Ujuzi Manyattani, Changing Lives, Building Resilience, One Household at a Time
John Lorunyei outside his motorcycle repair shop
“I acquired my life-changing skills freely and I am teaching the same skills to other youth who want to learn freely in my garage. I urge others to do the same, so we have an educated society,” says 37-year-old John Lorunyei, a father of two and Ujuzi Manyattani beneficiary from Nakuprat-Gotu Community Conservancy.
John Lorunyei lost his father in 2017. As the first of eight siblings, he had to find a way to help his mother provide for the family despite his struggles with disability.
A resident of Nakuprat-Gotu Community Conservancy, Lorunyei’s options were limited because he had no education, and his family was impoverished. He sought practical ways to improve his future. After hearing about Ujuzi Manyattani from the Nakuprat-Gotu Conservancy Manager and learning that the Program provided free mobile, village-based vocational training, Lorunyei quickly applied and enrolled in a motorcycle repair and maintenance course.
He chose this course because he noticed a lack of motorcycle repair services in his community. Lorunyei graduated with 337 other Ujuzi Manyattani trainees on the 6th of April 2022 after three months of intensive training. At the graduation ceremony, NRT Trading provided him and the other graduates with free toolkits. He used his to establish a motorcycle repair shop in Kiwanja in Isiolo.
John Lorunyei
“I earn my daily bread with the skills I gained from Ujuzi Manyattani training. This has enabled me to take care of my family. I am very grateful to NRT Trading for giving me these skills freely.” says 37-year-old John Lorunyei, a father of two.
Through a partnership between NRT and Toyota Kenya, the latter trained Ujuzi Manyattani graduates on how to repair Yamaha motorbikes and later tested their knowledge. Lorunyei defied all odds and became one of the top 10 graduates who qualified for advanced skills training by Toyota Kenya.
Ujuzi Manyattani is a vocational training program in which polytechnics place trainers in villages to teach-marketable skills to community members, providing access to learning for people from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds and those who have not been able to obtain a formal education.
The Program enables pastoralists to acquire practical vocational skills without disrupting their way of life. The goal is to equip community members with entrepreneurship skills that diversify their livelihoods, breaking the ongoing cycles of poverty and conflict over natural resources.
Since its inception in 2019, 779 youth and women graduated from Ujuzi Manyattani, garnering the attention of the national and county governments, and development partners, as the Program expanded.
Ujuzi Manyattani is supported by USAID Local Works Program, USAID’s People-to-People Reconciliation Program, IUCN Save our Species through the European Union and ICEP.