In 2022, I had the privilege of being part of the YALI #Cohort46 program initiated by Barack Obama and of representing my country, Congo 🇨🇬. As part of this journey, I had the opportunity, together with my team, to participate in the Microsoft Africa & YALI Challenge, which consisted of proposing a digital solution to address an African issue.
KAZI NA GAVA was a project designed by the team Mboka Consulting, made up of four members from the Public Management track, within the framework of the Microsoft – Africa & YALI Challenge. The challenge was to raise awareness among young people about getting involved in governance-related careers in Kenya.
Kazi na Gava, which means “working with the Government” in Swahili, is a mobile app (prototype) designed to fight against political misinformation and to meet Kenya’s recruitment needs by encouraging young people to apply for jobs related to governance.
The app features political news and interviews with different members of the government, sharing their career paths and experiences, with the goal of breaking young people’s stereotypes about jobs in this field.
The prototype was designed to be inclusive, with Swahili translation available, since more than 50% of the Kenyan population communicates primarily in Swahili rather than English.
I would like to thank my amazing teammates Mendy Hameda, CHRL Kahen Abiy, and Joseph Kihiu. Watching the video of our project brought back so many emotions—memories of pressure, laughter, internet issues… it took me several days and countless hours to try to build a prototype as best as I could, despite the extremely slow connection. 😅🤯🫠
In the end, we were ranked #1 in the Microsoft Africa Challenge, as well as #1 in our Public Management track and #1 among all YALI projects, out of the 99 participants of Cohort 46.
Unfortunately or fortunately USAID programs will no longer be renewed. Unfortunately, because this affects thousands of people; but fortunately, because it is also an opportunity for countries to create and own their own programs.