CoWA started its activities in 1987 as a non-profit association of teachers, youth and volunteers working mainly in collaboration with AVSI (an Italian NGO) and St. Kizito Vocational Training Institute. It was realized that many students of St. Kizito Institute, after completing the vocational training, were not getting jobs and after a while, they would lose their skills. To answer this need CoWA assisted the students to get internships and later jobs in a few companies. Also to widen the scope of getting livelihood entrepreneurship was offered as an option to the youth. This need was found also among other students from other institutions. On the other hand, employers were noted to have a difficulty in finding credible workers as the market was flooded with job seekers of various qualifications. Hence the need to assist them to choose from the large pool of job seekers. In 2000 it was registered as an NGO. Since then over 10,000 youths have accessed the services offered.
Who are we: The Companionship of works Organization (CoWA) is a local non-profit organization based in Nairobi-Kenya whose main objective is to enhance human capacity and development by freely helping the unemployed and underemployed to enter the labor market and /or become entrepreneurs with sustainable financial stability.
Our method of work: We are a companionship at Work and we work towards bridging the gap between the employer and the job seeker. We believe that “if you want to build a ship do not gather men to collect materials and do not distribute duties. Instead teach them the nostalgia of the wide and infinite sea”.
What we do: Our activity is based on developing the person through education to work and preparing them for the job market as well as starts their own micro-enterprises. This carried out through Orientation to work services and entrepreneurship skills. Over 10 thousand young people have accessed our services.
The purpose of this blog is to document the hard work carried out not just by our team, but also by the young people we work with. CoWA carries out many fantastic programs and events which will be highlighted throughout the course of this blog. As we promote our work, we also hope to be able to share some of the stories of the thousands of young people we have worked with. Thus, we hope to celebrate their successes and inspire more young people to join us in our companionship.
