Digital Literacy Program (DLP) - Mentorship at Maria Rossana.

 It is a wrap!

Everything that starts well as a good chance of ending well. It was a great honour to have launched a new program dubbed Digital Literacy Program (DLP) in October 2021. This program seeks to connect young people with mentors especially targeting both in and out of school youth. The short master classes are one of the first steps toward promoting digital literacy and lifelong learning within the community. 

 Meet one of the trainee by the name Simon who successfully completed the short master classes that started in October to December 2021 Photo. Simon was recruited to join the program by our founder Mr Ouma Osera who saw a great potential in him. Mr. Ouma acknowledged that Simon joining the Maria Rossana team would fill that missing gap because he saw the great confidence, his creative work, dedication and generally great personality that help would take help the organization grow especially as a volunteer digital content creator and office administrator at Maria Rossana. 

 Before joining the organisation Simon used to spend most of his time with his friends at the 'baze', a hangout place synonymous with young people. He said, as much as he has the interest to pursue further education his parents aren't in a position to assist him further and Maria Rossana Digital Literacy Program (DLP) came at the right time when he was at a crossroads on what to do next after finishing his O'level education in 2020. " I have learned a lot during the training and I'm now confident I can take creative photos, edit and write stories about my community and any given assignment within the organisation. 

I will use this acquired skills to create quality work and I look forward to learn more skills especially in graphic and web design come next year." - Simon Generally, in Eastlands most youth are faced with the challenge of transiting into the next level after finishing O'level education. This situation has left many to wonder what they can do with their extra time and acquire knowledge. Unfortunately, at this stage is when many young people in their 18-25 years, indulge in unwarranted behaviours because of lack of mentors and less interventions on how they can be engaged in meaningful ways about life and career, especially during and after school. Maria Rossana believes in creating a youth friendly environment where young people will get diverse trainings from leadership, Sexual and Gender Base Violence, digital literacy, Sexual Reproductive Health, Mental health among others. 

 Lastly, we take this opportunity to thank Mr. Wilson Masaka for his time and dedication in working with us through this initial stage of installation of our Digital Literacy Program (Digital Literacy Program) for youth in Huruma and the surrounding neighborhood. " It is only through continuous learning in diverse ways, having a more critical mindset, collaborative learning, creative and technical application, and having a problem solving mindset is when will be in the best position to tackle emerging challenges like skill gap, unemployment and underemployment amongst young people." - Wilson Masaka Youth Advocate & Social Entrepreneur Visit more about Wilson Masaka who is a youth advocate, seasoned trainer and facilitator at www.wilsenx.blogspot.com Read more about the program:- We take this opportunity to wish you all a happy festive season and hope we will do more come next year. Thanks to all our partners who made the training possible and we look forward to expanding the class to at least to accommodate 15 young people per cohort. All this can only happen if we get the required support in acquiring the machines, space, stable internet, cost of operations etc. Should you have any idea of how you can be of help in offering the required support please let us know and we will share a proposal with further details.