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If you've been thinking about applying to the Youth Digital Skills & Vocational Training Programme but aren't sure where to start, this guide walks through the entire process from eligibility to your first day of orientation. The programme is open to Mwiki residents aged 18 to 35, and new cohorts open periodically throughout the year.
Step 1: Check Your Eligibility
The core eligibility criteria are straightforward: you should be between 18 and 35 years old, and a resident of Mwiki Sub-Location or its immediate surrounding areas. You don't need a specific academic qualification to apply — the programme is designed to be accessible to young people at different educational levels, from those who completed secondary school to those who didn't finish for various reasons.
Step 2: Watch for Cohort Announcements
New cohort intakes are announced on our Events page, our Facebook and Instagram pages @onevisioncbo, and often through community barazas and posters around Mwiki. Announcements typically include the application window dates, the vocational tracks available for that specific cohort, and where to submit your application in person.
Step 3: Submit Your Application
Applications are simple by design — we ask for basic personal details, your area of residence within Mwiki, and a short note on which track interests you and why. There is no complicated written test at this stage; the goal is to understand your interest and availability, not to filter people out on paper qualifications.
Step 4: Attend the Orientation Day
Accepted applicants are invited to an orientation day, usually held at the Mwiki Community Centre. This is where you'll meet your cohort, your trainers and mentors, get an overview of the full training schedule, and finalise your track choice if you haven't already. Orientation days are also a good opportunity to ask any remaining questions about time commitment, schedule, and what materials (if any) you'll need to bring.
Step 5: Show Up and Show Up Consistently
The single biggest factor in how much a trainee gets out of the programme is simple attendance and participation. Skills build week on week, and missing sessions makes it harder to catch up. Trainees who attend consistently and engage actively with mentors are, unsurprisingly, the ones most likely to walk away with a real skill and a real income path.
What Happens If You Miss the Application Window
Cohort intakes run periodically rather than continuously, and it's common for interested young people to hear about the programme after a specific application window has already closed. If this happens to you, the best step is still to reach out directly — we maintain a waiting list of interested applicants so you can be notified the moment the next cohort's applications open, rather than having to catch the announcement by chance.
In the meantime, we sometimes run shorter introductory sessions or taster workshops between full cohorts, which can be a useful way to get a feel for a specific track — digital or vocational — before committing to a full application in the next intake.
What Previous Applicants Wish They'd Known Beforehand
Feedback from past cohorts consistently highlights a few things new applicants wish they'd understood earlier — that the programme requires genuine time commitment rather than being a passive credential, that early weeks can feel slower and more foundational before the more exciting specialised content begins, and that asking questions early, rather than staying quiet when confused, makes a significant difference to how much a trainee ultimately gets from the experience.
We now share this feedback directly during orientation day, hoping to set new trainees up with realistic expectations from day one rather than letting them discover these lessons the hard way partway through.
A Final Word of Encouragement
If you've been putting off applying out of uncertainty about whether you're 'ready enough,' know that the programme is specifically designed for people starting from very different points, including complete beginners. The only real prerequisite is genuine willingness to show up and put in consistent effort — everything else can be built during the training itself.
Finally, don't underestimate the value of simply talking to someone who has already been through the programme before you apply. Ask around your own networks in Mwiki — chances are you already know someone, or know someone who knows someone, who has completed a previous cohort, and their honest, firsthand account of the experience will likely tell you more about whether this programme is right for you than any guide, including this one, ever could.
Ready to apply, or still have questions? Call us on +254 798 200890, email info@onevisioncbo.site, or visit us at the Mwiki Community Centre. We'd love to see you at the next orientation day. Whichever track ultimately interests you most, treat this guide as a starting point rather than the final word — the surest way to get accurate, current details is a direct conversation with our team, who can walk you through exactly what the next intake looks like.