Don Bosco Boys Town provides education and technical skills training to former street children

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Boys Town, located in Nairobi, Kenya, inaugurated a new IT and Innovation Center. The new facility adds to the existing computer center, which provides computer education to youth finishing secondary school. The computer center is equipped with 20 computers and is also accessible to students from Don Bosco Technical Institute.

“Salesian technical and vocational education centers help youth gain the skills for employment,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This new IT and Innovation Center will help ensure that youth are able to take courses to help them compete in the current job market. The goal for Salesian vocational and technical education is to ensure that students can make an easy transition from school to their future jobs.”

Don Bosco Boys Town provides education and technical skills training to former street children. Students who complete their primary education are then assisted with secondary education or are advised to choose technical training in sister institutions. The secondary education is most often provided at Don Bosco Technical Secondary School in the town of Embu, northeast of Nairobi.

The two-year technical training provides youth with a wide variety of skills training programs to choose from, including tailoring, car engineering/mechanics, carpentry, electrical work, and welding, as well as secretarial skills and a full spectrum of computer-related job skills. After graduation, more than 80 percent of graduates are employed in their fields of study. Many students go on to attend university or establish their own businesses and become entrepreneurs in Nairobi.

According to the World Bank, more than 7.8 million people in Kenya are living in extreme poverty, with the majority in rural areas. There are approximately 6.6 million people living on less than $1.90 a day in rural regions, while 1.1 million extremely poor people live in urban areas. Overall, the poverty incidence declined in recent years, but at a lower rate in urban areas than rural ones.

Youth living in Kenya’s larger cities like Nairobi live in slums and are at risk for exploitation, forced labor, and other abuses. Few attend the later stages of school as compared to those living in Kenya’s more rural areas. The few schools serving this disadvantaged community are beyond the financial means of most families.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Kenya – Fr. Václav Klement blesses and inaugurates Center for IT and Innovation in Nairobi

Salesian Missions – Kenya

World Bank – Kenya