Kakuma cohort one has now entered the freelancing section of our course! Over the next three months, students will begin applying for jobs on platforms such as Remotasks and Upwork, receiving guidance from ICT trainers Taban and Juma.
This pivotal stage of the course equips students with the skills to navigate common challenges, such as ID verification and bank account setup, ensuring a smooth transition into the freelancing world.
We recently checked in with Taban and Juma to see how the students are progressing. Taban and Juma’s interview has been lightly edited for clarity and accuracy.
Q1. You guys have reached the 2nd half of the course – how are the students meeting this new challenge?
Taban: “We are finished with section one of the curriculum, and we are now in section two, which mainly deals with tasks. We have been getting students on the web freelancing platforms, mainly freelancer.com. Hopefully next week we’ll move on to other microworker sites.
Q2. Is there anything in particular that students find difficult?
Juma: “No, so far we don’t have many challenges. I know Adora [Konexio’s Lead Trainer and Curriculum Developer] is always with us, and we are moving along – we are on track.”
Taban: “Since we have Adora, we have no challenges."
Juma: “When Adora is there, everything is okay.”
Q3. What do you tell the students when they encounter challenges?
Taban: “Whenever they encounter challenges, we normally tell them that being a freelancer is a responsibility. The skills that we’re teaching you now, in the next ten years, in the next five years, they will be not be on the market, so you have to get into real-time learning. You have to keep on learning the new skills [yourself]. But for you to run and catch up with the train, you have to learn to walk first.”
Q4. Is there a specific skill or field that the students are most interested in – like graphic design, excel, data analysis, etc.?
Taban: “They have been asking us about tasks that pay more in the freelance marketplace. They are very bored with the microwork site because the tasks mainly pay less than a dollar. They normally ask us [about] web design, graphic design and web development."
What do you hope to achieve by the end of the program for the students?
Taban: “Our main goal is that we want to see the students actually be economically empowered. After the course, we really want to see the students [succeed] outside, see that they are independent, and that they are able to earn something for their lives."
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