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• Kenyan Youth Exchange at Risk Due to Limited Funding

Kenyan Youth Exchange at Risk Due to Limited Funding

17 March 2006

Kenyan youth development organisation, Coast Youth Forum

The Kenyan youth development organisation, Coast Youth Forum, may have to downscale or postpone their London Youth Exchange Programme if they cannot raise an extra £20,000 by next year.

The London Youth Exchange Programme is in partnership with the Brixton-based London organisation: Vassell Ward Youth and Community Project. It sends young people from the United Kingdom to Kenya, and vice versa, to learn more about the way young people live in developing and developed countries.

Coast Youth Forum Project organiser, and former CYP Kenya Youth Representative, Daniel N. Mangale, 27, said: "We desperately need more funding if we are to finish the second phase of our successful youth exchange project."

Last year the programme enabled young people, from Lambeth in London, to visit Kenya for the first time. For many it was also their first time for them to visit Africa.

Mr Mangale said: "We have already completed the first stage of the exchange programme and it was a success. We sent 17 young people from Lambeth in London to Mombassa and Nakuru in Kenya. All the participants gained a lot out of the experience but we still need more money if we are to achieve our goals."

The 17 participants had the chance to meet with other young people in Mombassa and Nakuru and talk about youth development and empowerment in both countries.

They also helped disadvantaged rural communities by painting local primary schools and initiated setting up of a computer laboratory part funded by the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP).

Mr Mangale said: "CYP has been very supportive and has donated money for our computer lab and the youth exchange programme. Now it is helping us to highlight our case to international donors."

A young Londoner on the Youth Exchange Programme visits a Kenyan village

Marcus Shallow, 34, Youth Worker at Vassall Ward Youth and Community Project provided guidance and technical support to the group while they were in Kenya . He said: "The UK-Kenya exchange was a real success and eye-opener for many of the young Londoners who participated.

They saw how young people had to live very simply and how content they were with the little they had. Many have told me that it opened up their eyes to the rich and poor divide and made them want to pass on their experiences and do something positive, to give something back to the society."

He added that for all of them, it was an opportunity to learn resourcefulness and count their blessings.

Now Coast Youth Forum and Vassall Ward Youth and Community Project organisation wants to send 13 young Kenyans from various youth development organisations to the UK to engage and learn about Vassall's community regeneration approach to youth empowerment and development. They have had to downscale the number from 17 to 13 because of the major difficulties they are experiencing in getting funding.

Vassall Ward Youth Development Project will be hosting the exchange. Manager of Vassall Youth Partnership Leo Jack, 55, said: "Young Kenyans coming to the UK will be beneficial for young people in UK as well as the Kenyans as they are generally more respectful and willing to learn and engage with others."

He attributed the lack of funding to the fact that most of the participants were coming from rural areas which are very poor. There are very few private businesses there and even fewer are able to afford sponsorship of participants.

He said: "It is harder to gain funding for the Kenyans to come to the UK because Kenya is a much poorer country when compared to the UK.

"The money needed for the living expenses of the thirteen participants is a lot when you convert it to Kenyan currency."