PRE- AU-EU YOUTH SUMMIT NAIROBI COUNTY

VENUE:    YMCA CONFERENCE HALL.

DATE:       10^TH NOVEMBER 2017.

EVENT:     PRE- AU-EU YOUTH SUMMIT NAIROBI COUNTY.

From the county near the great Lake Victoria to the county in the Indian Ocean now we were in the city under the sun, Nairobi. It would seem like the morning showers would go ahead to threaten all the plans laid down by the AYP-AYICC team, but this would not be so. This was due to the uniqueness of the day and the group of people. Today we would prove the notion wrong or right that the best of the best dwelled in this city, whether or not this was true, the two previous counties had given us something to remember and we had seen it all what more could Nairobi bring.

True to its praises this county was one of a kind. Despite the morning downpours, there were exceptional young people who arrived an hour before time and volunteered to help the team set up the venue. Talk of punctuality. This gave the team hope that despite the cold the sun would surely shine again. It would not be long till the charismatic Mr. Kevin Adipo would arrive and take up the job as the captain of this ship for the day. Maybe it was his charisma or it was his charm that brought with it a tone of luck that would bring in more youths streaming in.  The audience was unique on its own, ranging from masters students like Ivy to farmers to models all ready to rattle their brains on issues that were of concern to them. Each and every one of them with a unique background and a different story to tell. Talk of diversity.

It would not be long until the smooth-talking mc, Mr.  Adipo would give the rightfully earned recognition to a unique personality in the audience who happened to be a presidential candidate in the just concluded repeat elections, one Mr. Muthiora Kariara . Talk about dreams and ambitions I tell you! The mc would then welcome the panelist of the day which would consist of the one Mr. Clifford Okwany who happened to be an academician in various universities. To think that lecturers were on strike, he seemed to be resisting the strike and came up to talk about Peace and security. The second panelist was the very multi-talented Mr. Prince Papa who would tackle the issue of arts, sports, and culture. Talk or royalty! You would be shocked at how much this person was capable of doing.  The third panelist was the one and only John Henry who happened to be affiliated with African Nazarene University. One could never guess the touching story of this one who would talk about education and skill development for the day. The fourth panelist was the dreamer, one Mr. Adipo who earned the right to talk about employment and job creation.  To think that he was just good at lighting up the audience and cracking jokes, who would think that out mc would be part of the panelist to talk about employment and job creation. That was a twist none saw coming. I would be lying if I said I didn’t intentionally save the best for last. But the gender agenda issue can never be forgotten. Our final panelist was the very youth, very capable Ms. Wendy Messi who would slay the dragon of Climate change for the day. Talk about women empowerment! The moderator for the day would be none other than Mr. Isaac Oindo.

Without wasting a dime we would jump right back into class with lecturer Okwany taking the audience through the topic of governance. It would be brought to the attention of the class/audience that a lot of funds were being poured into the issue of peace and security that needed to be tapped into by the youths. It would also be brought to the attention of the young people that they needed to tap into the “nyumba kumi” initiative which was set up strategically for the youth.  Mr. Okwany would redefine the definition of peace and security and anyone who was there would agree that this class was not one that you would like to miss.

In as much as we would love to continue with the clas, we had to give a chance to the only politician in the house who would remind the audience on why it is important to not just vote but to ensure they vote for the right people to positions of power. The audience would be encouraged to vote for the people-oriented leaders who would put the people’s interest first and not their own selfish interest let alone vote in people who behave unethically before the rest of the country. The youth would also be encouraged to take up initiative on matters of governance and take advantage of the existing opportunities in the political arena meant for them and not let 65year olds take up what is theirs. The youths would be encouraged to act as watchdogs so as to ensure that everyone in their society does what they ought to do.

The artists would then be given room as the multi-talented Prince Papa would stand and give a different definition of arts and culture. According to him, culture was something one does consistently and could be developed over time contrary to the indigenous knowledge and link of culture to our ethnic backgrounds.  He would not forget to mention that the talents under the umbrella of arts was likely to be the next green pasture and youths needed to really look into it if for employment opportunities. It was brought to light that the sports sector in the country was slowly but surely being killed by the high level of corruption in the country in addition to the issue of drug and substance abuse. The audience was urged to find their passion, something they were good at and enjoyed doing and invest in it as much as they could.

The audience would get to see a different side of the mc who happened to talk about employment and job creation. It was a touching story of how he quit his well-paying office job to go pursue his career as a mc. He brought to light the fact that youths feared the challenges that laid ahead in taking such as huge step such as societal stigmatization which quelled most of the youths to give up on their dreams. The youths were reminded that they would disappear or become irrelevant because they more often than not had the tendency to fit in and become like the rest forgetting their uniqueness and that they had to offer unique things to the world. The youths were encouraged to stop chasing money and employment and to start chasing their passions and talents.

The only female panelist Ms. Messi would go ahead and encourage the youth to take up personal initiative on issues pertaining to climate change and not wait for institutions such as the Kenya forest service to do it for them. It was made clear that the issue of climate change had to be further devolved down from the county level to the constituency level so that youths could do somethings like plant tress as the constituency level. It was deliberated that the youths needed not wait for tree planting initiatives from big institutions to make a change in the environment but they could do the little they could at their own capacities in a bid to try and curb the menace of climate change.

The final panelist was Mr. John henry who would remind the audience that in as much as education was important, the relevant skills were more important than the papers they had. He reminded them that they needed to be less theoretical and more practical. He reminded them that they needed to stop focusing on passing exams and focus more on gaining beneficial skills that could earn them a source of income. He would go ahead to remind the audience that they need to stop looking for jobs and that they needed to get busy and let jobs find them. He reminded the young people that interviews were no longer held in boardrooms but were held in the field after they had proven to the potential employers that they were capable of handling the task beforehand.

It would not be a discussion until the moderator of the day would lead the group into a breakout session where they would deliberate on the crucial issue at hand. The sub-groups would be guided by each of the panelists and below is what the then breakdown session culminated in.

If you missed Nairobi then you missed out but you can join the conversation on twitter #investinyouth254 @AYPKenya @ayicckenya @350_kenya and let us know your thoughts as a youth.

Check out the website at: https://aypkenya.wixsite.com/youth

Fill this link: surveymonkey.com/r/AU_EU_Youth_survey.Lets … document youth affairs in Kenya

Written and compiled by Dolphine Magero and Paul Mutuku