By Charlotte Fall
In Kenyan slums, chronic unemployment leaves 68% of youth without a stable income. Young men and women are forced to find incomes by selling their bodies, stealing, and participating in terrorist activities with Al-Shabaab for pay. LivelyHoods is a social enterprise that recruits youth to train and become impact salespeople, in order to keep them out of illegal activities and propel them into successful livelihoods. The organization sells clean-burning stoves, solar lamps, and other life-improving products in slum markets that are difficult to reach to create opportunities for communities.
LivelyHoods was founded in 2011 to empower youth and create sustainable environmental and societal impact. They work with other nonprofits in Kenya to connect with youth and women that they serve but do not have a sustainable income, establishing a network of resources for them. After recruitment, they attend a week-long sales and marketing training course in a classroom to build strong business and character skills. Next they train with experienced sales agents in the field for a week to practice their new skills. After being in the field, youth or employees contribute to identifying new products needed by the community, conduct market testing, and create innovative advertising strategies, in addition to distribution. At each new location, Livelyhoods sets up a safe space for youth to store supplies, learn about the operations of retail, and practice retail customer service. This opportunity allows youth to build a strong skill set to move into other businesses or even create their own.
In addition to their focus on creating successful life paths for youth in Kenya, they have a strong focus on creating environmental impact and reducing carbon emissions. Most families in Kenya burn coal to cook and create light in their households every day. The toxic fumes that are produced not only hurt the environment, but create hazardous places for children and can cause respiratory issues that left untreated, can kill. Often times a family can spend almost its entire monthly earnings on the cost of fuel to complete these daily tasks. By switching to alternative energy solutions, families’ incomes are raised and they lessen their risks for illness.
The work that LivelyHoods has done has created jobs for over 60 youth and women in Kenya and switched many families to alternative clean burning stoves in order to reduce carbon emissions. With their commitment to empower youth and create sustainable jobs they are planning to expand into three new locations in Kenya to spread their support system in the near future.
