At the Wake na Vijana Initiative, we are committed to empowering women and youth in underserved communities by providing them with the tools, skills, and mentorship needed to thrive. Over the past few months, we have conducted five impactful workshops in Muchatha, where we engaged with local participants and gained a deeper understanding of their entrepreneurial goals and aspirations. Recently, we had the privilege of taking three of our participants—Jacinta, Ann, and Daniel—on a transformative journey to the KCB Foundation MSME Program.

The KCB Foundation, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, launched the 2jiajiri Program with the aim of creating 43,000 jobs and supporting 25,000 MSMEs. Targeting young entrepreneurs aged 18-34 with at least one year of business experience, the program offers mentorship, coaching, and financial support to help foster business growth and development.

Our Muchatha participants—Jacinta, a grocer; Ann, a tailor; and Daniel, a shoe vendor—had the opportunity to attend a two-day boot camp as part of this transformative program. During the boot camp, they were introduced to their Business Development Service (BDS) Mentors, who guided them through a series of engaging exercises, including the Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) game.

The SIYB game is a dynamic role-playing simulation that mirrors real-life business challenges, providing participants with a deeper understanding of essential business concepts such as decision-making, financial management, marketing, and strategic planning. In the game, each team represented a hat manufacturing company. The rules assigned specific tasks to each day of the week: Thursday was dedicated to collecting funds from the bank, Friday was for planning, Monday focused on manufacturing, Tuesday was selling day, and Wednesday was for restocking.

At the end of the game, Jacinta’s team emerged with the highest profit. Reflecting on their success, she shared, “What worked well for our team was the careful planning of our material purchases. We also identified the best folder, who took the time to train our group on producing quality hats. This focus on quality production allowed us to manufacture more hats efficiently.”

During the reflection session, Ann shared a valuable lesson she had learned: “I realized that record-keeping is a gap in my business. I often fail to keep proper records, which leads to misusing business funds for personal expenses.”

Looking Ahead

Following the boot camp, our participants—Ann, Jacinta, and Daniel—will receive personalized mentorship. They will have scheduled visits with their BDS mentors, where they will meet at their business locations to discuss challenges, share insights, and receive tailored guidance on overcoming obstacles, addressing gaps, and growing their businesses.