Free ICT training opens a door of opportunity for youth

Free ICT training opens a door of opportunity for youth

By Samuel Gitonga Makanya

Patricia Syombua sat for her Kenya School of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams on 2011. However, the 23 year old has been unable to collect her Secondary School certificate for she hasn’t cleared the school fees balance that she owes her former school.

So when she heard of a free ICT training opportunity being offered at Mutomo Maarifa Centre, Patricia saw this as a God send opportunity. And as each journey starts with a single step, she saw this as a golden chance to gain skills, look for employment and save enough money so that she could finally collect her certificate.

“I got the training information from my friends who work in the Mutomo Mission Hospital. I immediately visited the Centre and enrolled for the training “says a lively Patricia, who hails from Kibwea Location of Mutomo District. Here, she got trained on five computer packages which included; Ms Word, Ms excel Internet and e-mail, Ms Power point and introduction to technology.

Patricia adds that after undergoing the training for two months, she was proud to graduate; the first graduation event of her life .Armed with this certificate, Patricia’s prospects of getting a job improved and it wasn’t long before she secured employment at Ngooni Electronics in Mutomo town.

Here, her duties include; typesetting, printing and photocopying. However CDs, cassettes, bulbs and electronics like radios and phone chargers are other things on sale in her employer’s electronic shop.

“The time frame for the course was convenient and the trainers never left any trainee behind. The pace was fast enough for me to understand what we learnt and also finish the course at the expected time. I had ample time to gain practical skills which have been a great help in carrying out my duties,” Says a proud Patricia.

Patricia says that this training opened a door of limitless opportunities for her as she plans to save enough money to enable her pursue a teaching course in the future.She has hope that it’s only a matter of time before she saves enough money to clear her school fees and collect her certificate so that she can pursue her dream career course.

Ms. Syombua closes the interview with a kind word for ALIN. She congratulates them for the opportunity and implores them to expand the opportunity to the interior places in the district.