Training female car mechanics in Nairobi slum

Project Report | Feb 8, 2022
Role models and mentors

By Peninah Nthenya | Founder and manager of Safe Spaces

Dear supporters,

When we thought of ways of girls and young women to earn an income that would make them stand out, we thought of car mechnics. Also in Kenya this is a business that is traditionally run by men. Other professions and businesses like hair dressors or beauty salons for example, are very common in Nairobi and widely spread. We thought girls and young women that are educated in car mechanics would have a great opportunity for jobs.

And we were right. The graduates from our course are very much asked for by dealers, garages and other type of businesses in teh car industry. Their skills, experience in the garage and education is very much appreciated.

In the past quarter 10 girls finished their auto mechanics certificate course and started their diploma course in January 2022. Also 10 new girls joined certificate course in January 2022.

Next to the education and the course, most importantly is the fact that the girls are mentored by alumni. In weekends and during holidays the alumni come to Safe Spaces to share their experience, to guide the other girls through the curriculum and the obstacles they may encounter during these years. This is very motivating and inspiring to the students. They feel supported, understood and can take this support with them during the week.

Being a young woman in a man's world is new. Having the experience and guidance of women who have already walked this path before you, makes a lot of difference.

LIke your support makes a lot of difference to our goal to build our own garage, run by female car mechanics. We are getting there, step by step. thanks to your support,

Peninah Nthenya

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Oct 8, 2021
First report of our project

By Peninah Nthenya | Founder and manager of Safe Spaces

Dear early adopter donors of our new project,

First of all we would like to thank you for your donations. Even if we are not new on GlobalGiving, this project is a new funding project. For us and for you.

We have been educating dozens of girls in the past years who have now a vocational degree in auto mechanics. As we are very succesful with this, we will continue to do so. All our alumni have a job in the car industry. As a mechanic in a garage, in sales with a dealer or in a factory where they manufacture cars.

For the vocational education we work closely together with a befriended garage owner. But in the near future we would like to run our own garage. This would mean a step into becoming a social entreprise. Our young women who want to become a car mechanic can be trained on our site, work on vehicles from 'our' clients and later apply for a job in our garage. It will be a place where customers know they will find female professional car mechanics.

In the past months we have been able to continue the vocational training, although it needed to be done in smaller groups and with 1,5 meter distance. Quite a challenge when you both need to take a look at the motor of the car and learn from what you see. We used clever solutions like stools to stand higher but with a safe distance for example.

Safe Spaces could also provide mouth protection and sanitizers to protect all the women in the garage.

At the same time we have used the Safe Spaces digital library for some online teaching, which worked very well. The girls could watch instructions and films about specific car issues and apply them in real later in the garage.

We thank you for your support, it means so much to us. It means you believe in what we are doing, it means you want to support us in standing on our own two feet in some time.

Asante sana,

Peninah

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