178 youth in Budalangi, Busia County, have completed a 40-hour training in digital skills that is set to help them increase their incomes from using the internet to find work and sell products and services online. The sessions were conducted on Huawei’s mobile technology training facility known as DigiTruck. The youth were trained in a variety of practical skills enabling them to use the internet to find jobs and transact safely online, as well as use computers to write resumes and manage their business finances amongst other uses.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony in Port Victoria, Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, the Arts and Sports, Hon. Ababu Namwamba, said: “We are doing this because today’s life is digital, today’s businesses are digital; life is digital and if you have no knowledge on this, then you will be locked out of the digital superhighway.”
Echoing his remarks, Principal Secretary for Youth Affairs and the Arts, Captain Ismail Maalim, congratulated the graduating students whilst reminding them that they were lucky to be getting this knowledge on digital skills.
“It is timely since we are in the process of digitizing most of our hubs and youth centers. I encourage you to ensure you make use of this knowledge you have gained,” said Maalim.
3 of the participating youth emerged as winners of the DigiTruck Innovation Competition and are due to receive tablets and other support to help implement their ideas. The three winners of the innovation competition showed how simple but effective grass roots innovation and action can make a difference in their local community, exemplifying the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation agenda.
Ann Musungu in first place, plans to use the internet to research how to prevent cholera and share that information online through social media groups to reach 400 local residents to improve their health. Roseline Atieno, second place, will volunteer in the Youth Empowerment Center to share her digital skills with others in the community and help them find work online. Mathew Odongo, third place, will use the internet to research best practices for agriculture, especially managing pests and diseases, and share that information with 600 other farmers in the area.
Representing Huawei Kenya at the event, Adam Lane thanked the partners in the initiative including National Youth Council and Kenya National Innovation Agency under the Ministry, as well as Computers for Schools Kenya, Safaricom and other partners, and emphasised that: “while Huawei has helped build the internet infrastructure all over Kenya in the past 25 years, we know that every single Kenyan needs to have the skills to make use of it to improve their lives and we are committed to doing this at all levels, whether at Universities or in villages”.
