It is said that a ‘A long journey starts with the first step’. Meet Odhiambo “Matendechere”, a Maji Mazuri youth member and lifelong resident of the Mathare ghetto. A year back, Matendechere, who was without a clear vision of life, met Samuel Karanja, a.k.a. “MC”, who is the youth coordinator in our ghetto. Matendechere used to hang around idle, brew alcohol and engage in what we call 'tribal politics’.
Matendechere met with MC. MC was discussing the problems youth face living in the ghetto with a few young men down at the brewing site. MC touched on ways to tackle our problems and highlighted how youth can overcome these problems. One of the solutions he offered was to join the Maji Mazuri Youth Group and participate in our educational projects and other activities such as sports and drama to discover your talent.
After a short conversation with MC, Matendechere knew it was the beginning of a new and hopeful life. He set his mind up to task and a week later he took the initiative by attending a youth meeting. There, he was amazed by hospitality of members. The motivation he received made him join the Maji Mazuri Youth group.
Some weeks later, he was among few members selected to join the ICT web design course. Without any knowledge or experience in computer, Matendechere kept trying and worked hard at school until he was able to graduate course 1. Matendechere also discovered his talent in sports and he became a killer weapon striker in Maji Mazuri FC.
I write this blog with much gratitude to Maji Mazuri for enabling the youth in Mathare to decide their own destiny.
