The pilot phase of the project is set to end in mid-August in the run up to International Youth Day on August 12, a day marked by the United Nations to address issues affecting youth and to recognize the contribution they can make to their societies. The end of the pilot phase will be marked by an exhibition to serve as the official launch of the on-going project.

The students come from varying backgrounds and have had different experiences, making each student’s work unique. Some of the issues raised by the students include environmental degradation, life on the streets, the post-election violence, poverty and drug abuse.

“I remember well, I was alone, and I decided to ask him where Joshua was. I begged him until he told me that he had died because of a road accident just a few minutes ago when he was totally drugged…From that day on, I decided that I would never take any drugs in my life,” writes Patrick about the day his friend died.

The students and USK will be urging key stakeholders, including the government, to address the issues raised through both policy and practice. For instance, USK has identified that the law banning the sale of inhalants to minors does not carry an adequate punishment to defer people from breaking this law. With the students, USK will be proposing recommendations on such issues.

The objectives of the project are policy reform and teaching new skills to the learners, as well as changing negative stereotypes that tend to hold many poor children and youth back.

“About half of the students are children that either live or have lived on the streets, a group that many members of society look down upon as criminals and drug addicts. This project is giving these learners the ability to counter these stereotypes and show the public that they too are members of society and deserve the same amount of respect and consideration as the next person,” says the Project Trainer, Kristina Rosinsky, who is an Advocacy Project Peace Fellow volunteering with USK.

Seventeen children and youth are involved in the training, ranging from 14 to 22 years of age. The students come from USK Street Children and Youth Associations, non-formal schools and its vocational skills training program. They each have their own blog and collection of photographs online.

To increase awareness about the issues the students have raised, USK will be holding an exhibition to display their work and auction their best photographs. The event will serve as the official launch of the project and will be held in September. Ninety percent of the proceeds will go directly to the students to assist and uplift them and their families. Ten percent of the money will go to support USK’s Children and Youth Programme, specifically to fund the continuation of the project.

USK has worked with Kenya’s vulnerable children and youth since the organization’s founding in 1973. It provides direct services by running non-formal schools, vocational skills training and reintegrating those living and/or working on the streets. Within the past year, USK has begun advocating and lobbying for issues facing Kenya’s vulnerable children and youth and the work produced by the students during this project will aid such advocacy initiatives.

Ms Rosinsky, the principal trainer, comes from The Advocacy Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping its partners become better advocates through the production, dissemination and use of information. She will be training the best students more intensively in the coming months so that they are able to teach more children and youth themselves in the future.

• To read the students’ blogs and view their photographs, visit the Digital Storytelling for Advocacy page.
• For more information contact Ruth Kihiu (Lobbying and Advocacy Coordinator) at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , Josephine Muli (Children and Youth Manager) at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or Kristina Rosinsky (Project Trainer) at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .