 This is the way to do it. This is the way to do it. Change requires work. For it to be witnessed, one has to take up the mantle. The youth are focused on bringing that change they want to see. Tom Ogalo will take us through. So Tom, karibu sana. What would you say is your motivation to tackle the daily life? First, I'm Tom Ogalo from Tisumu. What motivates me to tackle my daily life is, as you have said, I want to see change. And as a young person, I have always believed that for me to see any change, I have to be involved. And that goes with the tagline, change through involvement. And so what do you do? Give us a backstory. I, as Tom, I work with Jijenga Youth Organization. Jijenga Youth Organization basically is a youth-based organization that tries to see on how best we can be able to involve young people to be able to change. Our vision and mission always is to provide young people with that particular space and a safe space for them to be able to realize and actualize their full potential. Other than working with Jijenga Youth Organization, I work with us for the Street Foundation. And this foundation just focuses on trying to promote reading among street-connected children, another vulnerable children. With street-connected children, we also try to impact in their lives the aspect of trying to be leaders. This is just enhanced more because through book reading, we believe that one is able to get the right knowledge and skills to be able to make their own informed decision. And that's really the bottom line of anyone being a leader. In regards to Jijenga Youth Organization, we also have a program called Jitakesa to Pandemic Campaign. And this is an environmental program. And this particular environmental program seeks to focus much on trying to create green spaces at the community level and at school level so that young people are also able to enjoy the benefits of having a clean and safe environment. I'm quite linked to other organizations that probably may be interested to list. One is Global Student Forum that tries to focus on trying to promote rights of college and university students at a global level and also on part of World Ocean Day Youth Advisory Council that tries to advocate for clean waters. And that's with my interest being on Lake Victoria and our Indian Ocean that we have as a country. So let me ask, what inspired you to join all these in addition to starting Jijenga? What inspired me is first, I had the opportunity of engaging or volunteering with other organizations in the past but as a result of my engagement, I really felt like we were not being involved as much and therefore I decided to take it as my personal responsibility to expose myself to other various opportunities that are available and that's why I opted that instead of me waiting to be under control of someone else then why not start my own and other than being my own boss then also join other platforms that would really help me enhance my network. So that's really my inspiration. I want to be involved at a personal level and not only do I want to be involved at a personal level I also want to involve other young people. So as a young person, how do you feel being your own boss? It's one of the toughest things being your own boss because being a boss then you have people who are looking up to you to provide for them, to give them guidance and sometimes you look at yourself and you're like if I can't guide myself how am I going to guide other people? So it's a challenge but it's also a fun experience because being a boss then you are given some respect and this respect also enables you to be able to engage with other people who are also we call them more experienced in our space so you get that opportunity to network with greater people here. And have you studied what you're doing currently or you've ventured into a different career? Professionally I'm a sociologist. We are waiting graduation but I think whatever we studied and whatever I'm doing yes they are quite related but much of it is as a result of me trying to have a better world. So really what we studied was somehow limitative in regards to ideas and the content but whatever I'm doing it's something that has been motivated by the virtue that I'm able to identify various issues at a community level and solve them. And so what does Jijenga Youth Organization entail and its activities? Jijenga Youth Organization as I said is a youth-based organization and we are based, our headquarters are in Kisumu specifically although we have other chapters in other places like Mombasa, Kericho, Nairobi and Siaia. Our thematic areas tries to focus more on trying to promote environmental conservation, climate change advocacy. We also have the promotion of education aspect through the Ask for the Street program. We have social protection as a thematic area because we work with street connected children and we try to see how best we can be able to help them access healthcare services and that's following our social protection program. We also have health programs and these health programs trying to focus on sexual reproductive health and mental health and these sexual reproductive health and mental health programs are implemented at a school level. Yes. Okay. And how come in these chapters they are so broad and how did that come about? It was as a result of need. Most young people wanted to engage with the organization and since we could not really limit or restrict young people from engaging with us we thought it would be wise that why not create other branches at the volunteers need where they are based. So we were able to first have volunteers who moved from Kisumu to Nairobi launching their own chapter in Nairobi and currently it has a membership of over 50 volunteers. In Mombasa it was as a result of an activity that we were supposed to do in Kisumu and then out of interest there is some three of our participants but interested that why not also have such a program in Mombasa. In Kericho also it was as a result of one of our volunteers moving to Kericho and sharing with the organization that yes currently I moved to Kericho and there is a gap that I think we can fill and we thought then why not let's just have it in Kericho. In Siaia I hope so happen to be a mentor I'm mentoring other young people to start their own organization so as a result of these mentorship sessions we were able to now get people who are interested now yes there is that organization in Siaia that I'm mentoring but they also want to do or have or own Djenga at Siaia level and therefore the Siaia level just focuses specifically on mental health issues. And why do you think this task and hunger for change is among the youth? I think for the longest time we young people have been labeled to be people who wait for connection to drive but these young people that I'm engaging with are just interested to see a change and seeing this change is what drives them more. Yes they believe that they don't have the financial capability or they don't have the necessary connections to move but by the virtue that they want to see change they are really driven that if in another place a young person is doing the same thing why not us? So how do you advocate for behavior change within your community through Djenga? As our tagline goes change through involvement for behavior change we believe that by engaging our volunteers and by engaging community members and we have a keen interest you realize most of our programs happen also among young children the street program focuses on children the educational program focuses on children the health program focuses on children we believe that through our engagements with them and through involving them in our programs from the design stage to the implementation stage then there is that aspect of if someone can be able to involve me from the start and continue with me throughout the journey to the end then all these leads to behavior change because they are involved and they feel like they are part and parcel of something that is productive. How do you do these campaigns how do you reach out to your target audience and how do you mobilize your message to reach the broader spectrum? As an individual I believe in the power of social media and I also as an extra skill that I was able to learn through graphic design and creating various engaging designs I have been able to reach out to quite a number of people and people get interested if you are able to present your engagement in a manner that is attractive so I take advantage of the skill I have to bring more people on my engagements and I also have I can say it's a strength of always trying to engage and after engaging and ensuring that I have a follow up session with the people I engage so that they feel appreciated and if you call them now to the next engagement then they can be able to also invite their other fellows to come join your sessions and what type of hands-on activities are you involved through this Djijenga Youth Organization? Yes, some of the hands-on activities that we are engaged in at organizational level first is the tree planting exercise and we try to go with this quote of Wangari Madae not until you dig a hole, plant a tree water it and see it to grow then you are planted naturally so we try to involve our participants specifically in schools because we try to create green spaces in schools that yes probably you are not there at the seedling stage but now you are provided with the tree ensure this tree grow and see it grow other than that we also try to promote in order to promote sustainability of the environmental program we bring in the aspect of sports so people who engage in sports act as our ambassadors and they also act as tree ambassadors and they see it grow other than this we also have like literal trends of our volunteers and we try to train them on various skills so that not only do they come to the organization to be able to help the organization run the programs but we are trying to also help them build their own skills so that when at one point they leave the organization then they are more dependent not for someone's help on making or even creating basic things what skills are these? all my volunteers currently have skills on graphic designing all my volunteers currently have skills in event organizing and planning all my volunteers are also currently I can say they are good facilitators because they have been trained over time and also they have been taking through various advocacy advocacy trainings to just help them enhance their skill in how to present various issues that we are trying to handle as an organization yeah and how does one reach out to volunteer? it's mostly through advice that we make and other than that we also encourage young participants or young youths to be able to also visit our offices directly other than visiting our offices directly you can always apply through our website DjengeU.org and then slash volunteers and then you get the application process yes so what is your goal through this Djenge? my goal is to have first inclusive society at the end of the day and even in 10 years time I would wish to see my volunteers even having their own organizations and involving me as a partner so I just want to have like a society that first is all inclusive and a society where all young people are able to be involved and can participate in various engagements without being judged or criticized that you are a young person speaking of partners are there people who you work with on a personal level other organizations that work with your organization? yes we have quite a number of partners and listing them here may probably take a whole day or something they are quite a number but we have partners such as Betami and Betami we work closely with them in regards to engagements such as Chapati Festival where we try to just promote I like food so we try to use food to share the love and just to make them feel appreciated we have partners such as Kenya Red Cross and we work with them in our environmental programs the tree planting exercises we have partners such as Raise My Hope community project and they work with the elderly in the community so as an organization we just try to add in or give them some extra hand in their program we also work with the county government it's quite critical because I believe in working with the government both the county and the national government we try as much as possible to involve them directly in our activity so that they can also be in a position to tell us what's there for young people and how best can we engage with them in a manner so that it does not look like the government and the young people don't agree at any point so we try to involve them directly we have partners with Think Climate First this is an international partner that tries to advocate more on climate issues we also have a partner called Save the Environment Pakistan and this partnership was just as a result of us trying to see how best as a country or as participants in Kenya help Pakistan in their current situation and we have quite a number of partners another one is Kisuma Environmental Champs and here this organization tries to just see how best we can involve kids in environmental conservation you talked about Chapati Festival can you explain further? Chapati Festival I'm passionate about food I like well-cooked Chapati and the reason why we started Chapati Festival is for the longest time we had been doing engagements in schools but as we went or as we go to the schools we realized that there are other orphans and viable children in these particular schools and some even come from orphanages to go to school so with the help of the schools we were able to identify some orphanages that provide or bring students to the schools and we opted that other than just going to the school for their engagements we can always visit them back home because they are this group of individuals who don't get the opportunity to be visits to get visits from parents because they don't have parents so probably if they have parents the parents have neglected them so we are like that third guardian or second guardian who takes us at their responsibility just make them feel appreciated and make them also feel that there are some people outside the world who still care about them so as we do Chapati Festival we don't restrict ourselves to just food we also try to mobilize other resources to help these orphanages run but because we want to bring more people and believe that also food is the best way to get into someone's heart we also involve other young people and also see and feel the taste of sharing and giving out or serving the community so this chapati, are you the ones making them? Yes, you buy from the start to the end I believe most of my programs are direct involvement of young people so you cook, prepare eat together everything is in you So how has this journey been so far? As a young person one point the journey was hard because I started the organization before turning 18 and first it started with the position from family level people felt like you are two young to start something and when the family now accepted it now reached to organizations other like-minded organizations were like you know what you are coming into this space with too much pressure you are giving us headaches and you can't continue working with you and at one point you are getting a position you organize something you reach somewhere you find another team there and then since you don't provide refreshments of the other team the team members or the target group that you targeted decided to give you engagement and go to the other activity so there was that unfair competition with other organizations but other than that where even the community members at time resist you because in this ideology of if an organization comes to visit a community then they have to come with goodies but my organization at that particular point didn't have any goodies to provide but to provide the right knowledge and the right information as per the exit but I think we have managed to pass that particular stage and the big elephant in the house has been now the volunteers you know for any organization to work then you have to have a team and one challenge has been every volunteer who comes for your program expects that you will have to give them goodies and you are like okay I can't give you anything because also me I am depending on probably someone else for survival and you are here expecting me to survive you so it gets hard over time we have had clay overs of volunteers and then we also now struggle to get new volunteers but I am quite thankful because I think for now 2 years in a row I have had constant volunteers people who are driven not by the need to have money to serve the community so that's not really a challenge but it has been a bonus to me having individuals who are really interested to serve the community with their whole heart since you started before 18 what do you intend to steer this ship in the next 5 to 10 years as I said in the next 5 to 10 years I expect that the volunteers I have currently probably will be independent and I also don't expect to die in Djijenge I also am trying to explore other options as I still work with Djijenge I want to see Djijenge being this organization that has capability of employing other young people and having young people who are really able to drive the agenda of community service and in the process having these for the volunteers that I'm already mentoring having their own organizations and me having them on board probably as partners and involving them or even telling them on how best they can be able to handle various issues as they work so the end goal is to have first the team I have currently having their own organizations and the team that will be coming being in a position to be dependent and the organization just having the capability of employing more staff to involve the community members I love how you are committed to your work the sense of I am doing this not for me but for the greater good that is so encouraging as a youth and what can you tell someone who desires to see change among the community at an individual level but does not know how to start I get that question quite a lot and the best solution or the best answer that I usually give is don't wait for someone to tell you to start it's never too late to start you can start and no one will stop you from doing what you are doing and there is always someone who is watching you never know who is watching so whatever you do do it passionately and automatically you will get people who will be willing to support you in the journey Asanti sana for coming I have learnt a lot and I am sure that hata wewe ume elewa kitu keep it going the volunteers very soon watakua employees and employers do not wait to start it is never too late or too early to start do not see that as a demoralization rather it is a motivation that you are doing something great I am Nyongwesa Grenis and this has been youth in action this is the way to do it this is the way to do it