Friends of River Ezava-Forezava

Every year, World Youth Skills Day reminds us of a simple but powerful truth: the future of any nation depends not only on educating young people, but on equipping them with practical skills that lead to meaningful employment, entrepreneurship, and dignified livelihoods. This year's message— "Skills Create Jobs, Jobs Create Decent Livelihoods" —is particularly relevant in Kenya, where thousands of young people continue to navigate unemployment despite possessing immense potential. Skills development is no longer just a social intervention; it is an economic necessity. Against this backdrop, one of the Government of Kenya's most ambitious youth empowerment initiatives deserves recognition: the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) Programme , particularly its On-the-Job Experience (OJE) component, supported by the World Bank. The programme is innovative in design. It attempts to bridge the long-standing gap between classroom learning and workplace ...

On a day when social media timelines are flooded with memories, emotions, debates, and reflections marking two years since the June 25th, 2024 protests in Kenya, many young people are finding themselves drawn into conversations about the country's past, present, and future. Yet in Shiru, Vihiga County, one young woman is spending her day differently. While many are engaged in national discourse, Mariam Muhatia Luyali is focused on something she believes is equally important—showing up consistently for her community, her faith, and her personal growth. When we asked Mariam what her plans for the day were, her response was simple and direct. "I will be attending to my salon business and later in the evening I will join fellow young people at church for our Youth Week program." No grand declarations. No dramatic statements. Just the steady commitment of a young leader who understands that change is often built through daily action rather than occasional noise. For Mariam, le...

 A Monday Inspiration Reflection on Opportunity, Leadership and Breaking Invisible Chains On 20th June 2026, more than seventy African and Caribbean leaders gathered in Accra, Ghana, to continue a conversation that has echoed across generations: reparations for colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade. It was a significant gathering, discussing some of the deepest injustices ever imposed on humanity. On that same day, thousands of kilometers away, I found myself involved in what many would consider a far less important activity in rural Vihiga County. A school football match. Yet as I watched Mbale Boys High School battle their way to the Western Regional Finals, I could not help but see a connection between these seemingly unrelated events. Both were ultimately about opportunity. Both were about what happens when people are allowed to dream beyond the limits that others have set for them. Both were about challenging what I call the "Thou Shall Not" system. The Unwritten...

 In many villages across Vihiga County, leadership often begins long before one occupies a public office. It starts in classrooms, community meetings, student gatherings, and in the quiet decision to serve others before oneself. For Brenda Odondi , a young woman from Wodanga Ward in Sabatia Constituency, leadership has never been about titles. It has always been about responsibility, service, and creating opportunities for fellow young people. Currently pursuing a course in Information Technology, Brenda represents a new generation of leaders who understand that the future will be shaped not only by technology but also by the people who are willing to use it to solve community challenges. Growing up in Wodanga, Brenda witnessed the immense potential that exists among young people. She also saw the barriers that often prevent youth from fully participating in decision-making processes that directly affect their lives. Rather than accepting these challenges as permanent realities, sh...

  At first glance, you may not immediately recognize the ambitions carried by Vincent Mwanje. You are more likely to find him dressed in gumboots and overalls than in polished political attire. His days are often spent tending poultry birds with patience, inspecting vegetable seedlings with precision, or working on maize farms where he applies modern climate-smart techniques such as minimum tillage. To many, he appears like an ordinary young farmer committed to the soil. But beneath that calm and practical exterior is a bold, fearless, and deeply purposeful young leader steadily building a name across North East Bunyore. Vincent Mwanje belongs to a growing generation of youth leaders who understand that leadership is not built through noise, but through consistent action. While many speak about transformation, he has chosen to live it daily through enterprise, service, mentorship, and community engagement. Agriculture is not merely an economic activity for him. It is a statement of...

The silence of an electric motorbike is a strange thing to experience on a red murram road deep in the village. There is no growl of an engine, no puff of black smoke scattering chickens, just the low hum of a motor and the crunch of tires on stone. When I first rode one in rural Kenya, the thing that struck me wasn't the technology—it was the economics. The young man who owned it wasn't an environmental activist. He was a boda boda rider who had simply calculated that spending KSh 275 on a full charge was better than spending KSh 400 on fuel that wouldn't even take him half the distance . He wasn't trying to save the planet; he was trying to save his livelihood. This is the conversation we should be having about fossil fuel dependence in Kenya. Not an abstract debate about global climate agreements, but a brutally honest look at our national priorities. Every shilling we spend importing petroleum is a shilling not spent on our own energy infrastructure—and the data pai...

There are stories that arrive with noise, grand launches, public applause, dramatic announcements and then there are stories that rise almost unnoticed, slowly gathering weight until one day you realize something substantial has been built. Gregory Kamadi ’s journey belongs firmly to the second category. It is not the kind of story that begins in boardrooms or city skyscrapers. It begins in Vihiga County, a small village in Mungoma location called Madzuu, far from the perceived centers of opportunity, in the quiet spaces where ambition often has to survive without an audience. Growing up in Vihiga meant growing up with a front-row seat to limitation. Technology was not something casually woven into everyday life, and access to the latest gadgets or digital tools felt more like a distant privilege than an ordinary expectation. Yet what could have easily bred resignation instead produced observation. Gregory developed an unusual habit early on: he noticed what was missing. He noticed how...

Scrolling through Facebook, I landed on a video featuring a lesson-laden young man renditioning to popular singer, Harrie Richie's new song, Bella without abandon. He was shaking hips, shoulders and all other body parts you we don't have to mention.  I laughed. Hard. I assumed I had stumbled upon a talented older citizen who had finally decided to join social media. It took me a full three minutes to realize that the "old woman" was actually a young, bearded man named  James Chiko —or as the internet knows him,  Kukhu Vaida Apembo . That shock? That is the secret sauce of James' genius. When you meet James in person, he is disarmingly charming. A young, handsome creative from Vihiga County with a bright smile and an easy laugh. But watch him for a few minutes, and something magical happens. The posture shifts. The gait slows into a deliberate wobble. The voice cracks into a higher, nagging pitch. In an instant, James disappears, and  Kukhu Vaida —the critical, noi...

There is a certain kind of strength you only learn when you have to trek home in the rain with empty pockets and a full heart, and Sharon Lianguluti knows that strength intimately. She is a daughter of Ematsuli Village, tucked deep into the stoic, lush greenery of North East Bunyore Ward in Emuhaya Subcounty, Vihiga County. But her journey back to this soil was not a straight line. It was a winding, muddy, hopeful road that began long before her university days, in the quiet seed of childhood mentorship. She still remembers how her father added her to a group that supported girls with self-awareness sessions and sanitary towels. That small act planted something deep inside her. By the time she reached Form Four, the organization needed more mentors, and Sharon qualified. Even then, barely a teenager, she was learning that community development is not a career you choose late in life—it is a call you answer early, often before you fully understand its weight. After secondary school, she...

So LET'S FACE IT! There is a quiet unease that has been spreading across Kenya’s farms and community lands, and it has everything to do with a piece of legislation that most people have not yet read but are already learning to fear. The Forest Conservation and Management (Amendment) Bill 2025, sponsored by Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah, arrives with a noble mission: to strengthen forest governance, promote commercial forestry, and align Kenya with global carbon markets. On paper, these are worthy goals. But on the ground, where farmers wake up before dawn to tend shambas they may or may not legally own, and where communities have watched well-intentioned policies curdle into bureaucratic nightmares, this Bill raises a very simple question: why must something as common-sense as growing a tree become so complicated? Tree growing is not a technical mystery. It is not a privilege reserved for those who can afford lawyers or navigate government portals. It is one of the most universally unders...

Some people wait for change to arrive. Others, like Mercy Kasaya, roll up their sleeves and go find it in the trenches of their own community. Meet Mercy—a fiery Political Science graduate from Maseno University who isn’t just studying leadership from textbooks. She’s living it. Breathing it. Fighting for it. And she’s doing it all at the grassroots level, one conversation, one sanitary pad, and one rescued dream at a time. The "What" – Rewriting the Rules of Advocacy Mercy doesn’t wait for a title to lead. Her office is the community. Her tools? Empathy, education, and relentless action. Here’s what she’s doing right now to shake things up: For the Boys:   Mercy is on a mission to pull young men back from the edge. She runs hard-hitting mentorship sessions focused on one thing: breaking the grip of drug and substance abuse. She teaches discipline, resilience, and purpose-driven living—giving boys a roadmap away from addiction and toward a future they can be proud of. For th...

There’s a hashtag that’s been bouncing around our timelines for the past month. Tuko Kadi. It sounds bold. It sounds ready. It sounds like we, the youth of Kenya, have finally woken up. But after a long conversation with the very people on the ground—the IEBC youth agents sacrificing their time, their shoes, and their dignity to get us registered—I’m no longer sure what “Tuko Kadi” really means. Because the truth? It might just be a vibe. And a vibe doesn’t vote. Online, we’re generals. We retweet the civic education graphics. We quote “siasa ni namba.” We scream about bad leadership, unemployment, and the high cost of living. The algorithm loves us. But offline? I sat with five IEBC youth agents working 12-hour days under a makeshift tent. No transport reimbursement. No lunch allowance. No sign of the “enhanced program” funds they were promised weeks ago. Yet they still walk door-to-door, sweating in the sun, pleading with young people to just take five minutes and register. And what ...

In Luanda South Ward and beyond, one name continues to stand out among youth-driven transformation- FRANCIS OGONJI, the Chairperson; YOUNGESTARS S.H.G. His leadership is not defined by titles, but by action, belief, and a relentless drive to empower others. Francis leads with a powerful mantra: "Just because you don't know how it's done doesn't mean it can't be done." This belief has shaped his journey and inspired many young people to break limits, challenge uncertainty, and pursue opportunities with courage. To him, possibility is not reserved for the privileged—it belongs to everyone willing to try. At the core of Francis’s leadership philosophy is a deep commitment to Human Resource Empowerment. He strongly believes that if young people are empowered to become productive, they hold the key to solving the country’s biggest challenges. Rather than waiting for large-scale structural change, Francis focuses on transforming individuals—because, in his words, ch...

In Vihiga County, many youth-led initiatives begin with energy but struggle to translate participation into sustained economic or environmental impact. Flevy Saisi is part of a growing cohort of young leaders working to change that trajectory—by grounding community action in structure, accountability, and practical enterprise. Raised and educated in rural Vihiga, Flevy understands the constraints that shape opportunity for young people: limited access to capital, fragmented support systems, and increasing climate pressure on agriculture-based livelihoods. Rather than move away from these realities, she chose to build within them. After earning a degree in Statistics from Kisii University, she returned to Elianzuki village with a perspective that is still uncommon in many grassroots spaces—one that prioritizes measurable outcomes alongside community engagement. As Chairperson of Epitome Youth Self-Help Group (SHG), Flevy has guided a transition from informal youth activity to more struc...