Mathews Ochieng Msumba, famously known as 'Jawaya' operates OK Garage in Kisumu. The garage is famous for all its motor vehicle services and has produced various apprentice trainees. OK garage was identified by Pamoja as an industry player in the initial phases of the S4J project to provide Motor Vehicle Mechanic trainees with attachment. The garage has had a similar arrangement of apprenticeship training with Undugu Society, among other partners. When Pamoja reached out to the garage in September 2021, we were not sure whether our concept of apprenticeship would sail through given that other development partners pay the industry players for every trainee attached, and this is not the case with our model. However, out of the usual practice of supporting the vulnerable and contributing to the empowerment of youth in Kisumu, the garage agreed to our concept." Previously, we hired spray painting machine to attend to our customer needs. The daily cost of hiring minus fuel and painter ranges between 800 – 1000 shillings. Now we don’t spend on hiring machine. In fact, we now lend out our machine to other neighbors at a cost when we do not have spray paint work. The machine brings money whether we have spray panting work or not. Even with the past arrangement with other partners, we have not had such assets given to us. We sincerely appreciate this gesture and commit to providing opportunities for the trainees to practice here” Says Jawaya."
OK Garage provided attachment opportunities to 5 MVM trainees for the January–April 2022 cohort, and another 5 trainees are currently undergoing their internship at the garage. An opportunity that Jawaya describes as an avenue to give back to society and a tradition they are not letting go any time soon."
In our new model of supporting a select number of industry players as they provide apprenticeships, Ok Garage was recently provided with a new heavy-duty spray painting machine in June 2022. The need for this machine was identified through our regular visits and follow-up with attached trainees and validated through Jawaya and team consent. \"As a recommendation, I urge that you consider an arrangement where you bring us fresh or new trainees.\" We train them here and you register them for NITA grade test III exams. I believe this would be the best approach for fast learners and will provide much needed practical skills from the onset."