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He still looks back fondly on the many meals he and his family shared with neighbors at the house of a local woman everyone" /> <meta name="generator" content="Drupal 7 (https://www.drupal.org)" /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.sil.org/blog/lessons-learned-youth" /> <link rel="shortlink" href="https://www.sil.org/node/345536" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="SIL Global" /> <meta property="og:type" content="article" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.sil.org/blog/lessons-learned-youth" /> <meta property="og:title" content="Lessons Learned in Youth" /> <meta property="og:description" content="One young man carries the principles imparted to him by his Kenyan community into a life of leadership. Anthony Kamau (pictured right) credits his local Kenyan community with nurturing in him a strong value for family and cooperation from an early age. He still looks back fondly on the many meals he and his family shared with neighbors at the house of a local woman everyone simply referred to as Mathe, or mother. 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<section id="block-system-main" class="block block-system clearfix"> <article id="node-345536" class="node node-blog node-promoted clearfix"> <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_1140/public/images/story/blogheader.png?itok=3p0qV0Oh" width="950" height="502" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="view view-blog-post-masthead-information view-id-blog_post_masthead_information view-display-id-entity_view_1 text-center view-dom-id-5cec0cb6c0a4d77acd945eb79a7562d4"> <div class="view-content"> <div class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first views-row-last"> <div class="views-field views-field-title"> <h3 class="field-content">Lessons Learned in Youth</h3> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-name"> <h6 class="field-content">by <span class="blog-post-author">Kelly Martin</span></h6> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-created"> <span class="field-content blog-post-post-date">5 March 2025</span> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-nothing"> <span class="field-content"><hr/></span> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><h2><small>One young man carries the principles imparted to him by his Kenyan community into a life of leadership.</small></h2> <p>Anthony Kamau (pictured right) credits his local Kenyan community with nurturing in him a strong value for family and cooperation from an early age. He still looks back fondly on the many meals he and his family shared with neighbors at the house of a local woman everyone simply referred to as Mathe, or mother. Widely known as a strong advocate for her people, this much loved matriarch kindly offered to look after the local children while their parents worked. </p> <p>Kamau’s home in Mukuru kwa Njenga, an informal settlement outside Nairobi, housed people from many different Kenyan tribes, but his family lived in the area occupied by other members of the Gikuyu community. The Gikuyu use their language readily in day to day activities, and Kamau recalls how the close knit structure of the community created the sense that his family extended much farther than his own household, giving him many ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’. It also “helped us in a way,” says Kamau, “to maintain some good morals because you knew that someone was always watching out for you.” </p> <p>Kamau now applies these boyhood lessons on care and cooperation in his current role with SIL. As Associate Director of Resource Development for SIL in Africa, Kamau possesses keen insight on the bonds of local language and community. “Gikuyu language is not only a communication medium. In many ways, the language is part of my identity. I am a son, a husband, a father, a brother…a <em>kikuyu</em> (person who speaks the Gikuyu language). I still use my local language whenever I want to take a deep dive into Scriptures and feel at home when praying in Gikuyu.” This firsthand experience on the subject enriches his professional engagements and collaborations.</p> <p>As a child, Kamau's dream was to finish high school and university. Although financial instability made finishing primary school difficult, he went on to complete his university degree. He remembers considering many career paths, including doctor and lawyer, but says, “regardless of the profession that I would take, my desire was always to play a part in empowering people and communities marginalised and on the fringes of life.” </p> <p>While using his experience in virology to support medical missions in Uganda, Kamau observed how easily people could understand and apply medical instruction given in their own language. “Whenever we would do community outreach projects in the villages, we would teach in the local language, which was Lugbara, and I always felt that people were following the instructions easily.” Kamau realized that communities with access to important resources in their own language are better positioned to make positive change. As a result, he joined SIL.</p> <p>Today, part of Kamau’s role involves leading an SIL <a href="https://www.sil.org/blog/local-citizens-become-sil-interns">internship program</a> which recruits and trains young people from across Africa to fill technical and leadership positions. This program helps open pathways for youth in Africa to become leaders in efforts to support local communities in the region. It also advances Kamau’s desire “to see a world where a multicultural and multigenerational workforce is collaborating on the major topics that SIL is wrestling with. These young men and women need to be part of not only the process of thinking through the solutions but also implementing the change.” </p> <p>These highly qualified candidates help grow SIL’s capacity to serve, better positioning us to increase language engagements and support local communities in their efforts to thrive. In November 2024, 22 interns completed their two year training in the areas of Language Program Management, Literacy & Education and Translation and will now serve as SIL staff equipped to lead the work.</p> </div></div></div> </article> </section> <section id="block-block-261" class="block block-block blog-footer-links blog-footer-links clearfix"> <p> </p> <hr /> <p><a class="btn btn-default text-center" href="/blog" role="button">Back to Blog</a></p> </section> </div> </section> </div> </div> <footer class="footer"> <div class="footer-top"> <div class="container"> <div class="region region-footer"> <section id="block-panels-mini-sil-bootstrap-footer-menu" class="block block-panels-mini clearfix"> <div class="panel-flexible panels-flexible-new clearfix" id="mini-panel-sil_bootstrap_footer_menu"> <div class="panel-flexible-inside panels-flexible-new-inside"> <div class="panels-flexible-row panels-flexible-row-new-main-row panels-flexible-row-first clearfix footer-links"> <div class="inside panels-flexible-row-inside panels-flexible-row-new-main-row-inside panels-flexible-row-inside-first clearfix"> <div class="panels-flexible-region panels-flexible-region-new-column_1 panels-flexible-region-first "> <div class="inside panels-flexible-region-inside panels-flexible-region-new-column_1-inside panels-flexible-region-inside-first"> <div class="panel-pane pane-block pane-block-276 pane-block footer-logo" > <div class="pane-content"> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/sil_logo_white.png" style="width: 100px; 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