Start With Skills
Nawai Village, Mallawi District, Minya Governorate, Egypt | Start With Skills - Naway Shifters | 2025
Ahlan!
We are the Naway Shifters, a determined youth group working to combat unemployment and open doors for our friends and us in the community. In 2025, we launched Start With Skills, a campaign addressing the lack of practical skills that prevents young people like us from competing in the modern labour market. We want to raise awareness about the importance of skill development, connect young people with training opportunities and employers, and help families understand that investing in skills is investing in the future.
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15 to 24 years old
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The Right-Sized Problem
Too many young people in our village lack the practical skills needed for today's labor market due to absent training in schools, limited learning opportunities outside formal education, and low awareness among families about the critical importance of skill development for employment.
What We Did
Over six months, we combined awareness sessions, skills training, employment forums, and creative activities to help youth prepare for the labour market and build confidence in their abilities.
Offline Impact
Awareness Sessions for Children, Youth, and Parents Conducted educational workshops helping families recognize that skills development is essential for success in today's world.
Door-to-Door Outreach Reached households across the village to ensure the campaign message reached every family.
Skills Forum and Experience-Sharing Organized forums where young people learned directly from experts and successful peers about labor market requirements.
Employment Forum Hosted a major forum that received over 200 applicants and connected young people with potential employers and real job opportunities.
Mock Job Interviews Conducted simulation interviews to help youth practice and build practical life skills and confidence.
Fun Day for Children Introduced skill-building concepts to children through interactive, engaging activities.
Competitions and Interactive Activities Created spaces for children and youth to discover their talents and potential.
Educational Materials Distributed 120 illustrated storybooks encouraging children to learn and develop essential skills, and installed campaign banners throughout the community.
Short Awareness Film Produced a movie as an educational tool to deepen understanding and promote sustained awareness.
Online & Media Impact
Social Media Campaign Created posts, stories, awareness videos, short reels, and digital discussions using the campaign hashtag to reach the largest possible audience.
Digital Documentation Documented every activity, building a strong online presence that spread the message beyond the village.
Television and Radio Coverage Campaign representatives appeared on local TV and community radio to discuss the importance of equipping youth with essential skills for better opportunities.n.
Campaign Impact
Connected over 200 young people with potential employers through the Employment Forum.
Empowered youth with CV writing, interview preparation, and practical skills training.
Inspired children to start learning new skills early, from programming to graphic design.
Our most powerful story came from Sayed, a boy who worked on a farm cutting plants with sharp tools to help his family. One day, the tool slipped and struck his hand so deeply he nearly lost it. After weeks of treatment, he was left with a long scar.
"Skills are the key to this generation, and they are not only for university students."
~ A mother
"My son didn't get a high score in secondary school, and we all thought that was the end for him. But he didn't give up. He worked on himself and proved to all of us that a certificate isn't everything. I'm proud of my son."
~ Mohamed’s Mother
"I want to learn soft skills to manage my study time better. I'm also interested in programming and English so I can find a good job when I grow up."
~ Aisha, a first-year preparatory student
Follow our journey:
📍 Facebook: Naway Shifters
This story was lovingly curated by the SHIFT team with the help of Claude (Anthropic) based on submitted source materials from our Fun Adults and Shifters.
