't have this heart of helping others. They only just want to be their leader for themselves. They're that mean to themselves, you see, and I wanted to change this thing. I wanted to change this mentality. Like you can see somebody outside saying, "If this is kind of leadership, then I'm out of it." I am trying to change this leadership.

Actually, when even you approach a woman living with disability talk about the program, it is very much difficult for this woman to agree on your word. But I try to show them love, I want to show- I try to do it like I'm different from those who have been misusing them in Kibera because they have been misused with very many people. That's why I try to show- I want to make something good out of the problem that they're facing.

Lindsey Woolf:
What's the most valuable lesson you've learned as a leader in KCEO?

Rose:
What I've learned as a leader, valuable lesson that I've learned as a leader is that, if you are a leader, walking in truth, being a trustee, and you to be humble and patient can make you a better leader. Working with these youth is much difficult, because if you are not patient with them, then you can't work with them.

Heather Risley:
Wow, what a great example of the making of a leader. Rose doesn't shy away from admitting that working with marginalized women in a place like Kibera is hard. But when you empower people from the community who are passionate, like Rose, and support youth-led programs like KCEO, they are able to practice patience and overcome some of the difficulties, and keep going because they're so passionate about what they do.

At this point in our interviews, we were interested in hearing more of Rhoda's personal experience as a youth leader and what motivates her to grow. Back to Lindsey to talk more about this topic.

Lindsey Woolf:
Who supported you? Obviously KCEO did, but who else supported you to become a bright young leader?

Rhoda Ayieko:
My circle of friends, I have a network of young change-makers around me that we don't just chat about the daily news or what is happening around us, but we talk about creating impact. My circle of friends has really influenced my leadership journey.

Lindsey Woolf:
How did you find that supportive network of other young change-makers?

Rhoda Ayieko:
Have gone through many leadership programs. The one that I began with, it's called Akili Dada. It's an women incubator in Nairobi, or I can say in Kenya, that brings together young women who have the passion to create impact in their respective communities. That is one of the community that I got my friends from. Then I'm also a YALI, East Africa Regional Leadership Center, alumnus. Also, Changemakerxchange Program. I've been able to get my friends from such networks.

Lindsey Woolf:
If you are faced with a challenge that you don't know how to address, where do you go for support?

Rhoda Ayieko:
Myself, as I mentioned earlier, I have a circle of friends who are-- Normally for me, I love having friends who are better than me because from there, you get to learn very many things from them. Most of the challenges that I face, I get to get the solutions through these friends of mine. I can say, you people making sense as an organization. You've been helpful in terms of helping us tackle challenges, because anytime we write emails about any challenges you're facing, you're always willing to help us brainstorm on solutions to such challenges.

Lindsey Woolf:
What's the most valuable lesson you've learned as a leader in KCEO?

Rhoda Ayieko:
I've learned lots of lessons, because I've been in KCEO, I can say it's since the year 2013. I came in as a volunteer because since KCEO had already supported me throughout my education, I wanted to give back to the organization. I've learned several lessons, several. One of them being that, for one to make a good leader, another important thing is servant leadership. You don't need to be bossy. You don't need to command, it needs to start with you. You need to work things out before the other staff members do it. Servant leadership is a good component of leadership.

Lindsey Woolf:
What's the greatest challenge you experience as a young leader?

Rhoda Ayieko:
I've experienced several, but the one that I remember vividly is that many people see you as a young woman leader and they see you as a threat or they see you as a competitor. I think with this I've managed to counter it by patience. You see, some people just see you as a threat, but if you're patient with them, if you give them time, they will come back and join you. I've counted it through patience, yes.

Lindsey Woolf:
What do you need to be a better young leader?

Rhoda Ayieko:
Wow. I need several stuffs because I'm still growing, I can see I'm there yet. It's a learning lesson. The leadership journey is a learning lesson for me. One, which I mentioned earlier I'm really striving to do, is making myself connect with the change-makers that do the same thing as I do. With this, you'll be challenged. Maybe they're better than you in several other areas, you'll get to learn from them. Also, another important thing that I need is mentorship. I have some mentors, but they're not committed to making me grow the way a mentee expects to grow.

Lindsey Woolf:
Well, I'm sure we'll have people lining up to mentor you after they hear about your wonderful work.

Rhoda Ayieko:
I hope so.

Lindsey Woolf:
What do you need to be a better youth-led organization?

Rhoda Ayieko:
Capacity building, I can say that. Yes, we've received trainings on building our capacity, but still, I cannot say that it is enough. We still need it. That's why if there's any opportunity, maybe, that will make us as an organization build our capacity to run the organization, we'll be more than willing to join, yes.

Heather Risley:
That wraps up another episode of our podcast. During our conversation, we talked a lot. Not only about how the organization is taking a youth-led approach, but also about what it means to be a youth leader and the skills needed for leadership. We heard about Joshwa's initial inspiration that came from his mother and recognizing an underserved population. Rose talked a lot about cultivating patience when working with beneficiaries. Rhoda, in particular, is so focused on continually getting better as a leader and surrounding yourself with mentors.

Again, you heard her mention the YALI Network, which is the Young African Leaders Initiative, supported by the US State Department and USAID. If you remember, Annette in Uganda also participates in YALI activities and mentioned this as part of one of the networks she participates in. Another example of the far reach this initiative has had in fostering youth leadership.

Lindsey, Rhoda Ayieko also introduced this concept of servant leadership, which really stood out to me. Have you heard this term before in the work you do with youth?

Lindsey Woolf:
When we talk about servant leadership, we're talking about the importance of providing opportunities for youth to meaningfully contribute to their community. When youth lead to improve their communities and see tangible results of their efforts, this reinforces their sense of self-efficacy or one's belief in one's ability to succeed, an important soft skill for positive youth development outcomes.

Heather Risley:
Thanks, Lindsey. In the next episode, we're going to be focusing on serving marginalized populations, which in almost all contexts are harder to reach. We're going to talk about how KCEO is working to provide opportunities to numerous women living with disabilities in Kibera and the specific approach they have developed to accomplish this.

Lindsey Woolf:
Remember, you can always learn more at the following websites, youthpower.org or EducationLinks at www.edu-links.org. If you haven't already, remember to subscribe to this podcast in your favorite podcast app.

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 12: Marginalized Populations

Heather Risley:
Hi, everybody, welcome to the Young Women Transform podcast. I'm Heather Risley with USAID’s Office of Education.

Lindsey Woolf:
I'm Lindsey Woolf with YouthPower Learning and we're back to talk about approaches to reaching marginalized populations. We chose this as a theme because in development, you have to employ more thoughtful ways of reaching populations that may be hidden or just more ignored by the local community. They face more specific barriers and have to confront deeply entrenched cultural norms that contribute to inequality. In Kibera, youth in general, face a lot of challenges. Even those that currently have opportunities had to face many obstacles along the way.

KCEO, however, chose to focus on a mostly invisible population, disabled young mothers. At USAID, we're committed to serving the whole population, especially those who are traditionally more marginalized. It's important to learn about how organizations are doing this well.

Heather Risley:
Definitely, for people who are disabled, it was immediately clear how difficult even simple tasks might be in an environment that completely ignores their needs. As I was walking around, the terrain is a bit hilly and uneven, so basic issues of accessibility are a challenge, let alone actually finding employment. Since employment is hard to find, most of the women are entrepreneurs who are finding ways of opening small businesses and providing for themselves by selling peanuts, opening a small store, or in some cases, larger efforts like the Early Childhood Education Center.

Lindsey Woolf:
Now we're going to speak with Malaki, who talks about his own difficulty finding employment.

As someone who's lived in Kibera for a long time, who do you see as the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in this community?

Malaki:
The most marginalized group are the youth. I can take good example of myself. I studied Art. I did Art and Computer Graphics, but upon my competition in the university, I've never found a job. I've never found a place. I've never found a gallery where I can do my works and display my works. I can say, if I was not eager, I can say by now I could be doing drugs, I could be doing crime, I could be doing everything. Yes, the youth of this my area, most of them are like that. They're jobless. What else can they do? It's just drugs and crime.

I actually feel bad. I can see some of my friends. They're saying there's no job, there's no opportunity outside here. I can say it's the youth because the youth is the future generation of this country. Yes.

Lindsey Woolf:
We see your artwork behind you here. You're a very talented artist.

Malaki:
Thank you so much.

Lindsey Woolf:
How do you think the challenges that the youth face here in Kibera can be addressed? What supports do those youth need?

Malaki:
One of the evident support that I've seen is the K Shoes and the KCEO. Yes, like me, I was given an opportunity here, see. So if each and every youth outside there can have the same opportunity that I have, I can believe it can solve many of the challenges, yeah. For example, setting up of art galleries and art centers where the youths daily will be there training, training, training, training daily. Most of their days, they'll be at the gallery training, unlike being idle.

Heather Risley:
Here, Malaki is really illustrating the consequences of not addressing youth employment. Drugs and crime are an easy trap to fall into in Kibera. You might have picked up on it in his interview, but Malaki does speak with a little bit of a stutter. That said, you can hear Malaki's own experience, he did have more opportunities to get education. For example, he got a university degree. He studies graphic design, he probably got training in a lot of different locations. Despite all of that, he said that it was still difficult for him to find work. If we think about young mothers who are also disabled and are likely to have even less education, just imagine how much harder it is to get a job.

Simple issues of transport create huge barriers. Issues around childcare also pose challenges in how they can divide their time, and really important, the powerful impact of stigma against those women that deny them opportunities that are available to others. An organization like KCEO or other programs that intend to reach this population really needs to think differently. Lindsey is going to talk to Rose, first. She's the program director for the Incubation Program. Then Rhoda again to talk about women with disabilities and the support they need.

Lindsey Woolf:
Can you talk about the barriers that the young women face as they pursue employment or starting those businesses, and how those barriers are different than those faced by other young men or adult women?

Rose:
You see women living with disabilities, they face many challenges. Whereby you find there's many who have this knowledge, are educated, but when it approach somebody like me and see that this person is living in disability, I can't give him a job, whether he knows it or not. I just put a possibility say that, “He can't do my job.” They feel that much hurted. Whereby they feel like they're neglected, you see. That's why we come up and bring this advisory board, call our organizations, hospitals, schools, that for them to understand that even these people living with disability, they need jobs for them to help themselves.

Lindsey Woolf:
When you talk to the young women with disabilities, what support do they say that they need?

Rose:
Actually, when you talk to them, the most support the actually say that, how can we help them find jobs? Because whenever they want jobs, they are being denied the opportunities. That's the major thing, they always ask for jobs. They are being denied. Somebody sees him or sees her, like this person cannot do anything. Yet this person is much perfect in this job than me who I'm not living with disabilities. But you find that they can't be given that chance, that opportunity. The major thing they just ask is just how we can help them. How we can help people understand that disability is not inability.

Lindsey Woolf:
Hi, Rhoda, can you tell us why young women with disabilities are so marginalized in the community?

Rhoda Ayieko:
Most of the times, it's what we were born and found out happening. It's a culture, but until, as those either women or men with disabilities realize that this is a culture that will not help, not until we realize that, there's nothing that will change. It's us to realize that this is a culture. Yes, we were brought up knowing they are marginalized and we marginalize them, but we need to change these as individuals. Yes. It's just a culture issue. There are so many challenges that these women face. For example, maybe because they were born young, so the girls, maybe they are not allowed to attend the normal schools.

This issue I believe in Kenya we should grow to attend this issue of inclusivity. We should not just believe that people with disability, they need to be taken to a school that only helps those with disability. There are some disabilities that are-- there are some people with disability that can be made to sit in class with other people so that they can also grow and learn. Education is one of the challenges that they face also.

Lindsey Woolf:
How do you try to overcome some of those barriers for these young women?

Rhoda Ayieko:
The most important thing that we do is advocacy. We try to advocate for their rights to education as young girls, advocate for their rights to employment in different sectors in the country.

Heather Risley:
In both Rose's and Rhoda's remarks, they didn't immediately talk about barriers, like it's hard for them to be mobile or they don't have employable skills, or something like that. They went to more of the root cause of lack of employment opportunities for these young women, stigma and cultural issues. Both spoke about the importance of changing this, both for girls, even if they don't have a disability, as well as those who do as a really important component of effecting change. Through advocacy, the hope is that cultural attitudes will change which will open up more opportunities that fit the needs of these women.

In order to see what this would look like, Lindsey is going to speak with Rhoda about this concept about a community Baraza, which is one way of making sure that the disabled population are seen and heard. You'll hear more about that next.

Rhoda Ayieko:
A community Baraza is an event that you organize in a place that is accessible by every community member, then the most important people that you should invite is your beneficiaries because this the opportunity for them to be recognized, yes. For example, the community Baraza we organized about women with disability, I'm grateful because the highest number of people that attended were the people with disability, and actually, we were challenged because out of the number of the people with disability who came, the men were almost a half of the number.

It means they really feel that they need to be recognized because this was an opportunity for them to be recognized by the other community members, and so this we did last late last year, and there are so many people that have come to know our organization through that community Baraza. We also invited our local leaders, local grassroot leaders and they were also able to convince the community about advocating for the rights of women with disabilities.

Lindsey Woolf:
Since that Baraza, have you seen attitudes change in the community about young women with disabilities?

Rose:
Of course, I can say it has really changed because initially, women with disabilities, for example, who did business on grocery, when they came to the program, they said that most people did not want to buy their products or their produce, reason best known to them. But immediately we held this Baraza, when they came back, we again went to the ground and got feedback from the women with disability, they are saying that the community attitude has changed towards them. They feel accepted in this society.

Heather Risley:
Now, we're going to transition and talk to Rhoda about how the prize-winning young mothers incubation program is directly addressing the problem. Here's Rhoda to describe how it works.

Rhoda Ayieko:
In the Young Mothers’ Incubation Program, we've divided the trainings into cohorts. In a year we do four cohorts, that each and every cohort has 25 women, this we do to enable us to have a number that we can manage as an organization. These young mothers are taken through trainings of social entrepreneurship, digital literacy, and leadership training. Then after that, they are those that are interested to start up their social enterprises, we get them a funding to start up their businesses and also some of them are normally interested in getting employment opportunities. From there also the others that are interested in getting employment opportunities, we connect them to potential employers who can employ them.

Our program has a bit of restrictions when it comes to social enterprises. We normally take women into our program whom their social enterprises address certain issues, for example, they're basically three; education, health and environmental. For example, in education sector, we have two women in our program, one runs a daycare center and another one runs an early childhood development center. This they do to lay a good foundation for the children in Kibera.

Children:
Party, party, party, Oh nice shade, you are my partner, you are my partner.

Heather Risley:
We're going to take a break to give you more on the ground reporting on some of these businesses, specifically Janet and her early childhood development center. Janet does have a physical disability that makes walking difficult. The work she is doing is a big contribution to the community. Janet doesn't speak English, so during this story, you'll hear Rhoda doing the translation.

Lindsey Woolf:
We're currently walking in Kibera from the K Shoes office, which is in a recycled shipping container. This is where they do their sales and marketing. They also have a sewing workshop where the sowers come to make the shoes on their own order, and we're going to walk over to an early childhood development center that's run by Janet, who is the recent winner of the KCEO Pitch Fest, where recent beneficiaries of the Young Mothers Incubation Program pitched their social entrepreneurship to a group of young change-makers and were awarded funding based on the compellingness of their pitch and the impact they were going to make in the community.

Children:
Heavenly Father, Heavenly Father you are wonderful.

Janet:

Ni kwa sababu ninapenda kuishi na-

Rhoda Ayieko:

Janet owns this is ECD center. She participated in the Pitch Fest and she was the winner. She has always loved working with children right from the time she was a young girl. She has operated this ECD center for 22 years.

Janet:

-nikasomea, sasa kusoma nikakuja nikaona sasa-

Rhoda Ayieko:

One of the oldest children from my ECD Center is now in form 3, yes, in high school now.

Janet:

Sasa nikaona wacha-

Rhoda Ayieko:

She's passionate about laying a good foundation for children and that she does not only want to maximize profits from ECD Centre.

Janet:

-bali nione mtoto-

Lindsey Woolf:

Do have any idea how many students you've had in 22 years? Any idea?

Janet:

Kila mwaka ilikuwanga watoto tofauti-

Rhoda Ayieko:

She's saying the number is big, over 500 for the last 22 years.

Children:

Mama nipee mayai, mama nipee mayai, nimechoka na uji.

Lindsey Woolf:
We're walking in Kibera again and as we're walking, I'm having difficulty walking, the road is quite uneven, there's a lot of rocks, obstacles on the road, makeshift bridges, so I can only imagine how difficult it would be for someone with a physical disability to get around in this area. We were also in the training center where we were remarking that it was not disability accessible either, so it's really challenging for anybody here who has a disability that makes it difficult for them to walk, to get around and many of those people end up housebound.

Children:
Elephant, elephant, go to the bus. No, no, no. Why, why, why?

Heather Risley:
I really love the sound of those kids' voices, they're so cute. At this point, I think it would really be helpful to our listeners to hear more about the classroom space. Lindsey, can you tell us more about that? What resources were available? I'd also like to know more about why Janet and her business won that Pitch Fest.

Lindsey Woolf:
Miss Janet's Early Childhood Development Center was a very makeshift school made from wooden poles and pieces of tarps and tin. It was also very close to the railroad that goes through Kibera, so at some point, she may be forced out. But when we went into the school, there were posters of fruit, numbers, and letters on the walls, and the kids were all dancing and singing songs, some of which you heard earlier.

Janet won the Pitch Fest competition because of the feeding program she is working to establish. She wants to make sure the kids are fed while at school as this may be the only way they receive adequate nutrition. Miss Janet is doing all of this while having a disability that makes it harder for her to walk, so what she is doing is really impressive.

Heather Risley:
That's really interesting, we definitely know how important it is that kids in school are well fed and healthy. Otherwise, it's unlikely that learning will actually happen. It's good to hear about this work, I really hope she's able to continue. Now let's get back to our interviews. Here's Lindsey talking with Rhoda about breaking down barriers to employment.

Lindsey Woolf:
What are the things that young mothers need to become a social entrepreneur?

Rhoda Ayieko:
Okay, the first thing, I think, I'd mentioned it earlier, is passion. If you're not passionate, your business will fall. Then another key thing that they need is funding. You might be having an incredible business idea but if you do not have funding to take that business to another level, then it becomes difficult for them.

Heather Risley:
Okay, now we're going to hear another story. Our team visited a woman named Mary who received funding from KCEO to help expand her business. She makes charcoal briquettes, which are on high demand in the community. Here you'll hear Rose telling us more about Mary's work.

Lindsey Woolf:
We're in Kibera and we're at a beneficiary's house. Her name is Mary and she makes charcoal briquettes, and I'm talking to Rose about how she makes them. Rose, can you explain where she gets the materials and how she sells the briquette?

Rose:
Mary finds materials from the remaining particles of charcoals and then she mix them with the soil, then modeling, she used some water and tins to model it to the briquette. And then after which one particle, she sells them at 10 shillings each.

Lindsey Woolf:
They use these in the stoves and the ovens that people use, the briquettes?

Rose:
After you put the charcoal, you light the charcoal. After they catch the fire, they are--. Then you take the briquettes, you make them into pieces, and then you put over here, then it is okay to cook.

Lindsey Woolf:
It's better for things that require long periods of cooking overnight because it lasts a longer time. Could you explain what disability that Mary has?

Rose:

Mary, she has the disability in her legs. She can't move properly. Even where she is now, when she wants to move, she walks like a young-

Lindsey Woolf:
On her hands.

Rose:
Yes. She can’t just move properly like others because one of the legs is so much weak that cannot walk. Then when she walks out from the road, she uses a stick. She has a stick that whereby can support the leg. Yes, when she moves.

Lindsey Woolf:
You mentioned that there are other women recommended Mary to you. You found her through a referral system through the network of the women that you work with?

Rose:
Yes. There is a woman who refer us to Mary. She's her friend. She's still living with the disability. We came up with her, talked to her. It was not that easy, because as you see Mary, many people have used her to their disability, whereby they take her, tell her that there is something we want to do, you can save your money, and then they disappear with the money. She did not trusted us. But we tried talking to her and then she agreed.

She has been participated and she was one of the pitch, the business who pitched their ideas, and she got number four. We supported her with some fund, whereby you see she brought the products. Because she was saying that she has a huge demand of market but the product, it is difficult to get.

Lindsey Woolf:
She's been able to improve her production through buying additional materials through the grant that she received, the investment from KCEO.

Heather Risley:
As you heard from Rose and Lindsey, Mary is now able to get more products to make her Briquettes, but Mary's life isn't easy. She works under some really difficult conditions. The space where she was working was really small and filled with black dust. Breathing was really difficult. Despite these limitations, she's still able to get some money and actually support her kids and grandkids, which is amazing. Lindsey, to better understand the work Mary does, can you just explain a little bit more about how these charcoal briquettes are made.

Lindsey Woolf:
Basically, Mary takes burnt charcoal particles and mixes them with dirt and water, making them into a briquette that can burn slowly on top of a small stove. The clay in the stove absorbs the heat from the charcoal briquette and holds it in. The briquette works similarly to lava rocks by holding heat in and making cooking more efficient.

Heather Risley:
This community is really creative in turning existing resources into products they can sell. It reminds me of K Shoes example, where they use the trash in the community to make their shoes. In this case, Mary's incorporated existing burnt charcoal into a money-making endeavor. KCEO is playing an important role in providing funds to Mary to buy a larger quantity of charcoal particles so she can expand her business. All right, now back to one last comment from Rose.

Lindsey Woolf:
How supportive are the families of the young mothers for their participation in their programs?

Rose:
Being empowered, they have a little have some knowledge in them. You find that if before they did not have these empowerment, they were like, they can't support their family better because they live there that, “Me, I have a disability, I can't do anything.” But after giving them the empowerment, giving them the trainings, you find that these women, they are much motivated, whereby, they can do something saying that, ''Oh, I'm still needed in this my community, and I can do this thing better.''

Heather Risley:
That wraps up another episode of our podcast. Both Rhoda and Rose have mentioned the value of patience and working with disabled young mothers. But you can hear in their voices the passion they have for making sure this population is seen and heard. No matter where you live, you want to believe your life has value. The KCEO team is really investing in coaching as a key approach to helping these women grow their businesses. I can see that it's having an impact.

Lindsey Woolf:
It was definitely evident from the women we talked to that this program is changing their lives. Even though many of these businesses were small, these women were all proud of the fact that they can now provide food for their kids, put clothes on their backs and send them to school. If they didn't have these small businesses, they would need to probably resort to begging. But instead, they were full of dignity and proud of what they were accomplishing through the help that KCEO was providing.

Heather Risley:
Yes, I definitely agree there. Join us next week, where we'll be looking at how KCEO staff know if they are having an impact in their programs. We'll dig into the story of K Shoes and how the social enterprise is providing a sustainable source of funding to continue with KCEO's work. If you want to learn more, we've posted a number of videos from our trip on our YouTube account. Just search USAID education links to check those out.

Lindsey Woolf:
Remember, you can always learn more at the following websites, youthpower.org or EducationLinks at www.edu-links.org.

Heather Risley:
If you haven't already, remember to subscribe to this podcast in your favorite podcast app.

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 13: Adapting to Change

Joshwa Tambo:
We think social enterprises is a vital tool to meeting the urgent need of creating equality and empowerment of women in our society.

[background music]

Heather Risley:
Hi, everybody. Welcome to the Young Women Transform Podcast. I'm Heather Risley with USAID's Office of Education.

Lindsey Woolf:
I'm Lindsey Woolf with YouthPower Learning.

Heather Risley:
In this episode, we're going to be looking at program design. Our conversations are going to highlight some successful elements of what good programming looks like, both at an organizational level as well as at a project level. We're also going to discuss the social enterprise model that KCEO uses, specifically their profit-generating business, K-Shoes.

K-Shoes is a company that produces shoes using approximately 65% recycled materials. The sale of those shoes then helps fund young women's incubator program which provides capacity-building support as well as financial capital to each of the women's businesses. There's a lot going on here, but we're going to try to do our best to break it down for you. Lindsey, can you talk a bit more about the business model and why it stood out in the prize selection process?

Lindsey Woolf:
One of the major aspects of any program is sustainability. The K-Shoes, KCEO model is one reason why this program stands out by making the work sustainable. What else makes for a successful program? In this episode, we will dive into some of the components of KCEO's organizational and program design exploring the relationship between KCEO and its social enterprise K-Shoes as well as adaptive programming through monitoring and evaluation.

Heather Risley:
Great. Our first interview in this episode is with Rhoda who's going to tell us more about what it takes to manage a successful organization.

Lindsey Woolf:
What does a well-managed organization look like to you?

Rhoda Ayieko:
A well-managed organization is an organization with systems up and running. It doesn't matter what systems they are. It can be financial systems, it can be just the management systems, but provided the systems are up and running, then you're a well-managed organization. You can even be three staffs in an organization, but the systems are up the game. So, the organization is well-managed.

Lindsey Woolf:
You're speaking my language now. What steps have you taken or are you taking to achieve systems in your organization?

Rhoda Ayieko:
As at now, for example, the financial systems, in Kenya, the accountants are very hard to employ on a full-time basis. For us, on our organization, we have a part-time accountant that comes maybe after two or three months to look into the books and check if we were doing the right thing. Also, the management system, we don't just work for the sake of working as a staff. We maintain integrity in the management staff.

Heather Risley:
Now, I'm going to speak a little bit with Rose who you might remember as the program manager at KCEO. She runs the training activities with the women business owners. At USAID, we're particularly interested in understanding what skills to focus on, that foster leaders and communities. I wanted to learn how Rose gained the skills to become a trainer. We also talk a bit about how she incorporates feedback into the training activities. How did you gain the knowledge to be able to design training programs and entrepreneurship? How did you learn that?

Rose:
You find that when we were training these women, it is very much difficult for them. In business, they have to be with record keepings and they can say, "How will I write? I don't know how to write. Taking what I have sold to somebody else writing for me, this person will know more about what I'm doing and then they can even track my business." That's why we decided, "How can we help these women for them to figure out and understand better that if I sell this, I have to record this. I can say that's how we figured out and said, "Let us start something like digital literacy whereby they can just come and can record their business in our systems and then we save them where it will be very safe for them."

Heather Risley:
Do you adapt, change your training approaches each time you do a training or is it standard each time you do it?

Rose:
No, we adapt.

Heather Risley:
Can you talk about more about that process? How do you make decisions on what to change and how frequently to do that?

Rose:
Each and every time we train these women, we have to identify the major problems or the major topics that they don't understand better after which we come down and sit as a board and then decide on what good we can give them for them to understand better, because it is better you train someone to understand it, just not to train her and leave them there that we have trained them. It is better to follow up and see whether they understand the training or they did not understand it.

[background music]

Heather Risley:
Some social enterprises are key vehicles for development in Kibera. We talked with Joshwa, the co-founder of KCEO about why he thinks they're important to successful programming.

Lindsey Woolf:
K-Shoes is a social enterprise. KCEO incubates social enterprises. Why do you think social entrepreneurship is so important for Kibera?

Joshwa Tambo:
If the barriers that exist in our communities are removed, then women can do magic in terms of scaling developments in our communities. Social enterprise is the tool that can catalyze this. If we show women how to do business in the right way-- Because already they have what it takes to become successful social entrepreneurs. The level of resilience of women is far way beyond men, and their commitment to what they believe in, the drive to what they do, this is incredible. This is what a social entrepreneur needs to succeed if you leave alone financing and skills.

I think we're just coming in to reinforce what they're doing already because all we do is just show them "You need to keep your books because it's important for investors or for banks and these are the tools that you can use to keep your books," or "You need to develop your brand in this sense to make it outstanding in the market." I think we're doing very little because already they have-- It's so hard to build resilience or passion or commitment in a person. Interestingly, most women already have this embedded in them, so we think social enterprises is a vital tool to meeting the urgent need of creating equality and empowerment of women in our society.

Lindsey Woolf:
In the next part of our interview with Josh, he's going to explain in more detail the inner workings of how K-Shoes and KCEO work together. What do you think makes the relationship between K-Shoes and KCEO successful?

Joshwa Tambo:
I think the social mission of these two organizations, they both believe in creating equal opportunities in the society for our youths. The core values of KCEO and K-Shoes really interrelate very well. That's why if K-Shoes puts money in KCEO, they feel that their mission is achieved through that relationship.

Heather Risley:
Can you tell us a little bit more about how K-Shoes's activities contribute to KCEO?

Joshwa Tambo:
Yes. K-Shoes is a KCEO baby. We decided to separate it from KCEO because we wanted it to be a well-structured company that can attract investors and can adhere to the rules and the regulations of this country. That's why we separated it to run independently. However, 50% of the revenues generated from K-Shoes are reinvested back to KCEO. Specifically, they are injected into seed capital that we give to the women. From last year, we started building a scaling in their businesses, so we're building a small loan with low interest less than 5%. We are also still thinking about the equity, whether we want to give this women equity, investment, or we want to give them low-interest loans, or we want to have a combination of both so that they can choose, because some of these investments we give, it takes time to have the investment return. If it isn't in form of equity, we have long-term relationship with them and we have commitment to making sure that this company succeed because we are shareholders in the company, but also we think, we really don't want to take advantage of them.

We're negotiating. I mean, we're discussing whether we leave it open to them. You want investment because now we are opening our doors to different investors. Specifically, we are working on building a local philanthropy like telling young people or successful people in Kenya that we can support our own initiatives. If they put money in K-Shoes investment wing, they need to see their money coming back. That's why we want to make sure that the money that we invest in these small businesses are generating revenues and are either paid back or getting shares from them.

[background music]

Heather Risley:
It's really clear from this conversation how much Joshwa understands business strategy and how he envisions the future. Another thing that stood out to me is how the team is thinking about providing financial support to the small businesses under KCEO. From talking to youth around the world about what they need, one of the top responses is access to capital.

In this example, we see how KCEO is addressing that challenge directly through their business model, which not all programs are able to do successfully. Lindsey, is that one of the aspects of KCEO's application that stood out to you and making a decision about which organizations would receive the prize? Can you talk a little bit more about that?

Lindsey Woolf:
Yes. The sustainable business model was definitely one of the aspects that made KCEO a top contender for the prize. Their work is not only sustainable but also addresses the unique needs of the marginalized population that they serve making their promising approach one that we were interested in learning more about. Now, we will talk more to Josh about how they adaptively manage their programs. You mentioned adapting your program based on the feedback that you receive. How have you implemented any of that feedback through adaptation in your programs?

Joshwa Tambo:
One of them would be the daycare that is just adjustments to our office. When we started running these classes, these women would walk out of classroom to go breastfeed their kids come back. Some would go and they don't come back. That really interrupted our sessions. During one feedback forum session, they suggested, "Oh, you should set up a safe space for our children. Now that we have a safe space, we also want to be sure that our kids are safe."

We started investing in daycare centers so that we could have reliable early childhood centers that we have trained and invested in and we could refer that their children there. Some of these daycares are now pre-schools. They have grown from just being a daycare where they watch kids for a few hours into a pre-school where they are introducing to elementary learnings.

The other thing is our curriculum in terms of the content. We have over time improved our content based on the feedback. Sometime some of the content are irrelevant because we adopt this from different places. We have tried to customize our curriculum to address the specific needs of these women. I'm impressed that our curriculum has been adopted by other organization based on how we have delved deep focusing on local context.

[background music]

Heather Risley:
We're going to end this episode talking to Rhoda about how monitoring and evaluation is incorporated into their programs. We started this episode talking to Rhoda about what good management of an organization looks like. She mentioned the importance of systems. You can tell that is another system they've thought a lot about and has become more institutionalized in the way they work. Here's Rhoda.

Lindsey Woolf:
How do you measure your program's success? Do you collect indicators? You mentioned a baseline survey. So, how do you see how change is happening?

Rhoda Ayieko:
The most important thing is the indicators. Because before any program, we normally get- we do a log frame for him. We have indicators, we have outcomes, outputs, the activities, the inputs and the final impact. This we use. We don't just look at it after the program has ended. We constantly check our logical framework. Again, we do monitoring and evaluation that- sometimes we do it internally through follow-ups. Our program director is very good at that. She follows up the women that have been to our program. We also do evaluation. Evolution we normally do by bringing in someone who is not part of our organization to come and assess what you've done.

Lindsey Woolf:
How did you learn as an organization about how to do a logical framework and collect indicators and evaluate your success?

Rhoda Ayieko:
As an individual, for me, I mentioned I was an Akili Dada fellow. During those trainings that we attended, there's one point that we were taught about the logical framework. Also, I did my Bachelor in Development Studies and so that's some of the course work we did.

[music background]

Heather Risley:
That wraps up another episode of the Young Women Transform Podcast. We covered a lot of different aspects of good program design. Rhoda spoke about the importance of having good systems in place to do basic organizational management. Josh spoke about the importance of the social enterprise model as key to sustainability. We covered how adaptive management is practiced across programming and how the team measure success through their work.

Join us next week for an episode on relationship building. In addition to learning more about how Rhoda and Joshwa have leveraged their networks to recruit mentors for themselves and for the women in their programs, you're going to hear more from beneficiaries and mentors directly. Remember, you can always learn more at the following websites, youthpower.org or education links at www.edu-links.org. If you haven't already, remember to subscribe to this podcast in your favorite podcast app.

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 14: Building Relationships

Rhoda Ayieko:
Honesty is key. There are so many things you cannot achieve if you're not honest.

[music]

Heather Risley:
Hi, everybody. Welcome to the Young Women Transform podcast. I'm Heather Risley with USAID's Office of Education.

Lindsey Woolf:
I'm Lindsey Woolf with YouthPower Learning.

Heather Risley:
In this episode, we're looking at the importance of relationship building. At KCEO, the staff have been able to use their networks to surround themselves with people who can help them with their programs. These relationships are valuable to them and played a key role in their success.

Lindsey Woolf:
Later on in this episode, we have the chance to talk to some of these individuals, who are mentors to both KCEO and the women who are beneficiaries of the program. You could tell there was a strong connection between them. Well, in lay terms, we would call this having friends. The technical term is "social capital", knowing people who can help you in your life.

Heather Risley:
In a place like Kenya, where institutions aren't necessarily as strong as in a more developed country, social capital is even more important for success. Part of attracting the right people is knowing what you stand for as an organization and who you want to work with. Here's Lindsey talking to Rhoda about how they find women who can join the program.

[music]

Lindsey Woolf:
Can you tell us a little bit more about that beneficiary selection process and the qualities you look for in potential beneficiaries?

Rhoda Ayieko:
The most important thing that we look at when we're doing the selection is, is this woman able to manage the social enterprise? That should be number one, Number two, the women should have the same values as our organization. That is one, honesty. Integrity, that is number two. We really value integrity and honesty. Three, trust.

We look at the three aspects of values that we have as an organization. Initially, we used to take women who have not been into business, but we realized that those that have been into business, make good social enterprises than those who have not been into business. Again, the most important thing we look at is, "Are you into business already?" Yes, so you must have a startup.

Lindsey Woolf:
Why do you think that's so essential to be honest and have integrity?

Rhoda Ayieko:
I have realized that most young people, especially those maybe living around, or maybe those in the urban settlements, these values have not been instilled in them, so they end up not achieving their dreams, because of lack of these specific values. That's why we really strive to instill such values. Maybe you can come and join us if you don't have those specific values, but just by interacting with us as a team. We have a team that these values is part and parcel of us, so by just seeing how we live in our organization, you'll just adapt.

Lindsey Woolf:
Why is it important that the women start social enterprises?

Rhoda Ayieko:
I can say a social enterprise is necessary. I can say in Kenya as at now, most people do business to get money. We are not into the business of making profits for us as an organization. Our main aim is to create impact, so this young woman who has disability, who wants to do business, she must be able to create impact. We are trying to create impact to them, and they also should be able to replicate the same in the others, so that there is a great impact in our community. Yes.

Lindsey Woolf:
When you speak to the young women, what support do they say that they need?

Rhoda Ayieko:
Mostly, I can say most support that they need is mentorship. A business needs consistency and achieving goals, so they would love to have mentors. That is our desire even as an organization. To give the young mothers each and every one their mentor, but someone might be able to get very interested in mentoring me as a young woman with no disability and not get interested in mentoring a woman with disability. That one has made us not to get the young women one-on-one mentorship as we had earlier thought of, but right now at least they get a group. They do get group mentorship, but we believe that one-on-one mentorship works more than group mentorship.

[music]

Heather Risley:
I'm really impressed with Rhoda's clear vision of organizational values and how important they are in selecting who they choose to have relationships with, particularly in the beneficiary selection process. I was a little surprised to hear that their central focus is about creating impact rather than making a profit. It seems like a lot of youth employment programs really do focus on wages as the primary outcome.

To understand how these businesses work in real life, Lindsey visited a woman named Maureen, who was part of the Young Women's Business Incubator program. In the course of this exchange, Maureen mentions her relationship with her mentor, which plays an important role in helping her build her business. We'll talk more about that after hearing Maureen's story.

[music]

Lindsey Woolf:
We're here in Kibera. We're going to be speaking with Maureen who is one of KCEO's Young Mothers Incubation program beneficiaries. She is a seller of peanuts. She walks around Kibera selling the peanuts and simsim, which is like a ground peanut cake that people eat on the street as a snack. She's been through the program and received support.

We're going to be chatting with her about her experience, living in Kibera as a young woman with a disability. How she's been supported by the program, the challenges that she's faced and how they've helped her to overcome those. She's going to have her interview translated by program staff member Rose, who's here with me to help translate the questions and answers into and from Swahili. Maureen, can you please introduce yourself and tell us what it is that you do here in Kibera for your business?

Maureen Achieng:
[foreign language]

Rose:
My names are Maureen Achieng. I'm selling peanuts and simsim.

Lindsey Woolf:
Can she tell us how much she sells the peanuts and the simsim for?

Maureen Achieng:
[foreign language]

Rose:
The least money that she sells her products is Ksh5, Ksh10, growing.

Lindsey Woolf:
How is she challenged by the disability that she has, and how has her involvement in KCEO helped her with her business?

Maureen Achieng:
[foreign language]

Rose:
As she's living in disability, whenever she wants to find a job, no one can give her a job, because they feel that she cannot do the job since she has a disability. That's why she started a business to help support her family, and being involvement with the KCEO. She's much glad that KCEO gave her a grant seed whereby it supported her business.

Lindsey Woolf:
Does Maureen have a mentor and what has she learned from that mentor?

Maureen Achieng:
[foreign language]

Rose:
Okay, she's saying that she has a mentor who has been mentoring her with her business, giving her direction on how to run her business, and how to save her money that she gets from the business.

Lindsey Woolf:
Okay, that's good. Thank you. Asante.

[music]

Heather Risley:
You can hear in the story that Maureen's business is small, but she's able to support her whole family on the money she makes. Without this income, she, like many other people who are disabled, are likely to be blocked in the labor market. Lindsey, Maureen mentioned that she does have a mentor. Can you speak a bit more about the role that mentors play in programs?

Lindsey Woolf:
Best practices and entrepreneurship training involve a business mentor, someone who can provide guidance, experience and support to new entrepreneurs, so that they are most likely to be successful in their business, long-term.

Heather Risley:
Yes, within your programs, I'm seeing more and more of the role of mentorship, so it's interesting to see how that's being played out in KCEO programs. Now that we have heard how KCEO attracts their beneficiaries, we're going to hear from Rhoda about how they recruit volunteers and mentors to be a part of their organization. You'll hear about how they use a mixture of word of mouth referrals and social media, but perhaps the most important thing is they have defined and embodied the values they want to see in others. Now back to Rhoda.

Lindsey Woolf:
How do you recruit other young people to be involved in KCEO as volunteers and staff?

Rhoda Ayieko:
Most of the recruitment process comes from referrals. If you come to our organization, you get to hear what you do. You go and share with others and they just come to volunteer with us mostly. Yes, and also social media.

Lindsey Woolf:
Can you talk a little bit more about how you recruit people online?

Rhoda Ayieko:
For example, if you have any opportunity in our organization, we normally post them on, we have a website. We have a Facebook page and we also have an Instagram page. As you understand, many youths get involved in Facebook and Instagram, so they get to know about us through the social media handles.

Lindsey Woolf:
I am a fan. I follow KCEO on everything. [laughter] What types of characteristics do you look for when recruiting young people to become involved as volunteers and staff?

Rhoda Ayieko:
I think I'd mentioned it earlier. An honest person. Honesty is key. There are so many things you cannot achieve, if you're not honest. You'll fall on the way. Integrity is also another key value. Yes, you have to be a man or a woman of integrity. I can say that's essential.

Lindsey Woolf:
How do you recruit mentors for the young women?

Rhoda Ayieko:
The mentors mostly are our friends. We talk to them about what we do. If they're interested, we get them as mentors to the young mothers.

[music]

Heather Risley:
Now we're going to meet some of those mentors that KCEO has recruited. First we're going to hear from Elizabeth who works with the Ministry of Industry and Cooperatives in Kenya. She's a mentor with KCEO and has a prosthetic leg. For other women who have disabilities. Elizabeth serves as a positive role model. After Elizabeth, you'll hear from Kevin who is another leader in the community and entrepreneur who serves as a mentor.

Both Elizabeth and Kevin are alumni from the Young African Leadership Initiative, or YALI. We've heard of that group before. Many of the folks who were in Uganda are also part of that network. The mentorship session was in a shipping container that was converted into an office and placed right next to a school. You may hear some kids in the background.

Elizabeth Manyeni:
My name is Elizabeth Manyeni, I'm the co-founder of You for She initiative. I also work with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives in Kenya. Rhoda and I, we partnered to empower women from Kibera community, women with disabilities. We felt like women with disabilities are being discriminated. We felt we should empower these women, so that they can bring the best out of themselves. We felt that they have the capability, they have the potential to do anything that they feel they want to do. That's why we came to the women with disabilities in informal settlement.

Lindsey Woolf:
You were providing some mentorship to some of the young women today. Can you tell us more about those sessions and what you speak with them about?

Elizabeth Manyeni:
For the women, what we basically did, we first met them, we mobilized the women. We had 50 of them. Then we interviewed them, then we had like 20 in number. For the 20 women, we sat with them. We taught them about the business model canvas, on the value proposition, the key resources. After the business model canvas, we brought in entrepreneurs, successful entrepreneurs, to speak to the women.

Also, I came in as a person with disability who's into trade and I have the networks. I also spoke to them about the opportunities that are out there that are being provided by the government, which they can use to grow themselves. We also taught them about making their business sustainable because most of them had businesses but they didn't last for long. One year, they turn to another business opportunity. We felt they need to grow with their one business and make it sustainable and run for a long run. That's basically what we mentored them on.

[music]

Kevin Okello:
My name is Kevin. I run an entrepreneurship startup that's focused on communications and business development. Part of the initiatives I do towards growing communities is sparing time with persons living disability just for me to make them see that they are capable of doing what they probably will feel that they're not capable of doing. That's also just in line with what I do towards giving back to communities.

Lindsey Woolf:
What do you speak with them about during the mentorship sessions?

Kevin Okello:
For example, it's always about how do you communicate in simple terms with your primary audience that you're trying to sell to. It's also about how do you even package yourself within your business in that how do they position themselves within the communities that they are in. Other discussions that we have is all about them believing in themselves because they already have a business that's running, so it's okay for them to have in their mind that, this can give me my $1. This can give me my $20. This can give me my $30. The other bit is also just to encourage them to really see that there's life beyond what they are living for.

I can give an example, there's one of the persons living with disability who sells spare parts for motorbikes. I myself as Kevin, I actually don't even have skill and expertise to identify motorbike spare parts, but she's already doing it and she is already doing it, that clearly shows that there's so much power and potential for her to keep on doing and doing. Another critical component is how they can grow their revenues in that, she could be making probably like $5 of profit daily, but then again, she needs to understand that by investing these $5, it can grow to $10. It can grow to $30. Partly, that's just in a brief on some of the sessions we discuss with them.

Lindsey Woolf:
They come to you with particular questions or challenges that they're facing and you work through those with them?

Kevin Okello:
Yes, they do come with the challenges. For example, I can refer to Janet. Janet who runs an early childhood education center and she says initially, one of the key things that affected students or rather the kids coming to her place was the lack of food and through the partnership that she has right now with KCEO, she's introduced a feeding program that just seeks to keep the kids within this particular early childhood center. That's just but a basic example.

Others would be, how do they want to grow their ventures to reach out to audiences which they currently don't reach out to. Just on our basic skills in terms of how we look at them functioning, we're just able to probably tell them, "Hey, if you're selling onions, add tomatoes. If you are having tomatoes, please have some chilli within your business setup." With that she's able to attract more and more consumers who were not there before.

Lindsey Woolf:
Were you approached by Josh as a YALI alumni to participate?

Kevin Okello:
Yes, actually, me and Joshwa Thambo, we met in 2016. We did the YALI Leadership Program together for a period of 12 weeks and I think that's also when our relationship started because we ended up being within the same group setup for a period of 12 weeks. As time has gone by three years right now down the line, we've collaborated with Joshwa by, he supported my initiatives when I'm running my stakeholder and consulting projects. I've supported his.

It's a relationship that has grown beyond just a YALI alumni to being more of a family, and to being more of probably us supporting ourselves in different ventures as young people. I always say that my vision and mission in this life is may God grant me the voice and tool to be a voice of reason and inspiration. That's just me.

Lindsey Woolf:
I can really hear in these conversations about the positive effects of a network. Josh and Rhoda, leaders at KCEO met these other community leaders through the YALI network. From there, these leaders are extending their expertise and support to other young women with disabilities in the hope that they grow into leaders themselves. It's really great to hear about how this is taking place organically at the local level without any outside involvement.

It really shows how non-monetary inputs to a program like leveraging a network of volunteers can make a really big difference. That said, just because there is a network, you need to have a good recruitment strategy and build trust among those people. We're going to end our episode speaking with Rose about those topics.

How do you recruit other young people to be involved as volunteers and staff within KCEO?

Rose:
There're some that have that passion to work, some want to work for money, but some have that passion by way of,

if you do something good to someone, whenever you pass, they'll remember you. Even if you are not around, they'll be looking for you, saying what good things you have been doing to them. That's how I can just say I recruit them.

Lindsey Woolf:
Can you tell us a little bit more about building that trust and having patience? Why is that important in particular?

Rose:
It is very much important because you can come out, find this youth, but being that they have lived in a community whereby they say, "These people are misusing us." Without that patience, without that trust in you, you cannot do it. You can fail. Because some can throw words, and if you can't be patient, you can't take that words. If you're patient, you can take their words and you can try as much as giving them some empowering, giving them some knowledge in them that they can make them understand that not every person is bad.

Lindsey Woolf:
Rose, just following up on the topic of building trust, when you have new women in your training sessions or workshops, how long does it take for that trust relationship to be built? How does that happen?

Rose:
It takes a lot like three months when working with them, following them up, showing them that love and that trust, then you can build that trust.

[music]

Heather Risley:
That wraps up another episode of the Young Women Transform Podcast. Some of the key takeaways for me when hearing these conversations is that relationship-building and creating trust have been critical to KCEO's success, both when it comes to finding beneficiaries to be in their program, but also in recruiting mentors.

Lindsey Woolf:
Certainly, those are positive aspects. That said, it's also unfortunate that multiple times during our conversations, we heard how women who are disabled are being taken advantage of and so they are naturally wary of anyone who comes promising to help them. I was struck by how Rose said that it takes three months to build trust with these women.

Heather Risley:
Sure. Yes, relationship-building is definitely a long-term process. I've learned that in my own professional life. Actually, it's one of the difficult challenges we face at USAID since we function on a program cycle which is usually only five years or so. For those working directly on a project, that time span usually isn't enough to create and sustain deep relationships. This is why local solutions to development problems is so important. We have to trust and rely on local people in the countries where we work who have those long-standing relationships, so our activities are sustainable.

I want to close by mentioning one more thing. If you want to see some of the faces in this episode, you can always go to our YouTube page by searching USAIDEducationLinks, one word. Remember to listen in next week for our final episode of this season as we look to the future.

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 15: Looking to the Future

Joshwa Tambo:
I've always dreamed of being a great artist, while my dreams for my future is to run for the president of Kenya.

Rose:
My dreams is that one day I can establish a huge company in Kibra.

Rhoda Ayieko:
Personally I would love to see people creating jobs for themselves.

Heather Risley:
Welcome to the final episode in this season, as we sit down with KCEO staff to reflect on their hopes and dreams for the future. I'm Heather Risley with USAID's Office of Education.

Lindsey Woolf:
I'm Lindsey Woolf with YouthPower Learning.

Heather Risley:
We hope you found these conversations as rich and inspiring as we have. I certainly have enjoyed listening to everyone, and definitely wish I could have spent more time in Kibera since there's so much to learn.

Lindsey Woolf:
I definitely enjoyed meeting with everyone, and learned a lot through our great conversations, especially over chai and chapatis.

Heather Risley:
Yeah, that was my favorite too. [laughs] For this episode, we're not going to do much talking. We want to leave you with thoughts from each of the KCEO staff you've met over previous episodes. We're going to start with Rhoda, then you'll hear from Rose, Malaki and Josh.

Lindsey Woolf:
What do you need to grow your programs? You're reaching new counties now. How have you been able to do that?

Rhoda Ayieko:
Through the support of maybe friends and other maybe Angel investors, we've been able to get to other counties. I'm so excited about going to Kisumu. We are starting up a new program, still with women with disabilities, but now we're going to offer them a soft skill. We are going to train them yes on entrepreneurship and digital literacy. On top of it, we'll train them on bakery. It will be called Bread Power. These women with disability will be able to start up their own bakery business. Some of them also will be able to get employment in our bakery in Kisumu.

Lindsey Woolf:
I love that, Bread Power, the bakery. That's great. Looking to the future, what are your dreams for Kibra? What would you like to see happen here for the young people?

Rhoda Ayieko:
Personally I would love to see people creating jobs for themselves. This notion of everyone wants a white collar job, everyone wants to work in an office, everyone wants to get employed, I would love to see Kibra a place where people create employment for others. Youths create employment for others who would love to come and work for them. Not that all of them want to go and work somewhere else.

Rose:
The future, I would like to see in young women in Kibra. It will be a pleasure for me to see if I can empower 25 women, and these 25 women can start up a business and can concrete a job in Kibra. Then Kibra will have a great change. Because no one will sit down saying there is no job. We will be having some companies in Kibra whereby this women can employ some that are lacking jobs now. Yes, that's my future, to see Kibra we can empower ourselves and we can create jobs for ourself. Not that we can just go out there looking for jobs and not finding.

When we have jobs in Kibra, then we can employ the same same people living in Kibra. We'd love to look out for those who are the other side, but we'll just-- We want to change our community to be in a better place. I can say my dream is to-- Now I'm selling peanut butter, but my future plan, my dreams is that one day I can establish a huge company in Kibra that can employ youth, women and even our men. We can’t take them out because we are still in one community.

When I can establish a huge company in Kibra, I know first I'll solve the problem of hunger. No kid, any kid that can say that are starving. I will solve the problem of going to schools. You find that young women living in Kibra, it is difficult to take your children to school because you do have that cash in hand. When I establish my company in Kibra and create jobs, opportunity to youths and women, their kids will go to school. They will have something to have for their lunch or supper. Then our youths too will not be idle. You find that youths engage themselves in bad things because after coming out for school, from form four, he doesn't have the enough money to take him or her to college, then sitting out there doing nothing idle, they just find themselves engaging in things that are not good.

When there are some jobs whereby after they finish their form four level, and then you tell them, "Don't sit here. You can work for me like in part time. Take these my products, distribute them to shops, to companies, to supermarkets." Then after that, he or she will have something going back with them in the house, still empowering them on how they can have this savings for them to go for their future education, for their future plan until where they want to.

Lindsey Woolf:
We look forward to seeing your peanut butter empire grow, and to seeing the community be impacted by the great work that you're doing with KCEO. Thank you, Rose.

Rose:
Thank you so much.

Malaki:
The future I love to see for Kibra is development. Not only on the estate sides, but on the slum side. Each and every person to get an opportunity to do something but not to be idle. By creating different training centers, different art galleries, I can say everybody will get an employment. At the end of the day, somebody can take something home. I've always dreamed of being a great artist, a great computer graphic, a great designer. Also, it's always my dream that since all my life, my fees for the schools have been paid by different organizations, it's my dream that one day I can do the same thing to someone's child who could not get an opportunity to access education. I can say I have big dreams for my marginalized people, even for myself.

Lindsey Woolf:
Thank you very much for sharing your story and your thoughts and your dreams.

Malaki:
Thank you so much.

Joshwa Tambo:
Our long term goal for KCEO is to establish different digital hubs in different informal slums in Kenya. In Kisumu, we have the American corner space that we can access. We still want to expand more, and now our focus is on how can we attract more resources to establish another hub in the Eastern and the coastal. Then we shall have spread our wings. With K-Shoes, we realized that the fastest way of scaling this is to focus on building a strong brand and franchise it so that we don't have to worry about the capital goods when we scale it.

We will sell the concept of the benefits that this cobblers will get when they get into our system. Because people are beginning to appreciate our model. They appreciate our styles, designs. If you plug into K-Shoes network, it means more sales for you. It means more respect for your product. That is what we're going to sell to the cobblers, and in return, we're working on a model whether they'll pay a subscription fee or monthly commission, working in a way that will be of a mutual benefit. That is the fastest and cheapest way of scaling it and scaling the impact.

I'm looking forward to seeing a community that young people can access opportunities, young people can get spaces to maximize their talents. I'm looking forward to seeing Kibra that has leaders who care, leaders who are passionate about changing things in this community, and entirely having a network of change makers living in one community.

Lindsey Woolf:
What are your dreams for your future?

Joshwa Tambo:
My dreams for my future, which is not supported by my family, is to run for the president of Kenya [laughs] at some point. My family says no, no, no, no to politics. I don't know if it will come true, but the thing is, I want to focus more on building the investment fund because I believe this investment fund will create huge opportunity to young social entrepreneurs in Kenya. I don't mind running the country as the CEO, the president of Kenya.

Lindsey Woolf:
Well, we look forward to seeing what great things happen, and keeping an eye on that presidential run. Thank you.

It was so great to meet these amazing young people. They've got some big dreams, but they've also shown us the talent and drive they possess to get there, maybe all the way to the highest office in Kenya. Since we started planning this trip almost eight months ago, one of my personal goals has been to listen to the voices of the local youth themselves and let them tell us what's working in their own communities. Looking back on this whole trip, a big takeaway I have is the importance of maximizing the resources that already exist. It's been truly amazing to see firsthand the accomplishments that both Safeplan Uganda and KCEO have achieved with so little.

Safeplan Uganda is looking at how to maximize natural resources that can generate a profit for young women in small villages, and really taking advantage of goodwill within the community. KCEO literally recycle trash to create shoes that are truly works of art. I hope we can follow these organizations in the future to see where they go from here.

Heather Risley:
Definitely. Through this process, I've learned that there are still many barriers to young women's economic empowerment, but through grassroots youth-led and youth-serving organizations like Safeplan Uganda and KCEO, there are bright spots. These organizations are deeply committed to changing the lives of the young women in their communities, and are doing the thoughtful and meaningful work of understanding the needs of these young women, and designing programs to meet those needs. The young women that lead these organizations, like Annette and and Rhoda, they have truly blown me away with their passion, creativity, and vision. They are indeed the leaders of the future, and we are grateful for the opportunity to learn from them.

Lindsey Woolf:
We hope everyone listening was able to take away some lessons from this podcast that can be applied in your own programs. Well, we know that solutions are hardly ever one size fits all. I think we've heard a lot of issues that deserve consideration in any work with youth. At USAID, we're continuing our work to ensure youth gain the skills they need to lead productive lives, gain employment, and positively contribute to society.

If you know someone who you think would enjoy this podcast, please feel free to share it with them. If you would like to see the people featured in this podcast, you can always go to our YouTube page and search for USAIDEducationLinks, one word. There, you will see a number of videos, some of which will feature people from both Safeplan Uganda and KCEO.

Lindsey Woolf:
Since this is our final episode, we would like to thank those that made it possible.

Heather Risley:
Absolutely. A special thank you to all those that provided support behind the scenes. Thanks to Susan Massey, Lindsey Woolf, Lisa Barton, Cheryl Fries, Achsah Callahan and Kirby Kreider. Our fellow travelers on this trip were Wesley Dean, podcast producer extraordinaire, and Olivia Graziano, who took beautiful photos and video footage. I also want to thank my fellow USAID colleagues and the true youth specialists, Nancy Taggart and Olga Merchan, for their input and feedback throughout this process. Thanks for listening.

Young Women Transform Podcast Transcripts

Read transcripts from the Young Women Transform podcast.

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 1: An Introduction

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 2: Local Solutions

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 3: Youth-Led Programs

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 4: Barriers to Women's Education

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 5: Solutions to Women's Empowerment

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 6: Youth Engagement & Skills Training

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 7: Program Design

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 8: Partnerships & Networks

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 9: Looking to the Future

Young Women Transform Podcast Episode 10: Local Solutions

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 11: Youth-Led

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 12: Marginalized Populations

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 13: Adapting to Change

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 14: Building Relationships

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 15: Looking to the Future

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Young Women Transform Podcast Transcripts

Read transcripts from the Young Women Transform podcast.

Young Women Transform Podcast, Episode 12: Marginalized Populations