Like many other youths, Vivien never imagined herself working in agriculture or even cultivating her own food. To her, it was for those who were less successful in life and were short of options. Being the daughter of a dental surgeon, she spent her school holidays observing and her father pulling out people’s teeth at his clinic as they yelled in pain. When she asked him why they cried, he said it was necessary for them to get better. Through these experiences, she developed an interest in becoming a caregiver and pursued a diploma in social work.

After her graduation, Vivien has been working as a counsellor at a local hospital in Kisumu. To supplement her income from social work, she started farming and she has been doing so for almost a year now. She keeps poultry, rabbits and goats. She also supplies vegetables to the local schools and markets within her neighbourhoods in Kisumu. Her business is less than a year old but she says it’s doing well. She has big dreams for it, dreams to become the leading supplier of vegetables and animal products. To this effect, she’s currently working on a business proposal, which she hopes will get funds to implement.

Like many other youths, Vivien never imagined herself working in agriculture or even cultivating her own food. To her, it was for those who were less successful in life and were short of options. Being the daughter of a dental surgeon, she spent her school holidays observing and her father pulling out people’s teeth at his clinic as they yelled in pain. When she asked him why they cried, he said it was necessary for them to get better. Through these experiences, she developed an interest in becoming a caregiver and pursued a diploma in social work.

After her graduation, Vivien has been working as a counsellor at a local hospital in Kisumu. To supplement her income from social work, she started farming and she has been doing so for almost a year now. She keeps poultry, rabbits and goats. She also supplies vegetables to the local schools and markets within her neighbourhoods in Kisumu. Her business is less than a year old but she says it’s doing well. She has big dreams for it, dreams to become the leading supplier of vegetables and animal products. To this effect, she’s currently working on a business proposal, which she hopes will get funds to implement.

As a social worker, she counsels at a local health centre where she usually works with the HIV infected and affected people in her community – giving them a shoulder to lean on in a society full of stigma and giving them reason to keep going in the face of the many challenges they face.

Vivien practices farming as an alternative income source, and believes that agri-business is outrunning the traditional white-collar employment as a means of generating income for the youth. It has the most opportunities and yet the least exploited.

The sector is open to all people regardless their background – all they need is the right attitude. Vivien draws her inspiration from her uncle who owns a poultry farm. She assists him in ensuring that his chicks are well taken care of and grow into healthy chicken for his customers – it is the same tactics she learns here that she has used on her own farm. Vivien says that she has established a rapport with her chickens that they actually communicate; she knows when they are sick, hungry, happy and her pastime has become talking to them.

Away from all these, Vivien likes listening to music, watching movies and making new friends. She draws her inspiration from the quote; ‘if you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it'. She is now ready to unleash her potential and climb the heights. She hopes as a YPARD mentee, she will figure out how to achieve her life’s purpose.