Skills Maishani was founded in 2022 as an online mentoring platform established to bridge the gap between academic and parental engagement by providing adolescents and youths with essential life skills to empower them in building social cohesion, nurturing decision-making skills, and acquiring knowledge prerequisites for life out of school.
Skills Maishani is a platform that provides much-needed life skills and knowledge to young people in the areas of safety and wellness, finance, legal knowledge in respect to labour, intellectual property laws, and sexual and reproductive health. Skills Maishani, which loosely translated to skills for life, as the name suggests seeks to inculcate general life skills that every child and young person requires and which they would need for the rest of their lives. These are skills meant to nurture and assist young people in understanding the world in all its socio-economic and political forms and help them navigate through society, education, career, etc.
We believe that our teens and youths are unique individuals who need to grow and mature emotionally, intellectually, physically and socially hence Skills Maishani is dedicated to providing that stepping stone in capacity building and providing the necessary knowledge which puts them in an advantageous position to avert incidences of falling victim to fraudsters, drug use, other criminal activities, teenage pregnancies and provides an understanding of their health and general well being together with knowledge on how to navigate through their chosen career paths, management of finances and other job related social and legal skills.
Our objectives
- To support and provide mentorship to young people in acquiring life skills and knowledge
- To engage young people in interactive learning focusing on building confidence, improving self-awareness, and encouraging initiative taking.
Our vision
Promote the learning, sharing, growth, and development of life skills.
Our why
To create an enabling environment for children and youth where they can garner essential life skills which in turn improve their social skills and broaden their capacity to navigate through life and mitigate challenges.
Target
Our child and youth programs target pre and adolescents 11-17 years and young adults 18-25 years both boys and girls who require flexible, cost-effective, and measurable solutions to solve challenges and promote holistic development.
Life Skills Programs under Skills Maishani
1 Teen Wellness Program
2 Youth Wellness Program
3 Work Ready Youth Program
Skills Maishani Life Skills Programs help teens and youths: ( gotten from kidshape)
To build Mental Strength through
Resilience
Making smart choices
To create healthy social habits through:
- Boosting positive body image & self-esteem
- Understanding their social environment
- Learn their rights and responsibilities
- Understand the world of work
To develop well-rounded individuals to:
- Mitigate risky behaviors
1 Teen Wellness Program
Watoto (children) wellness program was established to impact adolescent teens with out-of-school life skills vital for the children’s physical, mental and social well-being. Wellness skills necessitate an out of the box thinking and enhances critical and decision-making capabilities. It creates a fertile ground for engagement and interactions among children leading to improved morale and boosting confidence and cooperation with peers.
- Safety 4 Teenies
This program aims at inculcating children with knowledge on how to keep safe through observing their environment, detecting danger, and learning how to mitigate and report it. As the world embraces technological advancements and career parents, the focus on child security has become paramount. Children ought to learn how to keep safe at an early age to prevent or inhibit instances of child trafficking, peer pressure, molestation, and other forms of violence meted at them or people around them.
- Jifunze Body Care
This program aims at imparting general knowledge of one’s body, anatomy, overall reproductive health, and the concept of personal space. The target group is adolescent children whose developmental stage leads to curiosity and discomfort towards their bodies. This program would equip children with knowledge of health and wellness, and reproductive health and embody the values of body autonomy.
2. Youth Wellness Program
- Safety 4 Youths
Young people require a constant flow of information on matters pertaining to personal security. Having attained majority age does not negate the fact that they are young, active, and susceptible to peer pressure. Safety 4 Youths program is categorized into two;
A) Online safety skills educate youths on how to navigate the internet world by learning how to make smart choices with regard to online behavior.
B) GBV safety skills educate young people with knowledge on what constitutes abuse, mitigation and
- My Reproductive Health
3. Work Ready Youth Program
- Legal skills
This is a program aimed at impacting young people with basic legal education on matters pertaining to labour, employment, and intellectual property. Many young people find themselves green yet as adults of a majority age they are expected to earn a living and come up with innovations. As such they are susceptible to unfair employment terms, unfavorable working conditions, poor pay, and theft of ideas and innovations by unscrupulous companies. Legal life skills would equip young people with the necessary knowledge to navigate the working world.
- Financial Literacy
This category is aimed at providing young people with prerequisite tools to understand the concept of money, saving through banks, SACCOs, credit management, and most importantly the legal liabilities attached to money such as taxes, licenses, etc.
Our Activities
Advocacy – Use of digital media to disseminate information on life skills to teenagers and young adults on the development of life skills.
Training; training of educators, parents and others who are interested in non-formal methods of developing life skills.
Membership; cooperation with schools to take part in life skills programs through the introduction of Skills Maishani Club for teens and young adults.
Mentoring: cooperation with international educational groups and institutes in promoting transformational social change through mentorship.
Network building: Participation in international conferences and seminars.