The training department

Training of the orphaned care givers to get a job and keep that job is our core business. Ujima foundation has achieved this through preparing of the youngsters and equipping them with the necessary tools to be attractive to potential employers.

The stages to achieve this are described below:

Orientation (three months)

This stage is geared at transforming trainees from perceiving themselves as victims of circumstances to managers of their lives and people with potential. Attitude, communication, problem solving, and theoretical knowledge on employability skills and attitudes are discussed with the trainees at this stage. After the orientation phase, an assessment is taken to see how well the trainee has been able to grasp the contents of the training. During the assessments, the theory “the head” the attitude, “the heart”, and the practical skills “the hand” is checked after which the trainee is deemed ready for the next stage which is the industrial attachment (The skills center).

Skill center (three months)

Ujima works in partnership with about 100 hotels both in Kisumu and Nakuru where trainees are sent to gain exposure. Mainly three departments of the hotel are covered these are: the front house (service), kitchen and the house-keeping departments. The industrial exposure in these departments expose them to work, improve their commercial and personal skills, develop work ethics and develop/improve on constructive feedback received from employers, peers and Ujima staff.

During this period trainees are also linked to a professional mentor (often a working parent) to, among other things, guide them on how to balance and manage work against the demands of family life, and maturing in informed decision making, social conventions and HIV/AIDS related issues in a phase we call Good Citizenship.

Job hunting and mediation

This is the final link in assisting the successful attaches in accessing employment. After the attachments (skill center) and success in assessments both in mentorship and technical skills, the trainees are guided by the job hunter on how to approach a potential employer through to doing a an interview and building and use of individuals network to secure a job. Ujima trainees do not have enough professional experience to put up on their CVs, through individual coaching and role plays, we build together with the attaché a job hunting portfolios in it goes the description that best portrays the trainee’s motivation, abilities and likes together with a recommendation letter from the industrial exposure. All these are packaged in a way that would trigger an employer to ask the trainee for a job interview.

Community participation

Ujima means achieved with the help of others. For this reason, Ujima cannot achieve any of its objectives without involving other parties. Ujima is aware that in order for a development progamme to be effective and sustainable, it needs to be rooted in the community. Ujima therefore works in partnership with community based organizations and faith based organizations in the recruitment of its trainees. These organizations provide a contact person who become part of the selection committee member. The section committee assists in the verification of applications in case a trainee registers herself.