building Nyamache Life Skills Centre
In partnership with Bournemouth North Rotary Club
Building Opportunity from the Ground Up
In 2004, a £10,000 grant from Bournemouth North Rotary Club - generously awarded through the Marjorie Gordon Fund - laid the foundations for what would become the Nyamache Life Skills Centre.
Built from the ground up by The Boo Charity Kenya in partnership with Vision Africa, the centre was created with one clear aim: to give young people in rural western Kenya the opportunity to shape their own futures.
What began as a modest construction project has since grown into a thriving vocational college that has equipped hundreds of young people with practical skills, confidence and sustainable livelihoods.
The Model: Opportunity, Not Charity
Located in the small village of Nyamache, on the outskirts of Kisii town, the Boo-funded Life Skills Centre serves a community largely disconnected from major economic hubs like Nairobi. Formal employment opportunities are limited, and many young people face long journeys in search of work - if they find it at all.
Our response was simple but powerful:
If jobs aren’t available, create job creators.
Through vocational training combined with business, IT, agricultural and life skills, students graduate not as job seekers, but as entrepreneurs. Today, many alumni run tailoring shops, welding businesses, salons and cyber cafés - becoming employers themselves and strengthening their local economy.
The Courses: Skills in demand
The centre began with Dressmaking & Tailoring, reflecting an early commitment to empowering women and girls through practical skills.
Over time, the programme expanded to meet local demand and opportunity. Courses now include:
Dressmaking & Tailoring
Welding & Fabrication
Hair & Beauty
Business & IT
Every student also completes Agribusiness training, ensuring they graduate with both trade skills and the knowledge to cultivate land, manage resources and build resilience.
The Shamba: Sustainability in Action
Sustainability sits at the heart of Nyamache’s model — and the Shamba (farm) is leading the way.
The Shamba provides:
Food for students and staff
Income through surplus produce sales
Hands-on agricultural training
In the greenhouse, tomatoes flourish. In the fields, carrots, cabbages and maize grow. Chickens and guinea fowl have recently been added, strengthening both nutrition and income generation.
Produce feeds the centre first. Surplus is sold locally, generating income that is reinvested into training and facilities — reducing reliance on external funding and strengthening long-term resilience.
In 2025, further support from Bournemouth North Rotary Club helped secure land for the Shamba, ensuring the farm’s long-term future and sustainability.
Lasting Impact
What began with £10,000 in 2005 has grown into a self-sustaining model of education, entrepreneurship and community transformation.
Hundreds of graduates trained
Dozens of small businesses established
Families supported
Local economies strengthened
This is what happens when partnership, trust and long-term vision come together.
And it all started with a Rotary club that believed in building opportunity from the ground up.
Giving opportunity, not charity.
For over twenty years, our mission has been to create platforms for change - opening new paths through education, empowerment, and entrepreneurial skills.
Every project is an opportunity to create lasting change. You can help us:
Fund vocational training courses at Nyamache
Support school lunches at Early Childhood Development Centres
Cover the cost of a community wide football tournament in Kibera
Support a project today: Donate Now or contact us to discuss partnership opportunities.
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