MEET WANJIKU – DISCOVERING NEW TALENTS THROUGH VOLUNTEERISM
As we wind up 2021, we celebrate the great input and efforts of our interns and volunteers. Elimu’s youth interns and volunteers are an important part of how we execute our core mission. They engage in all of our projects and that includes working with learners of all kinds.
Youth interns and volunteers co-create programs at Elimu. They help us assess impact and provide feedback from the youth perspective. This year’s interns have been involved in establishing our Artisan Maker Space, setting up our DigiTech Lab and training our beneficiaries in digital skills. They sensitize the community on the activities at Elimu Resource Centre (ERC) and help manage the logistics of our events. During their time with us, they gain hands-on experience, explore and develop new talents, pursue free online learning and improve their own marketability for their future career dreams. Many of our interns stay on as volunteers after their term. We are grateful for their support and energy as we enjoy watching them grow and develop under our mentorship.
In this series of eMagazine articles, we introduce you to our recent team of youth volunteers who have shown true heroism in the way they contributed to the growth of our organization.
Wanjiku Macharia, a second year university student pursuing a degree in Business IT, has volunteered at Elimu Resource Centre for the last five months. She is helping us develop a program for struggling learners introducing them to computer basics. With no past experience teaching special needs students, Wanjiku nonetheless embraced the challenge. She has discovered a talent she didn’t know she had and has grown to love sharing her own love for computers with our two special students. She says that this experience has taught her to appreciate the uniqueness and beauty of life.
She describes her approach: “Anytime I am interacting with these children who struggle with learning, the first thing is to make them feel comfortable. I show them that they are okay, and that they are special and what they think, say and do matters. Once they feel that their voice matters, then they are able to open up to hear what I have to teach.”
Wanjiku also volunteers her time at our Cisco Networking Academy teaching students to understand how to work with computer hardware. She herself completed the Cisco IT Essentials course with us at ERC. She has a keen eye for photography and often helps with taking photos at events in the Centre. Wanjiku’s career dream is to be a leader in a tech firm. Her passion for IT drives her to seek out opportunities to improve herself. She never lets a learning opportunity pass her by. She is concurrently pursuing a higher level course with us, the Cisco CCNA1 certificate course, to build her networking skills.
Her time at Elimu has also given her a chance to study various short professional courses online that she says has put her a step ahead of her peers. When not at the Centre, you will find Wanjiku participating in community service activities including advocating for menstrual hygiene among girls in remote impoverished schools.
In the beginning, Wanjiku was shy and reserved. But through her time and experiences at Elimu, she has been transformed into an engaging public speaker and an energetic team leader in youth activities. We look forward to watching Wanjiku grow into leadership in her community.