The twin problems now facing the Kenyan economy are poverty and a high level of unemployment. HIV/Aids, which now takes 710 lives per day, has further undermined productivity. This has created an urgent need for employment and wealth creation opportunities especially for the youths and underprivileged in the peri-urban areas of Kisumu. We have partnered with a Dutch organization called Derde Wereld Werkplaats to provide opportunity to the unemployed youths in Kisumu by providing them with business startup kits mainly Sewing machines after they graduate from vocational training. Since 2007 this initiative have seen us create direct employment to over 100 youths through provision of sewing machines 70% of them being women. Amongst the beneficiaries have been youths, women and vulnerable members of the community including people living with disability through Association for the physically disabled of Kenya (APDK). The machines have also benefited both our vocational training centre and Rotary youth polytechnic. This have given many needy youths opportunity to access training in tailoring and dressmaking.

We have not only created employment opportunities through provision of sewing machines but also through provision of various tool sets for various jobs eg. Carpentry, masonry, art, craft, leather work, knitting, tin smiths etc. Similar tools and equipment have also been used to improve the quality of carpentry, masonry computer and cookery training through donation of equipment and tools for training in the vocational training school. Some of the tools benefited people who lost their small businesses and source of livelihoods during the 2008 post election violence.

There have also been many goods donated to the project including play materials for the street children rehabilitation programme, early childhood development and education centre. The computers have always assisted us in training more youths and offering internet at an affordable rate to the community.

The project also had a component of training in sewing and knitting machines repair and maintenance information transfer. This is a unique training which involved 3 dutch volunteer trainers from DWW, assistant trainers from Nairobi and participants from western Kenya, namely kakamega, kitale, webuye, busia, kisumu. This was followed by a trainers and artisans course in 2008 which saw us graduate a total of 31 artisans and trainers in sewing and knitting machines repair and maintenance.
These participants graduated as skilled resource persons ready to repair, maintain and service sewing and knitting machines in their communities. This has enhanced employment opportunities for the underprivileged people in western Kenya by strengthening the garment makers work (tailors and dressmakers) who are the majority in the informal sector.  We have since conducted our local SKITcourse training and trained four participants, we have planned to have these training annually to create opportunity for more people to join the labour market as repairers of sewing and knitting machines.

We have set up a sewing and knitting machines repair and maintenance workshop in Nyalenda Vocational Centre. This centre acts as a hub to all the trained participants to come for spares and exchange ideas about their work. This workshop also repairs machines for the wider community and extends repair trainings to the youths in the vocational training so that they can repair their own machines when they start working with their machines in the community. The workshop is run by three of the previous SKIT training participants.

This is one of the projects that have supported many youths in western Kenya especially kisumu by supporting them with skills, sewing machines and hand tools to startup their businesses successfully. Many thanks to the volunteers in DWW workshop and the leadership of DWW for the support.