Date Posted: 7/24/2013 5:16:43 AM
Posted By: Brendah Aroko Membership Level: Gold Total Points: 3317
Desperation has become obvious in the lives of a majority of youths who have completed school and they have searched for jobs but without success. It becomes quit discouraging to live without an assurance of tomorrow because it is certain that you’ll need one thing her and there and you’ll need money either way. If we could just sit and think of a million ways of helping the jobless youth in the country our ideas will never be good enough to give them the kind of life worth living after studying for years and years. The youths need the best of life not just living a day at a time but having the hope of an even better future. Most of us are scared of failure me being among them, I don’t like falling down, I hate humiliation and embarrassment and I hate being looked down upon and I know that this feeling is mutual in all the youths out there. Nobody wants to be kicked out of his house because they have no money for rent, nobody wants to go without food for a meal a day, nobody wants to wear worn out clothes everyday, and nobody wants to look needy all the times.As much as we look upon the government to provide employment opportunities for its citizens, we also need to have our plan B which we can opt for if things don’t go according to our expectations. We have heard of blue color jobs and we have often ignored them but come to think of it, these jobs are like life savers for most of us because we need to survive, what happens if you get dirty but get a good amount of money to take acre of your bills? Nothing is more refreshing than being paid for your own labor, because when we sweat to gain something we definitely will know how to spend it wisely. The problem then comes in about how to get the required training for these jobs because we definitely send years of our learning on books and theoretical aspects and we fail to give attention to physical skills which are equally important for our survival in the industrial world.In the past we had subjects like arts and craft taught in primary school and I was so good in that subject, I knew how to draw and paint and do all sorts of decorations but this dream and talent all went to the drain when the subjects were scrapped form the education system and we were forced to focus on the less involving subjects. I believe this was the worst mistake made by the ministry of education because we need t teach our students many useful things so that at the end of their schooling, they are all round and can take up any career that comes their way without being disadvantaged. The jua kali industry as it has come to be known is the greatest revenue earner for the country but the people in the industry are not given much respect like other workers in the country, their items are not getting the rightful marketing and so they suffer in silence. Most youths get into the industry with hopes of rising quickly but they end up being disappointed when they find out the reality about jua kali, most of them quit and they start looking for alternative jobs. If only there was a clear avenue for them to market their goods not just in the country but also outside within the East African markets or even exporting them abroad to countries that can give good revenue to the artisans as well as the government then I’m sure we would not be complaining about unemployment as much as we are. We have goods made by the Maasais that are really of good quality but they are not sold beyond the borders of the country so they end up being sold at lower rates that cannot sustain the artisans.Most artisans feel god when the tourists come to Kenya because then they will buy the goods as souvenir but what if we could take the goods to them in their countries as well so that most of the foreigners who are unable to tour the country can also get a feel of how good the artisans in Kenya are. It is always good to explore all available avenues before settling for just one method of marketing and we need the government especially the ministry of tourism to advocate on behalf of the artisans in order for them to get a positive publicity out there and in order for their goods to get the value for money that they deserve. Besides the jua kali industry, the agricultural industry also need to be given the right resources and marketing that it deserves, last year I was so sad when I saw sacks of potatoes rotting in the country while the farmers put in so much effort to farming. It is good to have outlets for our goods before we start importing what we can produce as a country, I attribute this to poor planning because the government does not first take account of what they can produce on their own before they import goods from outside the country. It is also discouraging when we see the government allocating foods for the dry lands like eastern province whereby they give them little portions of imported foods instead f buying from the more fertile areas of the country and distributing to the dry parts of the country. A good number of people die daily in Kenya due to lack of food while a good number of good farm produce is thrown to waste every year in the country and there’s no time in my life that I’ve heard the relevant authorities address this issue, it’s like it is irrelevant. It hurts so much to see the attention given to rich and prominent people who die in accidents while it doesn’t attract any weight if more than a hundred people die due to hunger and lack of food in the poor areas of the country. What does this mean? It simply means that we have our priorities wrong as a country because we end up spending too much on the rich and don’t give any attention to those who are in most need of our care.We have fertile lands in the country and we end up importing the goods that we can grow in these farms. We need to sensitize farmers on the kind of faring they should go into when the seasons change in order for there to be a balance of crops so that no particular crop is planted everywhere leading to overflow of one crop while others are not available. We need to have avenues in which farers are taught and given the resources for growing a variety of crops that will be enough for use in the country as well as for export outside the country. Agriculture can be one of the well paying careers in the country and I’m sure if the benefits can be realized hen most of our unemployed youths would not bother applying for office jobs ad they would instead go into agriculture and other businesses revolving around agricultural production. If we are wise enough to explore these avenues first before complaining of lack of employment opportunities then I’m sure the nation will be way ahead of the people’s expectations, what we need is an aggressive government which looks at things from all angles to ensure that it’s people are well sorted.
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