COMING SOON: ISSUE 8
Igniting Change: Building Skills For Fuller Lives
Episode 8 | Youth in the Lead
Tune in to Episode 8 of Maverick Beat to go behind the scenes with Maverick members Liv, Emma, Pi, Shelly and Amy and and learn how projects in Kenya and Vietnam helped adolescent girls and boys manage their sexual and reproductive health, while also learning new skills to enable them to live the lives they desire.
Pathways Out of Poverty
Maverick Beat | Ep. 8, Pt. 1: Binti Biashara 14 min
As a young mother, I had lost hope in life and was only staying at home. I didn’t have a future, but PS Kenya came through for me. They took me to school and empowered me with skills. I will perfect the skill, look for plumbing jobs, earn an income, and support my baby.This story was published in the PS Kenya Website
In Kenya, plumbing and masonry have for a long time been associated with the male gender. Many believe that such jobs are usually tedious and require someone with muscles to undertake them, but with more exposure, this notion is gradually being reversed, and we are now seeing women getting trained and taking such jobs.
An example is the story of Elizabeth Kazungu, a young mother from Marafa in Kilifi County and a beneficiary of the Binti Biashara project. When the project recruited and sponsored young mothers like her to undergo training at the local Marafa Technical and Vocational Education Training, many of her colleagues opted to train in hairdressing, tailoring, and catering, but she opted for the “difficult one”: plumbing.
When she enrolled at the school, many were shocked and never believed that she would manage to complete the course, but her instructor wouldn’t let her dream get shuttered, he kept encouraging her. He was proud of Elizabeth as she would be her first female student to train in plumbing. “I was glad to receive Elizabeth as my first female student to train in plumbing; throughout the training she was hardworking and put all her effort into learning. “I am sure that she will succeed in this career,” stated Mr. Mulewa, Instructor of Marafa Technical and Vocational Education Training.Throughout the course, she showed enthusiasm and was able to grasp even the complex ideas. Some of her friends would, at times, discourage her, but she was determined to the end. She religiously attended her classes, put more effort and was among the young mothers who graduated during her cohort’s graduation. If you looked for a plumber in Marafa today, she would probably be one of the plumbers that would come and sort out your plumbing issues.
“I am grateful to the Binti Biashara project. As a young mother, I had lost hope in life and was only staying at home. I didn’t have a future, but PS Kenya came through for me. They took me to school and empowered me with skills. I will perfect the skill, look for plumbing jobs, earn an income, and support my baby,” stated Elizabeth Kazungu.As the Binti Biashara project comes to an end, the story of Elizabeth will continue to inspire other girls to always believe in themselves. The project managed to empower over 500 young mothers, who benefited from the various skills that were being offered by the program. In addition, the program integrated sexual-reproductive health education to allow the young women to make informed sexual and reproductive health decisions.The Binti Biashara project was funded by Maverick Next, an affiliate of Population Services International, and implemented by PS Kenya in partnership with the County Government of Kilifi.
- 489 young mothers trained in either Vocational Centers or by Community Mentors
- 79% of participants are contributing to family income
It's amazing to see the kind of ripple effect it is going to have. just within one generation how much has changed because of the training and the support that they're getting from Binti Biashara.Shelly
In Kilifi, one of the poorest counties in Kenya, girls are worried about sourcing their next meal, not their sexual and reproductive health.
Binti Biashara partnered with Vocational Training Centers and Community Based Mentors and Entrepreneurs to expose young mothers to new skills and prepare them for the local job market, while learning about their sexual and reproductive health and rights. The project helped young women feel more empowered to make decisions about their bodies, their futures, their finances and possible career paths.
In Kenya, as in other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, adolescents face severe challenges to their lives and general well-being. Many young people in Kilifi are sexually active with the average age of sexual debut being 14 years. While nearly all sexually active girls in the country report wanting to prevent pregnancy, a large majority, 59%, of these adolescents did not have access to contraceptives when they needed them.
Social and cultural norms dictate that girls prove their fertility early, placing messages about contraception at odds with what society expects of them. Most complex, however, is the link – or lack thereof — that girls and their families make between poverty and childbearing. With such deep levels of poverty, girls are worried about sourcing their next meal, not their sexual and reproductive health. With few job opportunities, rates of transactional sex (sex in exchange for money or goods) are high among girls and young women.
To address this gap, The PS Kenya team developed Binti Biashara, a learning-based project that tested the impact of integrating economic empowerment and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) for young women in Kilifi County. The goal was to take a core SRH program and introduce components that may help young women feel more empowered to make decisions about their bodies, their futures, their finances and possible career paths.
A celebration to remember
We got to attend one of the graduation ceremonies for the Pendos and it was amazing to experience how involved the project team made us feel. ~Shelly
Not giving up
Our Director Christine Were said something to me that I'll never forget: "I will not give up on these girls, because I too, have worn those shoes." I'll never be able to know really what it's like, but having the opportunity to get a tiny snapshot, and knowing that we've made an impact that will hopefully scale was was really life changing. ~Liv
A family transformation
This experience has been transformational. in understanding how I want to engage in philanthropy, and maybe in helping me define my role in philanthropy within our family is and my family foundation. ~Pi
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Generational Change in Action
Maverick Beat | Ep. 8, Pt. 2: Love Voyage 12 min
My friends and family now have another trustworthy, easygoing person to discuss SRH with, which is me!I often worried about myself or one of my friends/family members having an unintended pregnancy because it had happened to my own big sister and her first love.
There were so many reasons: her first love was a bad boy; she was afraid to learn about safe sex and she didn’t think she could get pregnant. I also witnessed my mom and dad, who are also first-time parents, experiencing all spectrums of emotion – surprise, anger, shame, worries, and pity for their child.
Thus, I decided to join the project not only to find ways to educate myself but also to share with my parents, my friends, and people around me about SRH, with the hope of normalizing the subject. Knowledge and information on safe sex, reproductive health, or contraception methods is not difficult to find but the culture of sharing and discussing with each other on these topics needs to be changed.
As a Youth Facilitator, I was trained and coached [by the project] to support other youth leaders in designing and organizing SRH events at their student clubs or youth organizations. I thought I had already had enough experience in event management, with my role as president of my university’s student association, but shortly realized that my critical thinking and event organization skills were still limited.
I learned from the project that we should not organize events just for the sake of it. We need to listen to the audience to really understand their needs and motivation to tailor the events as well as to build [M&E] activities to measure changes and to collect feedback for future improvement.
While working with the Love Voyage Ecosystem and project, I also had a chance to work and learn with GURU specializing in various fields i.e. health, psychology, and self-care. Not only has my knowledge in these fields improved but also my confidence in discussing them. My friends and parents now have another trustworthy, easygoing person to share and discuss about SRH, which is me.
- 12,135 youth participated in events
- 75% felt more confident in using contraception
The secondary outcomes of this project were just as incredible. We created communities; we enhanced skills; we ignited future leaders. These youth facilitators who dedicated three years of their lives to this project, led all of these workshops, developed all the materials, produced these events, and solicited sponsors - these are future leaders.Amy Dornbusch
PSI Vietnam partenerd with young people to make sexual and reproductive health education fun, interesting, and stigma-free. Through a human-centered design approach, the project created and nurtured a network of youth groups from local universities in Hanoi to co-design an event series bringing relevant and engaging content to youth on topics like sexuality, relationships, contraception, and more.
With a popular social media presence promoting the “Love Voyage Network,”—and linkages to “guru” micro-influencers—the project reached over 22 million youth!
A unique experience
I was only able to go to Vietnam for the kickoff, because of the pandemic. But luckily for me, I did scoop up my, three year old and my six month old, and we decided to spend six weeks in Vietnam during the early days of the project to participate in the planning. I got to spend some time immersing in the community and sort of understanding the context of the work a little bit better. Vietnam is a beautiful country!
Listening to everyone
The workshops with the youth were incredibly eye-opening. I used these design workshops before in the corporate world, and it was just really incredible to see it being facilitated in an environment that was going to benefit from a philanthropic purpose.
Meeting them where they are
The project used many channels to reach youth, including social media platforms and innovative formats like vlogs!
One big Celebration!
The youth involved in the project planned and executed the Love Voyage Festival for all of Hanoi. It was the first ever public event on social and reproductive health and rights. Partners and guests from all over, including civil society organizations, businesses, and government agencies came to support the day-long event with all community stakeholders where the youth showcased their skills and learnings for the community to enjoy.
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Maverick Next Members
Emma, Olivia, Payal, Shelly
Hoa Nguyen
Country Representative, Vietnam
Hoa Nguyen has been the Country Director of PSI Vietnam delivering on PSI’s mission to strengthen the national health system and bring quality, affordable health care products and services closer to those who need it since 2019. She has led the process to strengthen PSI’s strategies on Private Sector Engagement, Digital Health Application and Social Business Development.
Hoa Nguyen has 30 years of experience in international development sectors with proven experience in leadership, strategic management, and coordination skills gained through various leadership positions within International Organizations and Networks. She has an in-depth understanding of development issues such as poverty, inequality, civil society development, and public health. She has a successful record of accomplishment in program and business development, fundraising, strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, capacity development, and social research in Vietnam and East Asia.
She holds a master’s degree in management of international development policy from Duke University, in the US and a master’s degree in management of Natural Resources and Sustainable Agriculture from University of Life Sciences in Norway. She also holds a bachelor’s degree on Veterinary of Medicine from National Agriculture University, Vietnam.
Amy Dornbusch
Maverick Member
Amy is a passionate and creative thinker, investor, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and champion for women and girls. She strives to make valuable connections across her networks to leverage exciting new opportunities ripe for investment, consumers, and individuals pursuing their own path forward.
Amy serves as Director for the Marks Family Foundation, a family entity that awards risk-tolerant grants supporting both organizations and individuals and is passionate about creating opportunities for people to pursue their life paths by limiting barriers that stand in their way. The Foundation supports equally passionate populations through our giving in education, the arts, innovative disease research, and broad issues facing women and girls.