Stella’s Impact Story

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My encounter with GCC:

GCC Karanja Road, Kibera. Nairobi

My name is Stella Onyango (low vision disability) from Kibera. Below is my story on the impact Gifted Community Centre -GCC has made in my life. In 2019, courtesy of GCC, I joined St. Charles Lwanga a vocational institute where I enrolled in fashion design. The programme took one year. GCCs assessment exercise helped me choose the right course which I pursued till the end.

What made you choose fashion design?

There were two main driving factors that made me chose this path. My late dad was a fashion designer; I grew up in a set up seeing the sewing machines. This gave me a great inspiration and my interest to develop the skills and knowledge required in the fashion and design industry.
Life at St. Charles Lwanga happened to be great. They offered quite a wide variety of technical courses. Their main aim was to transfer knowledge and skills to us. I became really fascinated and hoped to give the course my absolute best throughout the year. They also offered traditional courses beside the main courses such as entrepreneurship, life skills, and communication and computer application packages.

I gained other skills aside from fashion design

GCC Karanja Road, Kibera. Nairobi

At the Institution there were class representatives in each department. They were assigned to represent and even delegate duties among the students to ensure the smooth running of the Institution.

We were all expected to conform to the institution’s rules. Some of the assigned duties were cleaning of the dining hall, doing dishes and even making cowpeas. This gave us a sense of responsibilities among the students and instilled teamwork.

There were games at the recreational grounds. We would go for sports at least once per week for physical fitness. As the exam date was approached, I became excited and at the same time anxious. We were about 10 students who sat for the NITA (National Industrial Training Examinations).

I completed and passed

The exams begun on 5th December 2019 and ended on 6th Dec 2019.

I managed to get a pass in fashion and design grade 3. With the skills acquired, I managed to secure a contract to make masks during the COVID period.

Conduct capacity building trainings to GCC team on monitoring and evaluation
Though the contract is coming to an end, I intend to use these skills to sustain myself.
Thanks to Gifted Community Centre.