Empower 500 unemployed Kenyan youths rehabilitated from substance-use and introduce them to waste recycling commercial activities.

Majority of Kenya’s young people are unemployed, underemployed, or underpaid and are therefore in the swelling ranks of the working poor and continue indulging in substance-use and harmful practices. Substance-use is one of the top problems confronting Kenya today especially among the youth. Incidences of drug and alcohol abuse and related anti-social behavior have tremendously increased in recent years. This has become a matter of concern to the government, parents, teachers, and all other relevant agencies. Alcohol, bhang and tobacco are increasingly being abused by school going children. Research and seizure statistics show it has a steady upward trend. Those between 16 to 30 years of age, a critical period in one’s development are most affected. Up to 30 to 40% in class seven, eight and form one have taken drugs at one time or another. Drugs abused are available next to every family’s door. They are available next to every family’s door. If drug abuse is not controlled now, the country is headed for doom where a large number of able-bodied Kenyans could end up as vegetables. The drug problem cannot be effectively dealt without addressing the conditions which lead to its existence in the first place. Proposed project contributes to poverty reduction through employment creation and as well to target the problem of substance-use amongst the youth while contributing to environment management.

Proposed project seeks to empower 500 unemployed youths rehabilitated from substance-use with leadership, business, technology and entrepreneur skills aimed at strengthening their capacity and effectiveness and introduce them to waste recycling commercial activities for self-employment. Empowered youths will form an association to cascade advocacy and empowerment efforts to their peers. SIXKNM leverage creativity in formulating her projects that are endeared to reach majority young persons; SIXKNM creatively explore and leverage her programs via youth friendly platforms such as social media technologies to accelerate engagement of majority youth. Additionally, the project will conduct training on peer-to-peer strategies to 30 peer youth educators/champions aged 10 to 30, empowering them to diversify and champion the context.

The goal of this proposed project is to contribute to sustainable management of natural resources and solid waste while improving the living standards of 500 youth rehabilitated from substance-use residing in peri-urban areas of Nakuru County in Kenya. This will be done by making fuel briquettes and organic fertilizers from solid waste generated from Nakuru town market and neighboring peri-urban areas and environs with the objective of generating income and providing employment while contributing to environmental management. The project seeks to mobilize vulnerable youth rehabilitated from substance-use on environmental restoration and in the peri-urban centers clean up. The project seeks to organize and direct the energy and enthusiasm of young people into constructive and rewarding activities of benefit, both to themselves and the community at large. The project will create a chain of income generation ventures from production to consumption, reduce environmental pollution especially in the peri-urban areas, conserve trees and vegetation, and provide a new waste management strategy for Nakuru County Government. This project request funding to enable SIXKNM Self-Help Group to conduct trainings for 500 youths rehabilitated from substance-use on fuel briquette and organic fertilizers production and marketing. These trainings will introduce the concepts of environmental conservation and management and the need for recycling appropriate waste materials as sources of energy. The course will provide these youth with information on the types of raw materials that can be used, their processing into organic fertilizers and briquettes and techniques for achieving and maintaining good quality organic fertilizers and energy briquettes. The participants will be given information on organic fertilizers and briquette marketing, including entrepreneurial ideas such as branding to enable them to sell their product in up-market outlets such as supermarkets and agro vets. The project also seeks support to hire a center for storage of recycled materials. Recruited youths will collect solid waste materials from Nakuru town market and others produced by the institutions/business enterprises included charcoal dust, sawdust, kitchen organic waste and biodegradable wastepaper. They will also be involved in collecting the garbage wastes from households, sorting it to separate plastics to get material waste for making fertilizers and briquettes. The plastic materials will be sold to plastic recycling factory. The youths will then sort and clean the waste materials and process them into fertilizers and briquettes and later market of fertilizer and briquettes. The project seeks support in hiring a van to transport the waste and to purchase a briquette making machine and a burner. Additionally, the project will conduct training on peer-to-peer strategies to 30 peer educators, empowering them to diversify the context. For additional support in the community, peer clubs will be formed and strengthened in five peri-urban centers empowering them to voice concerns of youths using drugs and to sensitize and influence county government content of the county health master plans and investments to include substance-use interventions among people who use drugs, in-line with relevant UNODC and WHO normative guidance.
The project model is a community lead model that is truly cost effective and innovative holistically addressing environment concerns and other livelihood needs among youths rehabilitated from substance-use disorders. The project if supported will yield unwavering positive livelihoods opportunities and access to other services by youths rehabilitated from substance-use disorders. Proposed project innovatively organizes and direct the energy and enthusiasm of youths rehabilitated from substance-use into constructive and rewarding activities of benefit, both to themselves and community at large. The project gives capacity and organize unemployed youth around solid waste collection, sorting and recycling to make fertilizers for agricultural sector and briquettes for cooking to reduce firewood usage and contribute to environment protection. The project keeps these vulnerable youth away from drugs menace and increase number of youths with basic training in natural resource management and conservation by training them as trainers and making them resource persons on environmental issues.

Specific health and environmental outcomes include: -
a) 500 vulnerable youth rehabilitated from substance-use mobilized on environmental restoration and in the peri-urban centers clean up.
b) Thirty peer educators trained on peer-to-peer strategies and empowered to diversify the context.
c) Five peer clubs for youths rehabilitated from substance-use formed and strengthened in five peri-urban centers empowering them to voice concerns of youths using drugs.
d) Income generating activities created for 500 youths rehabilitated from substance-use through waste recycling commercial activities.
e) Health of youth rehabilitated from substance-use improved by keeping these youths busy and away from drugs menace thus reducing health risks associated substance-use disorders.
f) Improved livelihood in the community- drugs abuse impedes achievement of health and development outcomes and contributes to poverty and vulnerability, placing colossal economic and social burdens on an individual, their family, community, and society.
g) Forest conservation by community members using the waste recycling products reducing deforestation and degradation.
h) Budget required for covering daily energy needs for cooking and heating will decrease, making available more money for other purposes.
i) Workload of women as related to fuel-wood collection will be reduced.