The inaugural Health Village, spearheaded by Pastor Dorcas Rigathi, the spouse of the Deputy President, is taking shape in Ngorano, Nyeri County.
The Health Village will encompass a rehabilitation center, a healthcare facility, a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) center, and agribusiness prospects tailored for the youth.
The first group of individuals undergoing rehabilitation as part of her Boy-child program has already moved to the facility following the completion of a three-month rehabilitation program in Timau, Meru County.
“We are in the early stages of establishing a rehabilitation health village, drawing from the best practices worldwide; an initiative that will encompass sporting facilities, farming projects, a digital hub, health services, boarding facilities, vocational training, offering a holistic approach to rehabilitation,” she said.
During her visit to the facility, Pastor Dorcas expressed that the Village project would play a pivotal role in reshaping the lives of young men who had been entangled in drug and substance abuse.
“When you leave here what I want to see are stable families. I want to see you prosper and have a better living and economically empowered,” she told the young men.
In July of this year, Pastor Dorcas embarked on a tour to Israel to gain insights into best practices related to the health village concept. Throughout the tour, she visited five health villages in Israel that have been successful in rehabilitating the youth.
As part of a similar initiative in Kenya, Pastor Dorcas is actively involved in securing employment opportunities for the young men, both domestically and internationally. She urged the youth to undergo a mindset transformation during the rehabilitation process, aiming to rehabilitate 12,000 youth across the country this year.
“You are the ambassadors of my work, and I want you to change your mindset, those seeking job placements are working towards that, those who want to go back to school will also work on that,” she said.
Within the Health Village, the youth are actively involved in construction activities and are undergoing skill development through vocational training.
Pastor Dorcas has undertaken visits to numerous abandoned vocational training facilities to evaluate their status, with a plan to revitalize many of them for the benefit of the youth.
She has been a leading advocate, encouraging the youth to embrace technical and vocational training, emphasizing that it will empower them for self-employment and facilitate job creation.
