Phian is a 21-year-old beautiful young woman born and raised in Mathare informal settlements. Like many young women in the area, she struggled to make ends meet. When the DREAMS project scaled up to reach Mathare informal settlements, she was among the first vulnerable young women to be enrolled. By then, she didn’t have a stable source of income. As a young mother, she was experiencing many challenges. She could not afford to put even one meal on the table daily. She took on menial jobs like doing laundry in the estates, a job that she hadn’t imagined doing.
After participating in the project and acquiring business skills through financial capability and entrepreneur training, she started a small business of selling second-hand clothes, which enabled her to stop doing laundry jobs.
Her commitment and outstanding participation in the Social Asset Building sessions (SAB) earned her praise, admiration, and applause from her peers, mentors, and project staff. She was selected and enrolled for a five-day mentorship training, and got certified as a mentor for Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) aged 10-14 years. She started earning a stipend from the SAB session that she facilitated. Phian did exemplary well in her mentorship, and like the fuel that drives an engine, she drove behavior transformation among the in-school AGYW.
Her desire to learn and expand employability skills was unquenched, she enrolled for a course in catering at Kenya Christian Industrial Training Institute (KCITI) which was fully supported by the DREAMS project and immediately after her studies, she was offered a job as a receptionist for three months at Kenya Christian Industrial Training Institute.
In mid-2019, she was offered yet another opportunity to work as a Store Keeper/Office Assistant at Mathare, Hospital ward. A role she serves passionately and diligently. She is a go-getter with a promising career in the future.
“I am an empowered woman, and I can’t wait to see how far I will go. My desire to enroll for a diploma course in Store Keeping is a dream I believe will come to pass and enable me to get employed in even higher positions. My gratitude goes to the DREAMS project for nurturing me with lots of love. I can now afford to cater for my family’s basic needs and gained skills I never had”. She said with tears of joy.
