The Miracle of Sevens

Seven-fold Multiplication Factor

CES Canada Attacks the Roots of Poverty

Among the many roots of poverty is the fact that so many young people around the world cannot find jobs. In Kenya, nearly 75 percent of the unemployed are aged between 15 and 24 years. The disillusionment and alienation of being excluded from productive employment or realizing one's potential will undoubtedly have long term social and psychological consequences.

Acute poverty is defined as a family of four earning less than one dollar a day. In rural western Kenya this is a reality, undermining the very fabric of society. Unemployment among young people has reached a crisis proportion.?

Rapid population growth is a key factor. Kenya's population has nearly quadrupled in just 50 years with 60% percent of the population being under 24 years old. This ensures a rapid and unsustainable population growth.?

Another reality is low quality education. Even as more young people are graduating from high school and college, they lack the skills required to compete in the workplace. Kenya’s education system needs intentional reform.?The CBC or Competency Based Curriculum is a good start; however along with that, there must be substantive teacher training and in-service professional development, a commitment to developing IT within the schools and a massive upgrade to improve school infrastructure.

Students must be ready to thrive in an interconnected world. The present system is antiquated, largely based on a rote learning paradigm left over from 20th?century colonial influences.??The skill of solving complex problems and the use of strategic planning methodologies in a holistic learning environment cannot emerge from a lock step approach driven by factual memorization. To move from the information age to a more conceptual and abstract approach will be difficult, but certainly not impossible.

Kenya’s youth are discouraged and many have stopped seeking employment. Young people hang about with little prospect for change. There is a sense of hopelessness that pervades. It is felt by all those who long to attend school but cannot due to lack of school fees. Two generations have suffered from neglect and the lack of national policies that could strengthen local communities.?

Kenya’s economy is primarily agrarian. Land ownership however is changing and fewer farmers are working. Environmental changes and land degradation through deforestation have all served to lower productivity and increase the price of food. Nutrition and adequate food supply for the poor is at a critical stage where health and growth development for children are at risk. It takes more effort and time to obtain the basics of life. Education for many is but a dream when finding a meal every other day is the norm.?

Rapid growth in Kenya’s service industry is unprecedented. This includes telecommunications, warehousing, transport, banking, security and insurance and tourism. The problem lies in the fact that growth in these areas have the lowest multiplier effect, hence has the least potential to create jobs for the majority of unskilled high school graduates. Strong growth in agriculture and industry are likely to have the largest potential to generate improved economic growth and employment opportunities.?

According to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), economic growth in Kenya is in large part due to an increase in girls reaching higher levels of education and greater gender equality in the number of years spent in school. The reality is that women earn 20% less than their male counterparts. The impact of pay inequality is dramatic over a woman’s lifetime. Much of their working life is unpaid work within the home, and many women will retire on lower pensions and see out their final years in poverty.

Breaking down barriers to gender equality in education, employment and entrepreneurship would create new sources of economic growth and help make better use of everyone’s skills. What is happening now is a shift towards gender equity and creating opportunities for both young men and women to enter the fields of STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Much of this will depend on the extent to which universities can expand in areas of Research and Development and teaching methodologies.

Investing in education and training will pay long-term dividends for the economy, for individual well-being, and for the overall prosperity of a developing nation like Kenya. Youth unemployment needs concrete solutions to turn the tide. The right to education for all children and youth remains fundamental to any change for the better.

The work of CES Canada in rural western Kenya has been ongoing over the past eighteen (18) years. Over 3500 scholarships have provided a base for 800 KCSE graduates to improve their chances to find work. 200 CES graduates have gone on to higher education. Our policy of Gender Equity has always been 50%+1 in terms of the education opportunities and scholarships for girls. It has been said that educating a girl results in education for many more. Our own experience after nearly two decades in the field, is that Kenya is beginning to see young people who are motivated and now see themselves as productive and competent. Best of all, they exhibit the?“seven-fold multiplication” factor. Each will in their own way and time reach out to at least seven others to give them the same chance they received through CES Canada.

Is there empirical evidence to substantiate such a statement? Likely not; however, it is highly probable that an educated young person will create wealth, live a healthier life and be able to care for others. That one individual, will have an effect on this or her immediate and extended family, as well as the community at large. Exponential economic and personal growth will naturally occur as others become connected. There is nothing magical about the number seven, except to say that in many cultures and religions, the number seven has been associated with completeness and perfection.

CES Kenya is now being introduced to the second generation of family life. Our own graduates are becoming parents themselves. Instead of growing up in poverty and unable to access education, this new group of children and young people will experience what their parents never had when they were growing up –– a hope, and a better chance at a decent life. And that, is a reality that is undisputed and worth celebrating.