Mrs Connie Kivuti, Executive Director of the Kenyan based Emerging Leadership
Initiative (ELI) is in Stockholm and will meet Kenyans on Friday 11th July at an “Open House” at Upplands Väsby from 18.30.
Speaking to KSB on telephone, Connie said that she would like to introduce Kenyans in Stockholm to ELI’s activities with a view to establishing common areas of interest where Kenyans in Stockholm could work with her organization.
According to a brief statement outlining ELI’s mission, “Emerging Leadership Initiatives is a, non-profit making organization with a Mission of empowering and developing Africa’s emerging leaders through leadership development, entrepreneurial training, Vocational Skills and micro-funding for business start-ups”.
Eli’s vision is “An empowered community, equipped for the development of others” while its target group are mainly vulnerable youth and women.
“Women and Youth are Africa’s greatest asset and its numeric strength. However, they lack relevant skills for leadership and livelihood. They are also faced with an environment of increasing crime, violence, drug abuse, poverty and joblessness among other challenges such as being locked out of the decision making institutions”.
ELI’s target area is diverse and encompasses Killings, rapes, robberies, carjacking, drug abuse and drug-peddling in Nairobi’s Eastlands area, vices that Connie says, are so common that crime has become the order of the day.
PLAYING COPS AND ROBBERS:
“Eastland is in the larger Nairobi province, has a very high rate of unemployment especially among youth and, as a result, the crime rate is high as depicted recently in Dailies”.
Connie says in a statement that “This state of affairs has been highlighted in Newspaper articles titled ‘Dying Young in Eastlands’, and ‘Playing Cops and Robbers’ dated May 10th 2004 and December 4th 2005 respectively”.
She adds: “It is common knowledge that most criminals operating in Eastlands are aged between 15 and 25 years according to police reports”.
In her Stockholm meeting, Connie would like to get in contact with and invites all like minded individuals, leaders of different organizations and the Kenyan community in Sweden – Stockholm in order to share her vision of the community she works with. The following are the details of the meeting:
DTATE: Friday 11th July 2008.
TIME: 18.30.
ADDRESS: Hembygdsgåden, Hagvägen 2, Pukslagargatan.
LOCATION: Upplandsväsby (Surface train to Märsta). The venue is just next to the Train Station.
Further information can be obtained through Mr. Daniel Maura, Narck-Kenya Scandinavia Chairman, Tel: 0736694039.
Okoth Osewe
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