She is a 29-year-old with an elegant smile and whose concern for neglected women and youth affairs popularizes her within Kilifi county and beyond.
After campus, she hoped to source employment, which was not forthcoming. Having acquired a decent education at the University of Nairobi, a BCOM (Bachelor of Commerce) majoring in accounts, she had to adapt, adjust and tumultuously come to terms with the naked realities life had to throw at her. That a job was not easy to source. Presently, she signs off as the founder of Living Up Kenya. In an exclusive interview with Coast Woman Magazine, Rehema Madzumba reveals her mission to empower women and youths to invest in their own futures.
"I am a 25 year old, young woman with roots from Kanamai, Kilifi county. Brought up in a middle income family, I am the firstborn in a family of four siblings where education and good morals we're a serious part of our upbringing," said Rehema.
Having graduated with a BCOM (Bachelor of Commerce, accounting option) she had to get accustomed to staying home for two years after completing her course. She was still job hunting and that wasn't an option for her hence her perception of life after school changed. Her perception had quickly been countered by the reality that she couldn't rely on finding employment.
"I thought of different possibilities and it is at this time that it dawned on me that the outside world had very little to do with my level of education but my social orientation, creativity and aggressiveness is what would save me," intimated Rehema.
With the outside world exposure, Rehema used what she learnt during her stint in varsity to equip Kilifi youth and women with basic finance education to bolster them in business management. This with an aim also, to make the targeted persons fully self dependent with the ventures they run for livelihood.
"Living up Kenya was hence born as the signature under which exploits would follow despite the job market being poor. Under this company, we address the challenges faced by the youths and women of Coastal Kenya and more so Kilifi county in their everyday lives," said Rehema.
"These challenges are but not limited to; unemployment, lack of sufficient civic education, drug abuse, unequal marriages and radicalization." said Rehema with glamour and zeal, to advocate the aforementioned through her company.
Rehema is enthusiastic about charity. A philanthropist and also a mentor who is passionate about personal finance and educating people about it's importance in self growth.
Citing retrospective researches, it is evident how high levels of dependency of youths and women in the Coastal region are. Youth for instance need to access vocational schools to gain skills that could be turned into a thriving entrepreneurial venture. To this end, Living Up Kenya saw it a compelling force to set it's objectives in living up to it's institutionalization.
Living Up Kenya was this established to eliminate dependency mentality from Coastal youths and women, equip youths with skills to help them better their lives, lead as an example to example the youths of Kilifi county that anything is possible. Furthermore, these were the major objectives that Living Up Kenya intended to implement in it's push to liberate young adults and women on matters finance.
Through her company, Rehema successfully managed to coach 24 women on basic financial management at the Kilifi stage market for three years. years mentored women are now independently running their businesses and fully liberated from dependency.
" Successfully, we organised and held a 'Women in business forum' at Bofa Beach Resort in May 2017 which attracted 30 businesswomen in Kilifi. This is an ongoing movement where we sharpen women's soft skills in running thriving enterprises," said Rehema.
Consequently, Living Up Kenya held the Kilifi Youth Summit at Titanic rooftop in July 2017, a forum which brought together 220 youths from the area. This resulted to most of them changing their perception and starting small scale businesses - a fact which was displayed in the 2018 forum listed below.
"On demand by Mombasa youth, Living Up Kenya then organized the Mombasa youth summit at Swahili Pot Hub on September 2017, a forum which was attended by around 400 young persons from Kilifi, Kwale and Mombasa county," explained Rehema.
In running their conferences and meetings, the organization liaises with foreign technocrats who give speeches during the forums that Living Up Kenya plans for it's targeted youth around Kilifi county, Mombasa, Kwale and beyond.
" The Kilifi Youth Summit series moreover got repeated in January 2018. We brought in a young Kenyan speaker who is based in the United States and this event was a great success," said Rehema with satisfaction.
The C.E.O Living Up Kenya has given talks in numerous forums around Kilifi and Mombasa counties to youth and women groups in pursuit of changing the dominant mentality of people living in perception and blanketing the reality.
To expand the scope of her knowledge and in a bid to network, Rehema collaborates with other organizations related to the type of issues her company deals with. This collaborations have helped in exposing her to new opportunities that would place the founder in an elaborate place to assist youths and women across Kenya's Coastal region.
"Over the last two years, I have also worked with Gapeka Children's Hope Centre (G.C.H.C ) in the socio-economic empowerment programs where I doubled up as fundraising manager. Gapeka is a non-governmental organization dealing with children issues, situated in Kilifi county.
Living Up Kenya was founded in 2017 and has consistently been working closely with relevant authorities to put on board pertinent issues affecting young adults and women in managing their finances, planning and liberating themselves from social distress and poverty- which is crucial an issue especially within remote areas of Kilifi, Conyi, Chumani, Roka mentioning just but a few.
In March 2019,she scooped an award for 'youth value award' by I Change Nation, which is an organization based in the United States of America. Living Up Kenya sources funds to sustain and plan it's organizational activities, tumultuously meeting goals for it's establishment through her, her husband and few friends that support her course to the Coastal society.
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