Hard at work

Today I had the pleasure of MC'ing an event for my work. It was the culmination of a 6-7 month process of the Youth-to-Youth Fund, one of the six components of the project I work on. From 240 eligible applications here in Tanzania, it had been narrowed down to 30, then 16, then 13, and finally 6.

Six youth organization that proposed projects to build the skills of their peers in income generating activities and entrepreneurship were awarded grants totally thousands of USD. It was No small feat to make it through the selection process and pass the final judgement by a jury of seven regional experts.

To give you a bit of a taste, here are a few photos from the event.

Juma from one of the finalist youth organization sells their project idea to guests, including YEF's head of finance.

Our government counterpart from the Ministry of Labour and Employment in Tanzania and OIC at our office take time to sign the certificates.

Here I am between Emmanuel, Cosmos and Shuku while they pitch the project to the audience... a test of how their presentation skills training went on Tuesday.

Grabbing a quick cup of coffee during the marketplace, where guests had a chance to visit each organization's display and here more about their proposals. Yes, that's a bottle of water and a cup of coffee (Africafe, yuck!), and a saucer, market and Public Choice Award ballots in the other...

Chiku's organization receives the prize for the Public Choice Award. Her organization also won a grant today.