Blog

We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Irene Kwamboka, called Madame Irene by her students, as NTS’ Lead Instructor of Hairdressing.  Madame Irene joined NTS in June 2021 as an assistant teacher and has led our students through their first NITA exam.  We are delighted to see her take the big step of leading the Hairdressing Program!

Prior to joining NTS, she worked as a hair braiding specialist at Komina Salon in Kisii Town. She has also volunteered in the Hairdressing Department at Entanke Polytechnic. 

Madame Irene, who is an advocate for women’s menstrual health rights, will lead our AFRIpads program in 2023. AFRIpads is an award-winning social enterprise, founded on the belief that menstrual health is a human right.  NTS is partnering with AFRIpads to provide our students with reusable menstrual pads and reproductive education. 

Madame Irene is a graduate of Kisii Polytechnic where she earned her Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy Diploma.

By Natali Chinchaladze, NTS teen blogger

For those who have been following our blogs, you know that we have discussed menstrual health and menstrual poverty.  We’ve found ways to help our students by collaborating with AFRIpads, a Uganda-based business providing reusable sanitary pads and menstrual education to women. As we say on our webpage, our mission is “providing free menstrual products to keep our female students in school and engaged in their daily activities, shifting attitudes that have limited their education and success.”[1]

As a 15-year-old who has also faced the physical transition from girl to woman, I can easily imagine how twice as hard it is for girls in Kenya.  But I was shocked to learn that in Kenya, “a study sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation found 65% of women and girls were unable to afford pads, and only 32% of rural schools had a private place such as toilets for girls to change their period pads.”[2]

 It is not easy to imagine what kinds of hardships NTS students have faced. It is even harder to imagine that this is considered “normal” because these students, their sisters, their mothers and grandmothers have never known anything else.  But in our modern world, crude, improvised materials should never be an alternate way, should never be what we call a “solution”.  Menstrual health should be a human right and access to proper menstrual products should not be an issue anymore.

I have learned that this problem is called “period poverty,” and it is deep and wide, going beyond the area of human health. Of course, when girls use pad alternatives such as “paper, old rags, and leaves,” they risk falling ill with reproductive and urinary tract infections, say health experts.

But let’s look at other aspects.  Period poverty causes many girls to fall behind boys their age because they miss school while on their period. According to the statistics, ”if a girl misses 4 to 5 days each month, in the end, 20% of the academic year is skipped, just because of menstruation.”[1]  It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that this is yet another factor contributing directly to gender inequality.

Then there is the issue of taxes put on period products. For those so poor they cannot afford 3 meals a day, this is inexcusable.  Thankfully, Kenya is one of the few countries that has eliminated this tax. 

And we can go further by combining the issues of education and menstrual poverty with economics. A lack of education for girls can lead to substantial losses in national wealth. “World Bank figures estimate that wider society and national economies can profit from better menstruation management: with every 1% increase in the proportion of women with secondary education, a country’s annual per capita income grows by 0.3%. Empowered women and dignified work are critical to a better business – a business that is more ethical and more productive. Other than improved finance, impacts in Bangladesh, Kenya, and India include behavior improvements in health and workplace gender equality outcomes, as well as improvements in self-esteem.”[3]

“Poverty, lack of access, and deeply held beliefs often prevent girls from attending school past the age of twelve.”[1] NTS works directly with families to grapple with these root issues. By addressing the economic realities of NTS families, by actively recruiting female students, by counseling families on the benefits of female education, and by providing AFRIpads and support programs, NTS is working to address past trauma and permanently change attitudes toward women and menstruation. At NTS, there is no more “Week of Shame”.

   Sources:

1. https://nyamboyotechnical.org/what-we-do/female-empowerment/
2. https://www.context.news/socioeconomic-inclusion/period-pad-prices-push-girls-out-of-school-in-africa?utm_source=news-trust&utm_medium=redirect&utm_campaign=context&utm_content=article#:~:text=Period%20poverty%2C%20often%20defined%20as,can%20even%20drop%20out%20altogether.
3. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c6e87b8ed915d4a32cf063a/period.pdf
4. https://www.afripadsfoundation.org/

By Jones Obiria, School Founder

Our mock NITA exams were a success!  We identified where our students knew the material as well as where they need more support and training.  Remember, these are professional skills so everything they learn – no matter how small – is of value.  They will, quite literally, make use of every skill.

It was our teachers who made this exam possible.  They dedicated two weeks before school started to create them. For the written theory exam, they invented varied questions reflecting what our students will find on the real exam.  They refined and balanced the questions, so they would fit in the allotted time.  Then, for the full-day practical exam, they created hands-on projects, again reflective of the real exam. 

But it didn’t end there.  After the exams, they carefully graded them, wrote evaluations, and then met with each student to create a plan for further exam preparation.  Every student went home with a written evaluation providing a supportive and balanced view of their strengths and weaknesses.  For many, it was the first time they have ever received written constructive support and criticism.  It’s a reference tool to guide them in their preparation and to remind them of their talents.

We thank our gifted teachers for their dedication to NTS and to their students.

We also thank our English teacher, Mr. Allan, who worked with all the teachers on their exams.  In Kenya, the NITA exam is in English although vocational skills are generally taught in the language of the region.  He was there to help each teacher find the right words for each question.

From there, he worked with the students on how to approach the test.  He showed them how to identify keywords in a question, words that give clues on how to present an answer.  For instance, when one question asks you to “outline” and another asks you to “describe”, what is the difference?  (The correct answer is the “outline” requires a phrase where “describe” must be full sentences.). These are test-taking skills our students had never been taught before, but are required to succeed on the NITA exam.

So, to our dedicated and heroic teachers, we thank you!  We recognize you and celebrate your contributions.  You should be proud of your hard work, and proud of your student’s performances on the exams!

By Jones Obiria, School Founder

It sounds like a bad joke.  So, this man is walking down the street when he meets a vulture …

You see the bandage on my forehead?  Well, here’s what happened.  On Monday, I was walking to work on the same route I take every day.  Someone left trash outside (a no-no) and it was all over the path.  Animals had been foraging.

As I stepped around the trash, I heard a screech and saw a huge black, angry shadow rise up.  I had disturbed a vulture.  But what I didn’t see until too late was the huge bone in its mouth

Now, the rational part of me knows what happened next, wasn’t on purpose … but still, I swear that bird’s eye gleamed as it dropped the leg bone of a cow on my head.  Fortunately, it bounced off my forehead, only causing my skin to split.  To be honest, it was my dignity that took the real beating.

Lots of blood later – because foreheads really bleed even when it’s not serious – I was bandaged up and back in school.  While my students were sympathetic, I could see them smirk as they turned away.

The slightly-feared Mr. Jones became a wee bit more human.  So, maybe there is a moral to this story.

By Natali Chinchaladze

I am 14, the same age as many students at Nyamboyo Technical School. As a young woman from the Republic of Georgia, I dedicate this to my Kenyan peers, from whom I have gained inspiration through  their eagerness to learn. I hope that each of them will reach their dreams. I know they are climbing towards them, enduring hardships every day to get there.

“Achievements are the building blocks that enable someone to construct a sense of themselves as a success. The achievements that matter most combine to form a version of success that has meaning and substance for the individual.” When I read this quote in a Cambridge University Press article entitled “The Meaning of Success”, I immediately thought of an NTS student – Achimba. A nineteen year old in the Electrical Wiring course, Achimba says that every time he switches on the light bulb, it gives him a sense of achievement. His goal, which he keeps in the front of his mind, is to support himself and his family one day through his future job. And isn’t that itself success – following the unstoppable desire to achieve a dream? And this is what I see – the students at NTS are all motivated and dedicated to their dreams.

On NTS’ homepage is a video with this equation: “Poverty + Isolation = Hopelessness”

I believe this equation shows us the main 2 factors leading to hopelessness. It’s a situation where one’s view of the future is nothing but an endless repetition of the present – misery.

As a 14-year old child of a middle class Georgian family, I thought everyone had choices in life. I remember the first time I went to school, my mother told me to focus and learn well, so one day I would become independent. But I have never had to embrace poverty, hunger, lack of health care, and even access to clean water. Even though my life has not always been easy, I have always had choices.

Then I discovered NTS.  I learned that for many of my peers in Nyamboyo Village,  the only option is to work day and night to help their families and young siblings stay alive. Without education, without a choice, they become unskilled child laborers, fall victim to teen marriage or teen pregnancy.  When there is no other way, you go straight to what you know.  What else is there?

So, I hope my NTS peers will hear my message:  Push yourselves.  Achieve. Even when it’s hard, keep going. Show the world, each of you, that hard work leads you to your dreams and to success.

And here comes Achimba’s light again, the illumination that comes from switching on the bulb. As Jones Obiria, NTS School Founder says, “Education is my personal story that has changed the trajectory of my life.”  Fortunately for NTS, he was (in his own words) “one of the lucky ones.” Because of the generosity of his employer, when he was 8, he had the chance to go to school.  Fortunately for Nyamboyo Village, he decided to give that same opportunity to other generations. Today, NTS has 80 students.  Someday it will be hundreds.  And thousands will feel the effects.

Mr. Jones’ journey has taught me more about lights and bulbs.  Now I see that once you light one bulb, you want to light more. That’s what these students are doing, lighting the way for their siblings and peers.

NTS is like an early sunrise that empowers teens to change their tomorrow and their fate for the better. Most importantly, it gives the choice between hopelessness and a prosperous future. Maybe someday, this will be a future, where the words hunger, poverty, child marriage, and teen pregnancy do not exist.  Maybe soon, NTS’ young leaders will be out there lighting the way toward that future.

And finally: “Education + Opportunity = A Prosperous Future”

Sources:

https://www.cam.ac.uk/women-at-cambridge/chapters-and-themes/chapter-1-the-achievements-that-matter-most-and-why

https://nyamboyotechnical.org/