Monday, January 29, 2018

Youth Employability Skills

Many at times the youth are told that they do not have employability skills, let me share my thoughts on this topic. What is Employability? It is the packaging and capacity building of oneself with skills to be productive to him/her and to society. It is about what you can do for yourself today for a better tomorrow in employment or entrepreneurship.

It is involves building one’s skills and capacity to identify and tap Income Opportunities but not only jobs. Employability is simply being WORK READY. Employability skills are skills that make one so reliable, relevant and useful in the daily business processes. These skills are useful in general life, personal development, formal employment and in entrepreneurship.

They make one Empowered: “Empowerment is building ones capacity to have options, see options and create options to address challenges” Kelvin Keya These skills are hardly taught in a classroom set up but harnessed through experience and practice. Some of the skills include Communication skills, Team building/work skills, Problem solving/ Leadership skills, Initiative and Enterprise skills, Planning and Organizational skills, Self -management skills, Learning skills, Technology and related skills, Self -belief /Confidence skills, Change management skills, Financial Literacy skills and Time management skills

Some pathways to employability 


  1.  Active citizenship – Being aware, being involved and contributing to your community development. (For example being a champion of devolution or good governance in the county)
  2. Volunteering - Giving yourself, your time, your skills and knowledge to the society without expecting any monetary gains. It can be in your church, to the mama mboga, in an NGO, your county government or in your village. There are exponential opportunities for volunteering for the youth right from their neighborhoods. 
  3. Internship or Apprenticeship – Serving in an organization in a learning or incubate capacity. Let the youth seek or take up unpaid internships for learning and experience purposes. 
  4. Risking out or being a GO-GETTER - Until you show up, no one can know that you exist, that you are knowledgeable or gifted. You have a speaking, writing, singing, sports talent etc, just step out and show yourself to the world. Be bold to apply for that job advertisement, give it your best at interview. Start that business! 
  5. Expose yourself to information - through reading, travelling, engaging in exchange programs, networking forums and keep contact with the networks. Build your net worth such that when someone needs a consultant or a business service they only think of you. 
 Opportunities for employability in Kenya 

  1. SME (Small and Micro Enterprises) - Research shows that 80% of jobs will and come from the private sector. It is prudent to focus our energy, time and skills to commercialize our skills in this sector. 
  2. Agriculture and Agribusiness - It is said that you may need a lawyer, a doctor an engineer once in a year but you need a farmer at least twice in a day if not all the time. This means that we have more opportunities for employability in agriculture yet the farming age is said to be 60 years. Who will provide the food for us youth? 
  3. White collar jobs - they are continuously dwindling but are available for those with skills that match with market demands. 
  4. Sports, art and culture – Time has come for us to commercialize and invest in art. We have many examples of those earning a living from art and entertainment like those on the Churchill show. 
  5. Technology space - We now have online writers, ICT consultants, App developers and technology solution to societal problems. There are amazing and untapped challenges in this space, the E-commerce. 
  6. Tenders and supplies – Let the youth be encouraged to register companies to engage in business with national and county governments, schools etc. It is doable as a good number of youth who have tried this are making it. 
Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship 

Entrepreneurship is choosing part of your life to live and do things like most people will not and later spend the rest of your life like most people cannot.

It is choosing a path less followed. Intrapreneurship is the ability to exercise entrepreneurship principles in daily approaches or responsibilities. Today most institutions look for and hire entrepreneurs in employees.

An Entrepreneur is any individual, who identifies or sees societal problems and goes ahead to provide solutions to the problems. As they solve the problems they get value for their effort on providing the solutions. Good employees are solution oriented and problem solvers, thus one must build their capacity with entrepreneurial spirit to stand out and be valuable to be hired. Young people must stop waiting to be spoon fed and step out to challenge themselves to be employable. No work or employability opportunity will come to us while watching soaps on television or while at parties. There is too much work to do when we decide to work.

 #YOUTH254 Credit: written by Kelvin Keya

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Meet the Passionate Coach with Golden Heart for Soccer.

Today I want to appreciate coach Omore for his dedication in nurturing soccer talent in the community level also known as grassroots soccer. Many successful soccer stars like Mariga, Wanyama, Oliech just to mention but a few came from a humble beginning, playing soccer in the dusty fields such as drago, depo, red carpet and many others. Coaches at the grassroots levels have been instrumental in nurturing our greatest talents and in rare occasions they get to be acknowledged for their efforts or even supported to grow their skills despite facing many challenges in the team and the surrounding environment.

 Omore is a true example of a coach with passion and despite his physical challenge he is one of the dedicated coaches that has many teams in our community in Mathare North. He is in charge of Mathare North Rangers teams from the age of 12, 14 and over 16 years, one of his biggest achievement is winning the top prize of the just concluded Mathare North Festive Season Soccer Tournament 2017/ 2018.





Dribbling skills session with players U14

Wilsen Initiative (WI) has been supporting Mathare North Rangers teams and our immediate goal is to have exposure for the coach and the players through playing tournaments and participating in more profession soccer coaching courses and life skills training to perfect their skills.

We invite well wishers to help us with soccer shoes, balls, uniforms etc, to help our coach and his team achieve the desired dream. Get in touch with wilson.masaka@gmail.com

Monday, January 8, 2018

This Is My Story

What does success mean to you? People define success through different lens, for example their level of education, the amount wealth, an experience, material gain, etc. Of course, I have more than one angle of defining success, but the most that is dear to me is when I influence a stable pattern of good change in people's live through social, education and economic approach.

I might look very successful as per the external lens, but I believe I'm still work in progress and looking forward to achieve more in 2018 and beyond. Reflecting back on my journey one would ask if it's by luck or by design?




 I'm passionate about technology, sports, community development and entrepreneurship, whereby championing different initiatives at the family level to the community level. My biggest passion is being the bridge into other people's lives especially helping the youth in defining their path by sharing skills, motivating positive change and training on digital skills.

I have been privileged to interact with young people in India, Norway, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Germany and Zanzibar which has also broadened my diverse thinking on what success means to me and how it can impact other people's lives (The snow ball effect). In the last 16 years and still going strong, I have been engaged in training young people in diverse skills, for example ICT / digital skill, Business Skills and Life skills. My next goal and desire is to strengthen my passion into a foundation which will live beyond my lifetime under Wilsen Initiative (Wi) platform.

I strongly believe that the way we learn and teach others will shape how the next generation will behave. I invite you to join me on this journey towards building a strong network of passionate, talented and professional people who works toward creating a vibrant society of skilled youth through sharing their time and skills.

Learn more about SkillUP and Plus One Talent on https://wilseninitiative.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/skill-up-plus-one-talent-boot-camp-training/ 

Get in touch with me on wilson.masaka@gmail.com

Skill-UP Boot Camp Training

The cost of learning new skills at the institution is still high, leaving many young people from disadvantaged background to wonder where to start.

Many are left out either because of cost or they can’t meet the selection criteria. At Wilsen Initiative (Wi) we offer quality short trainings that wouldn’t be a means to an end, but start up journey that will ignite a new beginning in self learning using available resources, especially the internet.

 “ Passion and talent isn’t enough, you need to continually sharpen your skills.” Wilson Masaka, Founder Wilsen Initiative 



 Skill-up training boot camp

Who Can Participate? 
Creative entrepreneurs who want to hit the ground running after college. Youth groups who want to be able to represent their personal brand in a more better and professional ways. Schools that want to engage their students in creative approach and thinking using computers and painting sessions. Self-starters pursuing a career in the creative industry (Musicians, comedians, painters etc.).

What We Offer
We offer short courses in Photography, Social Media Marketing, Content Creation, Blogging, Basic Graphic Design, Business model canvas, Soft skills, Branding, Creative Writing, Financial literacy, Painting sessions and Internet Research.

How Much and Number of people?
We train a minimum of 10 people to a maximum of 30 people in a session. Minimum session: 3 days for the module offered. Any customized session: A time frame and charges will be given. Each session : Kes 300 per person

When & Where?
Sessions will take place at the client’s premise or at an arranged location with the client. The client is responsible for space, training materials, internet connectivity, computers and other logistics for the participants. Contact us on:- info@wilsenx.com or wilson.masaka@gmail.com