Our day with you - Easter fun day

On 23rd of April 2011 was one great day for young people from different organizations to come together and meet up with other youths from different organizations in a fun day organized by the Deliverance church Eastleigh. The Wilsen-X community was also privileged to be part of this great event which was also graced by youth organizations in Nairobi including the Maji Mazuri youth group, Deliverance Church Eastleigh, Deliverance Church Pangani, Mavuno Church and Nairobits.

Arrivals...

The Sunny fun day started at 11.00 am with a word of prayer, followed by a number of activities that would build up on communication, organization and the team work skills of the different organizations. The games included 100m races, relays, sack races, walking race, egg competitions, balloon game, eating competitions and football matches.

To start off the event, the different leaders of the organizations represented gave a little introduction of their organizations before we commenced to do a mass warm up exercise .This was necessary because the day ahead of us was going to be full of activities that needed us to loosen our muscles.

The founder of Wilsen-x giving a speech.

Team work...

Warm up!

In the 100 meter race Wilsen-x was well represented by Kennedy Onyango who was able to swiftly scoop the second place in the race. The relays that followed proved to be an exercise to test the communication and team work skills of the participants as it entailed passing over the sticks to the next runners till they reached the finish line. The sack race was quite an interesting game as participants toppled over each other in order to pass the sack to their other team players .

Nairobits managed to take the first place in this competition. It was evident that participants were greatly involved and excited as they played the egg competitions, balloon game and walking race. The balloon game which required a lot of strategy involved the participants safe guarding their balloons and bursting all the others without theirs being touched. Better still in the egg game, speed and accuracy was needed as one had to use the spoon to pass over the egg to their team mates after passing a considerable distance without the egg falling over and breaking.

100 meter race...

Sack race...

Football Mathare North Rangers F.C.

The first set of football matches was kicked off by our very own Mathare North Rangers F.C (M.N.R football club) who played against Maji Mazuri youth group, Mathare North Rangers won 1-0. And in the second match Deliverance Church high ‘Skoolers ‘won 2 -1 against Nairobits and this secured them a place in the finals.

Football warm up!

The Fun day was well represented by youths from all ages, you could see both extremes of the young having fun in different activities and at some point, the youth could be seen doing a routine dance as they psyched up the players in the final match of the football tournament.
The final set of matches saw both the energetic teams of Mathare North Rangers battle it out with Deliverance Church High Skoolers. The match was well played and highly competitive that it was hard to predict the outcome. In the end, Deliverance Church High Skoolers team won the game against Mathare North rangers with a score of 2- 1 and they were crowned the winners of the football matches competition. The competitions were summed up finally with the eating competition which, as usual, I have no words to express the expertise showcased by the participants.

More fun...

Great coordination...

Appreciation...

The presiding youth pastor of Deliverance church Eastleigh concluded the event with a sermon on Easter which was then followed by the awards giving ceremony. The participants were given certificates for participating and for giving their all in the respective competitions undertaken. The Wilsen- x community was able to be awarded with the 3rd place certification, we would therefore like to thank the organizers of this event and urge them to do more of these initiatives which encourages the young people to come together, use their skills, learn from each other and have fun in a peaceful and productive way.

We also thank all the youth groups that participated as we got to learn a lot and be informed on what the youth can do to make the required change in the society. We would also like to thank the Wilsen-x community that took part in the fun day. Your presence was highly appreciated and lets all continue with the spirit of team work, it goes a long way.

Together Each Achieve More ( T.E.A.M)

Lastly, may the spirit of hope that Easter brings, Help you find contentment in little things, and restore your faith in the Lord above, who gave His life for the ones He loves.
Happy Easter!

Wilson Masaka “This was a perfect idea to connect the youth from diverse backgrounds to share and have fun together. For me it was a great learning experience and it was in line with what Wilsen-x community envisages to achieve”.

( article written by; Faith Nyaboki)

Meet Wilsenx team and know more about us…

Wilsenx initiative has been in existences since the birth of its founder who has the love and passion for youth development, he is a strong campaigner of team work towards a successful community.

Wilsenx initiative is championed by the life of its founder who believes that everyone has the potential to achieve, and we have unique talents that if nurtured, can propel the community to greater spheres of life. For more about the initiative catch up with the founder and the team through wilson.masaka@gmail.com

Philosophy

Everybody is a winner; we have something unique that we can do. We believe in sharing, creating, educating, motivating, inspiring and mentoring champions in our society.

Why this initiative?

Wilsenx envisages narrowing ‘me and the World’ gap in youth, by helping youth realize their full potential in achieving their desired goals and dreams in life through simple steps. For example through self reflection many youth will positively change their self esteem and face the realities of life. We foster youth empowerment through peer to peer learning and networking with other youth groups.

A line start with a dot! We hereby would like to introduce the brains behind Wilsenx who would like to take the initiative to the next level. The members are not employed by Wilsenx but they offer their time, resources, energy and exceptional expertise to open channels for other youth. We spare our weekends sharing, inspiring and motivating youths through our programs for example in sports and participating in other youth related events. Our core business is to connect the youth with emerging opportunities in their areas of interest and beyond. Everybody has a story to tell...

Name: Wilson Masaka.

Occupation: IT Trainer/ Football coach / Web developer.

Interest: Youth development, ICT, Creativity and sports.

Role at Wilsenx: Founder / General Management.

Why start Wilsenx? "I want to share my experiences, knowledge and skills whereby motivating youth to be positive change makers within their families and society at larger".

Message to the youth: "Always believe in yourself and choose the right role models / mentors who will help you realize your dreams. Don't shy from challenges they make us stronger".


Name: Faith Nyamboki

Occupation: Student/ Designer.

Interest: Working with the youth, Mentoring, ICT, Languages, photography.

Role at Wilsenx: Vice - chairperson / Editor.

Why start Wilsenx? "It’s exciting to be part of something special - working with a young dynamic team which has the same interests as me and ultimately learning while giving back to the society."

Message to the youth: "It’s all about you...you have all it takes to make a difference in the society, so make it happen!".


Name: Edwin Kipkoech.

Occupation: Accountant.

Interest: Learning new things.

Role at Wilsenx: Treasurer.

Why join Wilsenx? "From the missions and objectives I would love to be part of group which will bring light to those who are in darkness. The group its still on pilot stage it will be great to add my effort to uplift the group to be among the elite ones".

Message to the youth: "Be yourself in whatever you do, don't try to impress the world at your own expense. Learn to have patience with things you do sometimes things don't appear the way you want them to be".


Name: Kennedy Onyango Mbuya.

Occupation: Web designer / football player.

Interest: Leaning new things..

Role at Wilsenx: Youth affairs in Sports.

Why join Wilsenx? " I want to share my knowledge of Web design and reproductive health with the youth, and learn new things from wilsenx team".

Message to the youth: "Let us all work towards achieving our dream, through hard work and determination we can do it".


Name: Thomas Abungu Okech.

Occupation: Office systems.

Interest: traveling, adventure, watching movies, reading and above all making friends.

Role at Wilsenx: Project Coordination.

Why join Wilsenx? " To help fulfill my dream of seeing the growth of youth spiritually, knowledge-wise, economically for a better community".

Message to the youth: "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going".


Name: Roselida Taabu.

Occupation: Video editor.

Interest: Interest in community based initiatives and giving back to the society.

Role at Wilsenx: Media and marketing / girls project.

Why join Wilsenx? "Having been enlightened about the visions and goals of WILSENX I know it’s a great place to get involved in giving back to the society and investing in someone hence my major interest in joining besides that, I have a lot of interest in making a difference in someone’s life considering the fact that people constantly give their resources and time to mentor me and make me feel like a champion so I would like to do the same for someone else."

Message to the youth: "everybody has got potential in them and we can learn form each other".


Name: Andrew Mutua.

Occupation: Student / Designer /Technologist and Strategist in the making.

Interest: Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Role at Wilsenx: Branding, Interactive designer, Sports facilitator.

Why join Wilsenx? "Drive the passion for social and community development through creative collaboration in the Wilsenx team. More so explore more knowledge, strategy and leadership levels."

Message to the youth: "I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying. ~ Michael Jordan".


Name: Hellen Muturi.

Occupation: Project officer/IT support.

Interest: Participating in youth group activities, computer networking and community development.


Role at Wilsenx: Operations and marketing.

Why join Wilsenx? " Wilsenx gives hope to talented and energetic youth who would like to explore avenues in life that connects with their interest through its well outlined vision and mission. Great talents will be exposed and they will be able to see the champion in them. I get the chance to realize my long time dream of helping my fellow youth through this initiative."

Message to the youth: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams!".

Name: Samuel Kimindiri Muraya

Occupation: Trainer at Nairobits.

Interest: Working with youth, sharing challenges and progress while learning new ideas.


Role at Wilsenx: Secretary and Sports coordination.

Why join Wilsenx? "I have a heart of sharing my life experiences with youth in the community to inspire them to be positive change makers in our society. Wilsenx has created that platform to express ourselves and connect with our peers in sports and community development".

Message to the youth: "Change is necessary when we want to pursue a new direction in life. Change gives us hope for the future. Embracing change is not easy, it takes a new outlook on life, determination and perseverance. The change we expect may not happen immediately because real progress is slow. In time, if we change our mindset and actions we will make a significant difference in people's lives."


Name: Paul Otieno

Occupation: Sports and Development.

Interest: Sports, Networking, New Development Initiatives.


Role at Wilsenx: Sports advisor and networking.

Why join Wilsenx? "To share my experience as an inspiration, contribute towards Wilsenx growth and learn from Wilsenx team and the process".

Message to the youth: “Optimists sees opportunities in difficulties, whilst Pessimists sees difficulties in opportunities”…… The more positive we are the real our dreams and ambitions shall be, hence a better future".


More profiles coming soon... Watch the space!

Ashoka youth venture

Wilsenx members got a privilege to connect with other change makers in Nairobi during the Youth venture workshop. Youth from different areas got opportunity to present their experiences and challenges of change making in different projects they initiated or are part of. Examples of projects present during the one day workshop were; sports, education, reproductive health, go green, sanitation, garbage collection, inspiration and mentor-ship, behavior change among other. There was plenty to learn and the youth got inspired and informed immensely during the workshop.

Thanks to Jenny, Salim and everyone who made the day a success, we need more of this initiative happening so that youth can connect and be the agent of change in their societies thus in the entire world.

Ashoka envisions an Everyone A Changemaker™ world. A world that responds quickly and effectively to social challenges, and where each individual has the freedom, confidence and societal support to address any social problem and drive change. For more http://www.ashoka.org/

Experience at Ashoka youth venture workshop

Wilson Masaka: “The workshop was an eye opener, as the founder of wilsenx initiative I learnt a lot and I was really inspired by Mr. Salim Mohamed (Co-founder Carolina for Kibera ) who gave a talk about his journey of success from a young person who was surrounded by many challenges, but through determination and hard work he was able to define his path in life. Thanks Mr. Salim you are a good mentor:”

Thomas Abungu: “We all went through a think session and shared our experiences, barriers and challenges of change making. We tackled issues to do with personal beliefs, gender, family or relations, age, time, school, money, skills, emotional support, societies view and generally how the community can embrace change that we as change makers try to instill in them.

Organizational structures became one of the most common hinders that we as change makers experience. This has got to do with the rules and regulations that are supposed to be put down before hand to govern us and the teams that wants to lead . In the initiative (WILSEN-X) that we are working on our team leader (founder) and the rest of the team has laid structures that in my belief will not let us down. It is a fundamental thing in life always to lay down a strong foundation, I learnt a lot through the workshop and many thanks goes to the organizers especially Jenny”.

Thomas and other participants taking notes during the workshop.

Thomas presenting during the workshop.

Mr. Salim Mohamed giving a talk about his life.

It was fun too...

What is on your career shelf?

When I think of my career there are five key elements that always pop into my mind, and that is; skills, knowledge, experience, time and expertise, which are all related in one way or the other. The big questions has always been how, why and when do I acquire them.

There are a lot of options on the menus on where to source this five key elements, for example by joining a college or university, volunteer ship, self learning, on the job learning etc , with the prime factor being time, for how long and what do you undertake in terms of subject. I know many youth that are gambling with this and some are lucky to have their paths defined for them through family foundations etc, but majority of youth especially in the slum areas wonders around in the wilderness trying to find their way out for a strong career paths.

I have been keen on working on building my career path whereby utilizing any opportunity that might lead to the desired land. I wasn’t lucky as a child to determine or decide my dream career and the experiences has been more of pick and drop through the way, learning to jungle different activities to survive. I can’t say I’m at the pick of my career destination but it has been great so far with different developments in my life as an old adage says “life is a journey with many teachings”.

Today I want to share with you this interesting topic on how I have managed to work around these five key words that are always in my mind. First and foremost let us define skills and knowledge, sounds quite obvious eeh!

What are skills?

• A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of work, some general skills would include time management, teamwork and leadership, self motivation and others, whereas domain-specific skills would be useful only for a certain job. Skill usually requires certain environmental stimuli and situations to assess the level of skill being shown and used. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skill
  

What is Knowledge?

• Knowledge is a detailed familiarity with, or understanding of, a person, thing or situation. It can include facts and information, as well as understanding that is gained through experience, education or reason. It can be implicit (as with practical skill or expertise) or explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a subject); and it can be more or less formal or systematic. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge

Nothing can replace experience which is a product of time, skills and knowledge. So how do you develop your experience? As a young person living in slums areas where there are little career prospects in the light, I have always used my talents, determination, passion and will power to the next mileage and not to shy from challenges that surrounds me. This has made me develop a strong, progressive and positive attitude in filling my career self with the right tools.

Below is a simple list that you ought to develop so that you understand yourself better when it comes to your dream career.

A) Skills

• Make a list of skills that you poses and what other skills do you need.

B) Knowledge

• Do you know what it takes to develop your career of choices?
• How often do you make follow up about your career choice on different media?

C) Interest

• Why this career choice? Have you been force to do it, is it something that you want to do or is it an influence from a friend?

D) Career options

• What is your primary career option and is there a secondary option that related with what you love doing?

E) Are you an expert?

• Who is an expert? An expert is a person with extensive knowledge or ability based on research, experience, or occupation and in a particular area of study.

F) What are you tools of trade?

What education background do you have?

• What talents do you have?
• What applications do you like? For example in computers, vehicles, television etc.

G) What experiences do you have?

• Experience as a general concept comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of something or some event gained through involvement in or exposure to that thing or event. Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experiences

H) Who is your role model?

• Why is he or she your role model
• How does he or she inspire you?

I have had friends from accounting background who would love to learn web design and development too. The question I always asks myself; is it passion driven or market driven? I have passion in finances too, but this comes second after computer programming and software development which I have the passion and the love for it over a long time and experiences through self learning and exposure.

One good reason I love my career of choice is because it is versatile and it impacts on peoples life from all creed and background as time goes by. I love technology this why even today I’m able to share with you my story…