Youth Led Solutions to Community Challenges at the Coast of Kenya

Youth led community based organisations are using unconventional methods of advocacy. In Kilifi, is a community based organisations founded by a group of young cyclists who wanted to use their love for cycling to impact changes in their community.

Wheels of Hope Community Based Organisation has been working with the underprivileged communities in Bomani area to provide support to children who cannot access e-learning, girls and women who cannot access sanitary kits and also improving the quality of life by donating bicycles in each home to facilitate their long commute to their places of work.

Elimu Care, is another youth led organisation whose focus is on education, advocacy and innovation. Its programs include providing support in terms of reading materials for children in rural areas with limited access to e-learning during this pandemic. The organisation has also been involved in lobbying for better measures and policies for children in schools to ensure that by 2030, everyone can enjoy their right to a quality education.

Last month, I spent a day with Wheels of Hope and Elimu Care at Kireme Primary school in Bomani area, Kilifi. It was so inspiring to see the work being done by these two youth led organisations with limited resources.

Children from Bomani area learning during the community classes facilitated by Wheels of Hope CBO

Elimu Care donates books to Wheels of Hope CBO to support the students at Kireme Primary School

Young people are using what they have to change what they can.

Caring for the underprivileged and those who are continuously left behind looks different for every community therefore calling for contextual and needs specific methods of designing community solutions.