Enhance (mental) health of 1,358 Kenyan youths

ACTIVITIES
In order to enhance the emotional and social capacities of marginalized youths, thus enabling them to choose healthy behaviors, KAP provides community-based training of 'Unreached Youths' Community Resource Persons (CRPs) and professional counselling and (psycho-) education services.
Actual activities include Core Trainings (for new groups) and Advanced Trainings (for already graduated, ‘old’ groups). There are a six-days core workshop, continuous education/’refresher’-days, Micro-Meetings and Micro-Teachings, KAP-Guided Education Sessions, Household- & Peer Education Visits and group- or one on one counselling sessions.
The core training lasts on average 6 months; the advanced training cycle one year. Both are concluded by simple ‘exams’ and Graduation Ceremonies.

OUTPUTS
Graduation of Trainees
KAP wholeheartedly thanks our generous and faithful donors who made it possible to complete the trainings for our new Kobos/Zea group and the two advanced trainings for our Kiboroa and Nasianda groups!
Thus, after two continuous education days in Zea in September 2022, happy graduation ceremonies were held on the 15th (Kiboroa) and the 29th July 2022 (Nasianda) and on the 28th October 2022 in Kobos B/Zea area!
In Zea, out of the 52 youths who ever attended, 33 received their cream-colored full certificate, whilst 14 earned their white ‘attendance’ certificate. The latter encourages the voluntary CRPs to complete all training components and also achieve their full certificates!
Especially in Zea, several community members, – leaders, family members and friends came to witness the event. The graduates explained about what they had learned, demonstrated their skills whilst several testified to the positive changes in their lives.
The trainees graduate as voluntary ‘Youths Community Resource Persons (CRP-Us)’.

Reaching Out To Fellow Youths
After having learned, and having made a good start with their personal healing processes, participants learn and practice how to reach out to others. They often greatly enjoy doing so, whilst clearly their self-esteem and team spirit are boosted too.
From February till September 2022 ten successful KAP guided education sessions were held in schools and churches for minimal 709 students, pupils, fellow youths and also some mixed adult groups. In addition at least 35 household education sessions were held, and several more unguided education sessions to peers and in the own families.

CHALLENGES
Due to low income (few donations) during this project period, the training contents for the advanced trainings had to be adjusted and shortened. Thanks to the usual moderate local restaurants’ charges and the provision of free venues the other activities could proceed.
In addition, it was Kenya’s national election period, which unfortunately caused considerable, even serious political interference in participants’ attendance, especially in the Kiboroa and Nasianda areas: Our youths were lured by monetary hand-outs for political activities, even discouraged by their elders from attendance, in order to retain their ‘political readiness’. This disrupted the attendance numbers and frequency and also slowed down the completion of our training cycles. The latter in turn caused some youths to have moved on to other areas for jobs or studies.
However, at the same time this could be considered as positive training results, as most participants had not been keen to do so before!

TESTIMONIES
A Parent Testifying
Thus in Zea one girl had asked her mother to attend and collect her certificate on her behalf.
Upon hearing the testimonies from some graduates during the ceremony, this mother asked to also contribute. She revealed that one year ago she could not have imagined representing her daughter for such a happy event: Before the training they had been enemies, full of hurt and accusations due to deeply painful events. She said to have been greatly surprised, with initial unbelief, by the changes she observed in her daughter during the training, and was deeply touched when she approached her to talk. Together and with some KAP guidance they worked through the challenges. And unlike before, she was now able to encourage and assist her daughter in her wish to continue her education.

Mercy
(not her real name) is a young mother of two, who lives with her equally young come-we-stay husband.
Before KAP’s training, unknown to Mercy her husband was on HIV/AIDS treatment, despite his addiction to alcohol and bhang’ (marijuana). One day when he was drunk he caused an accident which resulted in his leg being amputated.
Gradually Mercy’s health also deteriorated, and one day she took her husband’s medicines to calm the pain, taking them for painkillers. As both remained sick, after a while she accompanied her husband on his hospital visit. There she was HIV tested and diagnosed positive.
Mercy was very angry and could not accept her status, bitterly blaming her husband for causing great suffering to the family. She refused to take her new ARV medication and started abusing alcohol instead. Domestic violence in their home escalated and she threw her ARVs in a pit latrine. The pastor of Mercy’s church worked hard to intervene, but all was in vein. This was was until she got an invitation letter through the church to attend KAP’s workshop.

This training also included the facts-that-matter on HIV/AIDS, positive living and skills for self-care. During the group sharing fellow members openly shared their life experiences and this greatly motivated Mercy. Thus she also came to accept her life’s situation and HIV status, causing her to return to her ARV treatment. She became healthy and happy, and invited KAP staffs to accompany her for family education and counselling. This touched her husband and he appreciated the sessions. In the process they agreed to support each other at all times. And, through the helping skills acquired, Mercy even initiated an active psychosocial support group for people living with HIV/AIDS in her community.

• GlobalGiving KAP Financial Report for November 22 (PDF)