Coronavirus disease commonly known as COVID-19 came unannounced and have caused havoc and distress to lives and livelihoods. Kenya being a young nation with an estimated youth population of about 50% i.e. between the age of 12-35, the impact of this pandemic was to be shouldered by this group. To add to the probable cost of the pandemic this is a population that has been disenfranchised in multiple fronts ranging from unemployment, social injustices among others.
On the flip side, this very population has potential to drive positive good and reform our societies. This was acknowledged when the Cabinet Secretary for Health Hon. Mutahi Kagwe called on the youth to flex their ingenuity and muscles for the nation needed them most to secure its future. Following such frantic calls as a nation, continent and globally, the initiatives being driven by the youth gained media visibility. These spanned coordination of hand washing stations, distribution of supplies to needy communities in their neighborhoods, leading response teams, developing medical products and technologies to aid in the response to COVID-19. This is a nature of camaraderie that’s rare to come by but with COVID-19 we’ve tapped into our kindness reserves, re-written the narrative of common identity and still pushing on side-by-side. Eventually we hope and are positive to emerge victorious.
As Ryculture Health and Social Innovation, having had access to a number of youth driving different initiatives with passion to transform our systems as a nation from the “quick fix” model to sustainable and socially responsive ones, we revamped our Ryculture YouTH Voices platform to gain insights on what the youth were envisioning for different sectors especially in the wake of COVID-19.
While at it, we have developed the first publication of Spotlight on COVID-19: YouTH Voices that shares insights on how better we can refine our response and get out of the current crisis better suited to thrive rather than survive. We feature submissions on:
- Built Environment Role in COVID-19 and Government’s Affordable Housing Plan by Graduate Arch. Ashley Mwangi.
- Digital Ecosystem: Life Post COVID-19 by Data Analyst Margaret Nyambura
- Year of the Nurse and the Midwife: COVID-19 Renaissance by Graduate Nurse Ms. Lucy Kamunya
- Mental Health Impact of COVID-19 by Pharmacist Theogene Uwizeyimana and Dr Odhiambo David.
You can download the publication here.
*Ryculture YouTH Voices is an initiative that seeks to amplify the voices of Kenyan youth in a transformative agenda for health and their well-being.
Ps. We are still receiving submissions. If you feel you have it in you to share insights that can guide our recovery as a nation from this pandemic and help solve social and systemic problems we face then feel free to reach out to us on: info.ryculture@gmail.com.