A working nation is judged by various standards, including quality education. It is quite unfortunate that 60 years post-independence, the condition of the education sector is wanting and not fortified. There exists a huge gap between the standards and quality we aspire to achieve and where we currently are. As a team, we decided to focus on socioeconomic issues that are hindering the realization of quality education. The socioeconomic issues we narrowed down to were mental health, financial literacy, teenage pregnancy, and drug abuse. Our target area was Makongeni.

Through SAYDS, we were able to identify the relevant stakeholders to our social problem. This included all necessary and relevant stakeholders, from those with the biggest impact to those with minute contributions, both positive and negative. The team engaged the area youths in several workshops to better understand the social problem and collaboratively come up with possible solutions. These workshops were a learning experience not just for the youth but for the team as well. Thanks to this program, we are also well equipped on policy matters. We established mechanisms to ensure the continuity of our project even after the life of the program.