Students from Mathare slum in Nairobi, Kenya, are set to receive film or photography scholarships from Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA). This is part of a campaign to raise awareness to skills development among the youth.
The project is part of Canon’s Miraisha Program, an initiative focused on delivering job opportunities and future livelihoods to young people across Africa through skills workshops, training programs and enterprise support. Since its launch in 2014, the program has educated thousands of future professionals across the continent, helping them to gain qualifications, secure employment and set up their own businesses.
In order to celebrate the success of the Miraisha Program to date, CCNA will be offering scholarships for KCA University and students from the Mathare community. The scholarships will enable the young people to develop their visual storytelling skills, opening opportunities for them to improve their own lives and the community around them.
Mathare is one of the most under-priviledged urban areas in Africa, with young people suffering from a lack of employment prospects. The videos highlight how Canon Miraisha worked with the Mathare Community Training Program to deliver training workshops to a number of young people in the area. 15 locals are now employed as Canon Miraisha Trainers as a result of the program.
The campaign will run for 10 weeks, and for every 10,000 engagement of the video on social media, CCNA will reveal one of the scholarship recipients, showcasing their personal story, background and hopes for the future.
Somesh Adukia, Managing Director at Canon Central and North Africa Sales, said, “Canon is committed to empowering youth in the African region through the development of vocational skills in imaging. This is best demonstrated through the continued successes of the Miraisha program which actively empowers youth with skill that are practical, marketable and sustainable. We believe the powerful stories that will come from the project are best driven by the creative talent developed from the communities being featured. We also look forward to rolling out this initiative across the region in the coming months.”
Since 2016, the Miraisha Program has worked with a wide range of organizations across Africa, including; Kenyatta University, Kenya Film Commission (KFC), Kenya Photography Awards, Yabba College of Technology in Nigeria, Uganda Press Photo Award (UPPA), The NRB Bus, and PEFTI Film institute in Nigeria amongst many other organizations and events.