Nyalenda Young Turks: Our journey towards becoming a Community Foundation

Inside the sprawling Nyalenda Slums in Kisumu city, narrow, winding paths weave through makeshift houses of iron sheets and mud walls to the Nyalenda Young Turks Community-based Organisation (NYT) offices. The community-based organisation has been doing development work in the densely populated slum since 2020.

NYT commenced its operations at the height of Covid-19 when a group of young people living in Nyalenda slums came together to sensitise the community on the measures to control the spread of the pandemic, shares Victor Elvis Omondi, the executive director at NYT.

Back then, the CBO wasn’t registered, but due to the community engagements, we were appointed as part of the Kisumu County Covid-19 response team, Mr Omondi says.

According to Geoffrey Abincha, the monitoring and evaluation lead at NYT, out of the eight sub-counties in Kisumu County, the organisation covers seven sub-counties in Seme, Kisumu Central, and Kisumu East, and we have reached quite a few people. In all our projects, we work with most youths aged between 18 and 24.

“We provide services in health, gender and climate change,” Mr Abincha says.

Months later, NYT was registered as a CBO. We identified as a CBO in our registration to address some of the multiple challenges the Nalenda community faced. “We wanted to do this, not by ourselves but by bringing other relevant people to us when doing our stakeholder mapping.”

Along that particular process, we managed to meet various partners that were supporting our initiative, he explains. “Most of them were providing activity-based support, they came, we did activities, distributed food to the needy and left because we didn’t have a clear structure on grant management, project management, and so many things. Our main focus was being a platform where we mobilised community members who come and pick available items, then they go.”

But this was not sustainable. Many people asked us, “How will we be in five years if we are doing activities without looking at our systems, having a physical office, and the like?” Mr Omondi explained that that was a very hard question to answer at the time because most of the partners always wanted to support the community, not necessarily the organisation itself.

Partnership With KCDF

In 2020, with the rise in sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) cases in Nyalenda, they managed to tap an opportunity advertised by KCDF. The project, End SGBV Initiative, looked at policy issues, and NYT came onboard to strategically mobilise and rally the Nyalenda community to engage with the duty bearers to implement the Kisumu County SGBV policy.

“KCDF were having two calls: to train community champions for rallying community support, and another for ideas geared towards policy development and implementation, as well as working with duty bearers to develop policies that are not in place or not in use,” he shares.

Given the rising number of GBV cases, as evidenced by the data shared by the Ministry of Health over the pandemic, NYT realised it was the ideal time to position itself and apply for the grant. This marked the beginning of their growth journey with KCDF.

“We also applied for the Mobilising Support (MS) training through Change the Game Academy, which helped us a lot in mapping our stakeholders. The feedback also helped us improve how we do our projects,” he explained.

He explains: “One of the action plans from the MS training was for us to rally our community members to understand the status of Kisumu County’s 2019 SGBV policy and to lobby the government to ensure that we have a department for youth, gender, and culture to address issues on SGBV in our community.”

NYT received the grant and was provided with a participatory organisational assessment tool, which guided us on how organisations need to grow regarding governance and leadership, resource mobilisation, human resources, stakeholders’ involvement, and financial and risk management, Mr Omondi comments.

The Impact

“KCDF’s selection process focused on organisations with demonstrated commitment to community, prior experience with grants or capacity support, and a clear vision for growth. Just as important was their willingness to commit to becoming a community foundation,” says Grace Maingi, the Executive Director at KCDF.

“We ask tough questions,” Ms Maingi notes. “Are you willing to walk this path with us? Do you believe in the model? The ones who said yes—we brought them on board.”

In the ‘Strengthening the Community Foundation Movement as a Basis for Sustainable Development in Kenya’ project, NYT identified three tenets to work on: leadership and governance, robust and effective systems, and local resources mobilisation, he says.

Georgine Awuor Omondi, NYT’s partnership officer who is also in charge of the Mott project, says NYT joined the project in its second phase and received KES 800,000 in phase one, which began in November 2023 and ended in November 2024. In this project, NYT had identified three tenets to work on: leadership and governance, robust and effective systems, and local resources mobilisation.

According to Ms Awuor, NYT has attained several achievements and a few gaps in its implementing tenets, which it will address in the next phase.

Under governance and leadership, NYT developed a five-year strategic plan, 2025-2029, which they have yet to launch. We also trained staff on their job descriptions, which has been so impactful to the organisation because at least each staff member knows their roles and there is no duplication of work, she adds.

“However, there was a gap in our internal expertise during the strategic plan formulation. We realised that there is a need for intervention in terms of policy development and general frameworks,” Ms Awuor points out.

Governance and leadership have impacted the organisation within and outside. She notes that, through the training we have had, our staff have improved the quality of their information and communication.

“The way we approach our partners with information has improved the legitimacy of our work, which has also built our partnerships,” Ms Awour explains.

NYT also developed a resource tracker tool that records resources as they come in, exit, and the stock.

In the previous year of implementing Mott, we conducted a resource mapping of our beneficiaries to identify areas where we needed to work closely with them. We used a tool with areas where they needed assistance regarding health, education, and gender. We walked door-to-door and were also giving out our membership card at KES 50 for each household to register with NYT and become our beneficiaries so that when we have an intervention that is in line with the gap indicated, we reach out to them,” she explains.

“The Mott grant was a key opportunity for us because when you look at the organisation’s growth, we wanted to build a movement that most of our community members can rally behind and do community resources mobilisation together,” expresses Mr Omondi.

Success, for KCDF, is measured in how deeply rooted an organisation becomes in its community. “Are they raising local funds? Are those resources driving meaningful change? Do community members trust and support their work?” Ms Maingi poses. Strong governance, community engagement, and local fundraising are all key indicators of long-term impact.

With the funding, NYT also conducted governance training for our staff on HR policies, financial management, procurement, monitoring and evaluation, and the general job description for each staff member,” Ms Awuor explains.

Under robust and effective systems, NYT also trained their staff on formal information, she adds. “We have also benefited from TechSoup to formalise our communication posture so that most of our partners can rally and support us. We now have official working email addresses for our staff. This has brought a big change in the organisational image,” Mr Omondi adds.

NYT also produced their branded merchandise. “At least each staff member has two uniform sets, which has improved our visibility and legitimacy. We also moved to this bigger office. Previously, we were in a small room and branded. We have purchased several banners for activities, redesigned our website and acquired roll-up banners,” Mr Awuor explains.

NYT has also acquired office furniture and has been paying its office rent, utilities, electricity, water bills, and internet bills. The Nyalenda Young Turks App is up and very active, with the CBO using it to provide lessons and useful information on reproductive health to adolescents and young women.

One of KCDF’s proudest achievements has been helping partners realise that they can raise money locally. “Even small, grassroots organisations—some without formal offices—have run successful fundraising campaigns and built strong community buy-in,” Ms Maingi shares.

The organisation has also mainstreamed a resource mobilisation strategy within it. This strategy focuses especially on identifying different opportunities that can bring resources to the community, how the community can benefit, and how we can rally ourselves with our community members to tap those particular resources, as Mr Omondi illustrates.

Kenneth Odera, KCDF’s Capacity Building and System Strengthening Coordinator, highlights the importance of strengthening local organisations so that they can respond to their communities’ needs without relying on external funding.

“We work with these organisations to identify capacity gaps and develop appropriate strategies to address them,” Mr Odera notes. This includes helping organisations build stronger governance, leadership, and financial management systems.

A key aspect of this approach is fostering local resource mobilisation. KCDF encourages its partners to work closely with their communities, enabling them to contribute to their development efforts through cash and in-kind resources.

“We track whether these community foundations can raise their resources and how accountable they are to the communities they serve,” Mr Odera shares. This emphasis on accountability and transparency helps to ensure long-term ownership and sustainability of community-driven projects.

“We sit with the board to review policies and strengthen the weak ones. They are now mobilising resources, and we sit together to develop proposals. The board and management team conversation has taken a different shape when compared to how it was initially.” Mr Omondi explains.

Before phase one of the grant, staff relationships were not as strong because they didn’t know each other. Through training on how they should support their respective departments, we have realised big collaborations as they do a lot of joint work with the support of the Microsoft software from TechSoup, he adds.

In resource mobilisation, most NYT partners attached their participation to their contact person within the organisation. “A donor will support the organisation because of someone. So, when that person is not responding to their email, the organisation does not get the information,” Mr Omondi points out.

Through the training of all their staff on effective communication with their partners. All our staff from different departments are engaging the partners, he adds.

Costs have been cut with the staff and the board teaming up in resource mobilisation. Initially, we would hire people to design campaign posters. “But now our staff can design the fliers and certificates by themselves. We look at this model of building staff capacity to save a lot of money to support programme areas,” Mr Omondi observes.

After the training and mentorship, the NYT staff position themselves strategically in meetings. “They are now being recognised and given roles to be co-chair, or lead in planning activities, and other partners have begun to recognise the skills and knowledge potential at NYT,” Mr Omondi shares. This has had a positive impact on the face of the organisation.

“Some of us are in technical working groups and committees. Our staff are now not just going to attend meetings but also to participate, and they gain recognition and awards, which builds their resumes. It has also earned positive feedback from the organisation, especially in our input on gender, health, and climate change,” Mr Omondi explains.

With all these achievements, NYT is relatively new in the community development space. “Some of the most promising partners are newer organisations without traditional structures. But they bring immense social capital—trusted by the community, active in mobilising people, and already influencing policy at the county level. KCDF chose to support these groups, recognising their potential to evolve into strong community foundations,” explains Ms Maingi, the KCDF Executive.

Future Plans

A 2024 February-to-March door-to-door mapping, dubbed ‘community satisfaction measurement’ study, indicated that NYT has been able to reach 6,000 households with an estimated 15,000 people in Nyalenda A and Nyalenda B, Manyatta B, Kolwa Central, and Kondele wards, and part of Railways ward. “To arrive at this data, we issued 6,000 beneficiary cards, one to each household, and they each filled the forms,” says Mr Abincha.

The mapping was to establish the community needs so that NYT can align its programme activities. The community identified the challenges that they were faced with. The most issues raised related to gender, health, and climate change, which form the basis of NYT’s future in its pursuit of becoming a community foundation.

Nyalenda Young Turks Impact Story 2

In Nyalenda A based in Kisumu East, education was the biggest challenge almost everyone raised as households indicated they could not raise school fees.

After the exercise, NYT identified an education gap, which informed the establishment of their economic empowerment centre. “We managed to acquire computers and some tailoring materials. We also gained assistance from other partners and well-wishers,” says Ms Awour.

The empowerment center has five certificate courses in ICT, tailoring, Kenya sign language and interpretation, resource mobilisation, and business coaching and development.

“We enrol students at the centre in cohorts at a Sh1500 commitment fee for the particular course they want to pursue. The fee has assisted NYT to acquire more seats and tents which they use for community welfare activities, and they also hire to gain some income,” says Ms Awuor.

The empowerment center has five certificate courses in ICT, tailoring, Kenya sign language and interpretation, resource mobilisation, and business coaching and development.

Owning a sewing machine, she hopes to use her skills for self-employment. “I want to become independent, then one day, become an employer.”. Right now, I still rely on my parents for all my needs, including airtime and sanitary pads.”

Her long-term goal? “I want to become an employer in the future. I also plan to enroll in a certificate course in design to teach others,” says Ms Adhiambo, the eldest in a family of six from Manyatta B in Kisumu town.

Determined to achieve her dream, she has been saving small amounts of money, even as little as Sh50, towards her startup capital. “So far, I have managed to save around Sh10,000.”

But NYT has taught Ms Adhiambo more than just stitching.

“Before this, I didn’t know what sexual and gender-based violence really meant. I thought some things were just ‘normal’—like being touched without your permission. Now, I know it’s not okay. And I talk to other girls about it too.”

Ms Adhiambo is one of over 40 young women currently enrolled in a tailoring course offered by the Nyalenda Young Turks Community-Based Organisation (NYT). Here, she’s learning how to turn fabric into fitted dresses, skirts, and dreams. “I can now make clothes from scratch—skirts, dresses, even shorts. I didn’t know I had this in me.”

Around the same time Ms Adhiambo sews her last hem for the day, Phanice Ong’ale, 27, is receiving a certificate in Kenya Sign Language (KSL), a skill she hopes to turn into employment in the healthcare sector. “This certificate in KSL will help bridge the communication gap between the hearing-impaired and the wider community,” says Phanice, a resident of Nyalenda B Ward. There are many people who can’t hear—and they struggle when they go to clinics, she adds.

Her ambition is to work as a KSL translator in the healthcare sector, to ensure that people with hearing impairments can access medical services and other essential social support with ease.

Phanice’s journey hasn’t been easy either. “I dropped out of secondary school for a while because of school fees. So when I saw the sign language course here costing just Sh1,500, I joined immediately. In other places, this same course is over Sh30,000.”

She also serves as a community advocate, sharing sexual and reproductive health information with young people and referring them to clinics for services like HIV testing, counseling, and family planning.

“This helps curb new HIV infections and prevent teenage pregnancies,” she says passionately. She earns a small stipend for this work, but the impact stretches far beyond.

Communities living Nyalenda slums continue to face significant challenges, including poor sanitation, flooding during heavy rains, and limited access to basic services. A substantial number of teenage girls in the community are mothers having dropped out of school due to financial constraints, Phanice observes.

With no structured activities, many teenage girls vulnerable to risky behaviour, often lured by motorbike riders, explains Ms Ong’ale. “Some contract HIV and other sexually transmitted infections; while others become teen mothers, which derails their future prospects.”

“I got pregnant at 17, just after finishing high school. I stayed home for six years. That one event slowed everything down for me. But I got back on my feet—I joined Kisumu Polytechnic and studied ICT. Now, my son is in Grade Six.”

Her ambition is to work as a KSL translator in the healthcare sector, to ensure that people with hearing impairments can access medical services and other essential social support with ease.

In neighbourhoods like Nyalenda, where young girls often drop out due to poverty, early pregnancy, or lack of guidance, this kind of support can be life-changing. “Too many girls end up idle, vulnerable, and forgotten,” Ms Ong’ale says. “Some get into risky relationships with boda boda riders, and that’s how the cycle continues—STIs, teenage motherhood, and lost dreams.”

The NYT is assisting such girls to stitch their futures and reclaim their dignity by equipping them with skills to make them employable. However, Geoffrey Abincha, NYT’s monitoring and evaluation lead, explains that the Sh1500 commitment fees each student pays to enroll in any of the five certificate courses—ICT, tailoring, Kenya Sign Language (KSL) and interpretation, resource mobilisation, or business coaching and development, are not sufficient to cover tutor salaries. Also, he adds that the space at the empowerment centre is limited.

“To accommodate all students, the centre now operates in shifts, with different cohorts attending in the early morning, at 10 AM, and in the afternoon,” he says.

Nyalenda Young Turks CBO is an exemplary testament of partner organisations that KCDF has supported through the Mott Foundation project titled, “Strengthening the Community Foundation Movement as a Basis for Sustainable Development in Kenya”. The project aims to strengthen institutional effectiveness in locally based organisations to promote flourishing and resilient communities. KCDF continues to work with community-based organisations to promote community-led development, enabling environment and community philanthropy.

Nyalenda Young Turks CBO is an exemplary testament of KCDF’s impact through the Mott Foundation-supported project, “Strengthening the Community Foundation Movement as a Basis for Sustainable Development in Kenya.” The project focuses on enhancing the institutional capacity of locally based organisations to promote flourishing and resilient communities. Through this initiative, KCDF continues to champion community-led development, an enabling environment, and the growth of community philanthropy across Kenya.