U-Tena Youth Organization
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Mission Statement
To provide development opportunities by promoting healthy living, education, livelihood, and social responsibility among the youth.
About This Cause
U-Tena’s work entails community-based implementation of youth-related programs and research intervention activities. Some projects focus on Non-communicable diseases, HIV/AIDs, sexual reproductive health and rights, sanitation, education, advocacy, civic engagement, and Youth friendly health services in Mukuru slums in Nairobi Kenya. The strategic objectives of U-Tena include Youth Mentorship and Development, Organizational Development and Strengthening. Marketing and Publicity and Resource Mobilization for Sustainability. At the moment, this organization is served by 5 board members, 14 full-time members of staff, and more than 50-part time staff and volunteers. Programs/Achievements: Livelihood program –The project targets youth in registered groups with income generating activities that are already running and are capacity built to be able to manage their resources and account for their expenses and income to be able to grow their businesses. Continuous mentorship and linkage to marketing and funding opportunities have been key components to ensure the continuity and sustainability of the beneficiaries’ livelihoods. The project goal is to enable targeted youth to access sustainable employment that will lead to financial independence Education Program – Under education, U-Tena is currently implementing three projects Tujifunze Plus - Tujifunze is a one-year (pilot) project funded by GRIC and implemented by U – Tena Youth Organization. The intervention was designed and implemented to address the learning disruption caused by Covid – 19 in Kenya, which forced learning institutions to be closed. The project seeks to improve learning outcomes for 1000 adolescent boys and girls who are exposed to weekly life skills sessions and 600-time takers supported through remedial sessions on numeracy and literacy. In addition, Tujifunze fosters strong collaboration with the local community including parents, community leaders, and all stakeholders who play a pivotal role in mobilizing and supporting learners. This project targets learners from Mukuru kwa Njenga A-Lot Change Project - A LOT-Change project is a community-based after-school support program that has been implemented in Korogocho and Viwandani since 2013. This project is motivated by the need to have an integrated approach to improve learning outcomes, psychosocial well-being, and behavior among adolescent girls and boys. The first phase (2013-2015) only targeted adolescent girls in grades 6-8 and comprised of homework support in numeracy and literacy, life skills mentoring, parental counseling, and transition to secondary school subsidy. From the successes of the initial phase, the intervention was scaled up in Phase 2 (2016- 2018) to include a leadership component and also target both adolescent boys and girls, with the other components remaining the same. ALOT Change Phase III is a follow-up study of the Phase II cohort who transitioned to secondary school in 2019. In this Phase, APHRC in liaison with Miss Koch and U-Tena is testing the feasibility of implementing the A LOT-Change model among older adolescents and also establishing the sustainability of the effects of the intervention as observed in Phase II on the adolescents in secondary school. WEF – U-Tena partners with World Education Fund to offer partial scholarships to needy and bright students. Under this project, U-Tena is currently supporting 120 students who are in different secondary schools. The students under the project are also supported by trained youth mentors through life skills and holiday homework support. Health Program – Under the health program, U-Tena implements the following projects within Nairobi, Imarisha Maisha Project - The Imarisha Maisha project started in November 2016 in partnership with Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Kenya. This project identifies new testers among women, young girls, and men, as well as providing couple counseling and testing to identify sero- discordant couples, retesting of high-risk individuals, and Identification and linkage to care for PLHIV is also promoted. U-Tena is currently supporting the implementation of the project in Makadara, Lang’ata, and Embakasi East sub-counties of Nairobi. U-Tena also works with PS Kenya under the HIV project in creating demand for the HIV self-test kit within Makadara and Embakasi East sub-counties. Jichanue - U – Tena through Jichanue; AYSRHR project aims to enhance access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights services by advocating for youth responsive services at community facility level. It is expected that adolescents and youth will be empowered and able to demand for better services as well as advocate for increased SRHR services at community and county levels. Through the project, U – Tena aims to reach 1,000 adolescents and young people living in informal settlements of Viwandani and its environs. Youth Friendly Centre - U-Tena has been managing a youth-friendly center since 2009. It is located at Lunga health center grounds and was built in partnership with Goal Kenya and the Ministry of Health, Kenya. U-TENA works with the youth from Viwandani which is one of the slums in Mukuru. The urban informal settlements are marred with a myriad of social problems including unemployment amongst young people which leads torising poverty levels. At the youth-friendly center, young people are given information regarding sexual and reproductive health. Through facilitated performances, U-Tena is able to dispel myths regarding HIV transmission, encourage voluntary testing, correct and encourage correct and consistent condom use amongst young people. Additionally, information on drugs and substance abuse and various pieces of training on livelihood skills are provided Rise Project - The Rise Project works with school-aged boys and girls to promote sexual education through mentorship. The project partners with Brown University in the US to send interns to support the project each year.120 mentees have been enrolled in the RISE project from the 14 villages of Viwandani. They are class five students. The model is articulated to guide and make them aware of common mental disorders, and how to solve them before it escalates to adulthood.