Beyond Training: What Does It Take to Unlock Potential
On 31 August 2026, our ARISE Centre Coordinator and PFP Academy Lead in Kenya, Godwin Odhiambo, attended the World Bank High-Level Dialogue on the Future of Development, co-hosted by the World Bank Group, African Development Bank Group and Islamic Development Bank. The dialogue explored the theme “Delivering Results for More and Better Jobs in a Changing Development Landscape.”
Reflecting on the discussions, Godwin shared an important insight: having the skills to build a livelihood does not always mean having the time, resources or mental space to put those skills into practice. His reflections offer an opportunity to look at the experiences of ARISE Centre graduates and consider what it takes to turn training into lasting opportunities.
Drawing on Professor Eldar Shafir’s work on scarcity and mental bandwidth, Godwin highlighted how everyday pressures can affect people’s ability to make decisions and plan for the future. Shafir explained that having the ability to do something is not the same as having the mental space to do it effectively. Like a computer running several demanding programmes in the background, our minds have limited capacity for processing information and making decisions. When worries about money, food, family responsibilities or other immediate pressures consume that space, less remains for planning, weighing options and making decisions about the future.
Scarcity, therefore, is not only about having too little money. It can also mean a shortage of time, reliable resources, opportunities or the support needed to manage competing responsibilities. When people are constantly responding to urgent demands, planning for the longer term can become difficult, even when they know what they want to achieve and have the skills to get there. This creates a cycle in which immediate pressures narrow attention, short-term decisions become necessary and the consequences can make it even harder to move forward.
This insight has particular relevance to our work at the ARISE Centre, run by PFP Africa Trust on Rusinga Island in Mbita, Homa Bay County. Through PFP Academy, young people gain practical vocational skills and business knowledge that can help them pursue employment or establish their own enterprises. The potential is clear. At the Centre's Annual Open Day on 26 June 2026, 15 registered alumni and 45 trainees managed interactive exhibition booths across five vocational training tracks, demonstrating the skills they had developed.
Yet the transition from a structured training environment to earning a living presents a different set of challenges. A graduate in hairdressing may have the technical ability to serve customers but lack the commercial hairdryer or styling equipment needed to open a salon. Someone trained in fashion and fabric design may be ready to take orders but unable to afford a sewing machine. Others may have the knowledge to start a business but lack the money to purchase stock, fabrics, ingredients or spare parts. These are not necessarily gaps in skill or motivation. They are practical barriers that can prevent people from putting their skills to use.
For some graduates, the pressures extend beyond the cost of setting up a business. Women who carry significant childcare and household responsibilities may find their working hours fragmented, leaving less time to develop an enterprise. Others must navigate limited customer demand, competition from similar businesses and seasonal fluctuations in income. Even routine tasks such as keeping financial records, maintaining equipment or meeting administrative requirements can become difficult when immediate expenses and responsibilities take priority. Understanding these realities helps us look beyond whether someone has completed training to consider the conditions in which they are expected to succeed.
The experiences of ARISE graduates bring this distinction to life. Saline Nyaboke, who trained in Food and Beverage Production, went on to establish a local hotel business that grew to employ four people. Her household income increased from less than KSh 5,000 a month to between KSh 20,000 and KSh 30,000. Her journey demonstrates what vocational skills and enterprise development can make possible. However, running a food business also means managing the daily cost of ingredients, fuel and wages, alongside customer credit and changing input prices. When cash flow becomes tight, maintaining financial records and consistent business procedures can become harder. Building a business is a significant achievement, but sustaining it requires navigating pressures that do not disappear when training ends.
Other graduates show how practical business knowledge can help people respond to these challenges. Monica Omusi, a Beauty Therapy graduate, built a regular customer base of between 15 and 30 clients a day and earned between KSh 10,000 and KSh 20,000 a month. Vincent Otieno used customer relations strategies and financial savings skills acquired at the Centre to establish small businesses in insurance and land transaction services. Their experiences illustrate the value of combining technical training with skills that help people attract customers, manage money and make business decisions. They also remind us that progress depends on more than the ability to perform a trade: people need ways to manage the everyday demands of earning an income and keeping an enterprise going.
The wider alumni findings reinforce this point. According to the ARISE Centre Alumni Report, 79.6% of alumni reported improvements in employment or business outcomes, while average monthly household income increased from KSh 7,798 to KSh 12,027. These are encouraging results, but they also raise an important question: what determines how far a graduate can go after acquiring the necessary skills?
The findings suggest that access to equipment and start-up capital plays a significant role. Among Fashion and Fabric Design graduates, 92% were economically active and 67% were self-employed. In Beauty Therapy and Hairdressing, the reported economic activity rate was 73%, while unemployment stood at 27%. The difference reflects the varying costs of entering different trades. A sewing machine can allow a fashion graduate to begin working from home, while a beauty graduate may need commercial salon space, electrical equipment and a continuing supply of products. The same ambition and technical ability can lead to different outcomes when the resources required to begin earning a living are not equally accessible.
This is why training must be seen as the beginning of a journey rather than its conclusion. During their time at the ARISE Centre, trainees benefit from equipped workshops, solar electricity, learning materials, structured schedules and guidance from instructors. After graduation, they must find ways to secure equipment, purchase materials, pay rent and transport costs, attract customers and manage household expenses. They may also need to obtain medical certificates or insurance cover to access industrial attachments. These responsibilities arrive together, often before an enterprise has established a reliable income.
Continued support can help make this transition more manageable. Shared production spaces, salon facilities and access to machinery could allow graduates to begin working without immediately taking on the full cost of setting up independently. Starter toolkits could help them put their skills into practice, while business coaching and peer support could help them respond to challenges with pricing, cash flow and customer acquisition. Stronger links with potential buyers, including schools and community events, could also create opportunities for graduates to reach customers beyond their immediate surroundings. The support required will differ by trade, which makes it important to understand the specific barriers graduates face rather than assume that one intervention will work for everyone.
These insights also invite us to reflect on how we design our programmes. Could training schedules better accommodate caring responsibilities? Would accessible childcare help young mothers participate more fully? Could business literacy, financial management and basic computer skills be integrated more closely into vocational courses? As graduates prepare for industrial attachments, could we provide more assistance with administrative requirements, including bank insurance and medical certificates? We could also explore starter equipment for graduates and greater use of the Centre's existing workshops and solar power to support early-stage production.
Our approach to post-graduation support could become more tailored, too. Fashion graduates may benefit most from access to a basic sewing machine, business coaching and connections to bulk orders. Beauty Therapy and Hairdressing graduates may need shared salon facilities, equipment kits or access to start-up finance before they can establish themselves. Follow-up coaching at three- to six-month intervals could help us understand what is working, identify emerging obstacles and respond before small problems threaten an enterprise. These are opportunities for PFP to explore, informed by the experiences of trainees and graduates.
The alumni findings provide valuable insight into what happens after training, from employment and self-employment to changes in household income. Continuing to build on this evidence can help us understand not only how graduates are progressing, but also where they encounter barriers and what support could help them move forward. By looking at outcomes across different vocational tracks and following graduates' experiences over time, we can better identify what enables them to sustain their enterprises, increase their incomes and create employment opportunities for others.
Ultimately, the lesson from the conference is not that training matters less. It is that skills alone cannot remove every barrier standing between a person and a stronger future. People bring talent, knowledge, ambition and initiative to their work, but they also operate within circumstances that shape the choices available to them. If we want to unlock potential, we must pay attention to both.
To us, this means continuing to equip people with skills while learning how to walk alongside them as they put those skills into practice. Sometimes that means helping someone access a tool, connect with a market or navigate an administrative hurdle. At other times, it means listening carefully enough to understand why progress has become difficult and adapting our support accordingly. Lasting change is not achieved simply by opening the door to opportunity. It also means helping people overcome the barriers that stand in their way, so that the skills they have gained can become the foundation for stronger, more sustainable futures.
Your support can help us equip people with the skills, resources and opportunities to build stronger, more sustainable futures. Donate to Arise Centre to help more people turn their potential into lasting opportunities.
