Kenya reflections 4: Kithi family

Naomi and her husband struggled (as so many do in Utange) to find regular work. 

 

 I provided the materials to help this family to set up a shop. I am generally reluctant to set up shops, but Susan recommended this as a possible business for this family of siz.

 

 

When I visited the family I found that this business is doing well and providing sufficient income to feed the family (Kazungu, .Baraka, Kadzo and Amani).

 

Susan and I discussed how we can help the business to grow. Naomi does a good trade with the local school children, so a popcorn machine might be a good addition.

Will made a new friend in one of the neighbourhood children, who was fascinated by his watch! 

 

Kenya reflections 3: Sidi and family

Visiting Sidi was possibly the most moving experience of my time in Kenya. She is the lady who is a widow with three sons; she also lives with epilepsy and (a reflection of the dire straits she was in) has one hand which she can no longer use, having fallen into a fire while suffering an epileptic fit. She was unable to afford treatment for it. In fact, I learnt while talking to her that the doctor who eventually saw her wanted to perform an amputation.

 
Sid's three sons are a complete credit to her. All are bright, hard working and "disciplined" (a description given by so many of their teachers). Her oldest son, Mwando, is at Shimo la Tewa secondary school. This is a "national" school, one of the highest type of schools in Kenya, and his place there was made possible through the personal intervention of Jane, the head teacher, who contacted a friend at the school, and through two sponsors who pay his school fees. Secondary education in Kenya is not free. He is achieving grades of A-.Sidi's second son, Saidi, is even brighter than his older brother (a poor test result for him is a score of 490 out of 500). The youngest son, Idd, is also a capable student.

 
The family live in a tiny mud hut. Their only furniture is a bed frame (which they all share) and a wooden bench (at which the boys study). When I heard about the family, the two older boys were selling water after school each day to earn enough money to buy some food.

 
I paid for the setting up of a boda boda business (motorcycle taxi) for the family, along with the necessary insurance. Susan helped Sidi to set up a bank account and taught her how to deposit her income. Another teacher found a rider for the bike. This rider pays Sidi a set amount each week from his takings. The remainder of the money he keeps and uses to buy fuel. A third teacher has mentored Sidi in budgeting and planning purchases.

 
We visited Sidi at her home. She was proud to show me the sack of flour she has - "My family now eats twice each day, which we have never been able to do before." She asked me to look round her hut, "So that when you return you will see the improvements I will make." I noticed the hole in the roof. The lack of furniture (Sidi's first planned purchase is to be a table for her boys to do their homework at). I also noted the vast numbers of books which the boys have found and from which they study.

 
I was told that Saidi studies by kerosene lamp each evening till midnight, and rises at 5am to study before going to school - so I bought the family a solar lamp. Saidi's face when I told him what I was intending to do was pure delight.

 
Sidi has not settled for the income from the boda boda business. She has started growing vegetables outside her home. She buys a few extra vegetables every week and sells them to her neighbours. And she has begun to collect plastic water bottles which she sells for recycling. Susan told me that Sidi now has hope again - and this has enabled her to do more to help her family.

Kenya reflections 2: Sewing group

The first business I set up at Utange Primary came about in response to the needs of the school as well as those of the parents. I mentioned in my last post that the school is in a very poor area. As such, many families really struggle to afford school uniform for their children and as a result I noticed on my first visit (two years ago) that many pupils were wearing incomplete or very torn uniforms.

Susan suggested that I fund a business for a group of women so that they could make school uniforms, which they would be able to do more cheaply than the local shops. "Our pupils will look smarter and the families will have an income," she told me.

So this business was established 18 months ago.

Four women employed a tailor to teach them to make the uniforms (as they had no sewing expertise prior to this).

Through generous donations I was able to sponsor uniforms for around 15 children. On this trip I took out sponsorship, thanks to two large donations, for over a hundred more children. This will be used to provide both uniforms and school shoes.

In my visit this time, I immediately noticed how much better dressed the pupils are now (as the photos testify). Jane told me that this has had a large impact on the mood of the school - pupils have a new sense of self-worth. There are still a few pupils who will benefit from new uniforms,but by no means as many as there were two years ago.

The sewing group is doing very well and is branching out. They have been able to add another lady to their group. They are now making a wider range of items - traditional dresses, bed linen and table mats, for example. I took out the materials and patterns for them to begin to make washable sanitary towels to sell in the village and to the school (who provide sanitary protection for the girls, so that they do not miss school when they are menstruating).I also took out two of my bags, which the ladies were keen to copy. Finally, the group have successfully bid for the contracts to make school uniform for two other local schools.

It was such a delight to meet with these ladies and to see how proud they are of what they are doing. They are now acting as mentors for the more recent business start-ups.

Kenya reflections 3: Sidi and family

Kenya reflections 3: Sidi and family

Visiting Sidi was possibly the most moving experience of my time in Kenya. She is the lady who is a widow with three sons; she also lives with epilepsy and (a reflection of the dire straits she was in) has one hand which she can no longer use, having fallen into a fire while suffering an epileptic fit. She was unable to afford treatment for it. In fact, I learnt while talking to her that the doctor who eventually saw her wanted to perform an amputation.

 

Sid's three sons are a complete credit to her. All are bright, hard working and "disciplined" (a description given by so many of their teachers). Her oldest son, Mwando, is at Shimo la Tewa secondary school. This is a "national" school, one of the highest tier, and his place there was made possible through the personal intervention of Jane, the head teacher, who contacted a friend at the school, and through two sponsors who pay his school fees. Secondary education in Kenya is not free. Her second son, Saidi, is even brighter than his older brother (a poor test result for him is a score of 490 out of 500). The youngest son, Idd, is also a capable student.

 

The family live in a tiny mud hut. Their only furniture is a bed frame (which they all share) and a wooden bench (at which the boys study). When I heard about the family, the two older boys were selling water after school each day to earn enough money to buy some food.

 

I paid for the setting up of a boda boda business (motorcycle taxi) for the family, along with the necessary insurance. Susan helped Sidi to set up a bank account and taught her how to deposit her income. Another teacher found a rider for the bike. This rider pays Sidi a set amount each week from his takings. The remainder of the money he keeps and uses to buy fuel. A third teacher has mentored Sidi in budgeting and planning purchases.

 

We visited Sidi at her home. She was proud to show me the sack of flour she has - "My family now eats twice each day, which we have never been able to do before." She asked me to look round her hut, "So that when you return you will see the improvements I will make." I noticed the hole in the roof. The lack of furniture (Sidi's first planned purchase is to be a table for her boys to do their homework at). I also noted the vast numbers of books which the boys have found and from which they study.

 

I was told that Saidi studies by kerosene lamp each evening till midnight, and rises at 5am to study before going to school - so I bought the family a solar lamp. Saidi's face when I told him what I was intending to do was pure delight.

 

Sidi has not settled for the income from the boda boda business. She has started growing vegetables outside her home. She buys a few extra vegetables every week and sells them to her neighbours. And she has begun to collect plastic water bottles which she sells for recycling. Susan told me that Sidi now has hope again - and this has enabled her to do more to help her family.

 

Kenya reflections 1

I returned just over a week ago from two weeks in Kenya, during which time I was able to catch up on developments in Utange. In a series of posts I will reflect on aspects of this.
My stay started with a trip to Utange Primary School. This is a state school in a bush village. It has around 1000 pupils, coming from mainly disadvantaged homes.

18 months ago I began to fund mothers of children at the school to set up small businesses, funded by half of the proceeds from my sales of items made from recycled denim. The other half of the proceeds goes towards the building of a new school for disabled children. The process of setting up the small businesses has been facilitated by a number of the staff, but Susan (the computing teacher) spearheads the initiative.
Susan is an amazing lady. She is married, with a husband who works in a bank. He has been posted in Voi (a journey of over two hours away) for the past five years. The couple have four children - a son who is studying to become a doctor, a daughter boarding at secondary school and twin daughters who are three. As well as coping with this and her teaching job, Susan is also the volunteer coordinator at the Kenya Girl Guides Shanzu Trasitional Workshop, where disabled girls are taught sewing skills and prepared to earn their own incomes.
Susan has established a process by which the school is able to nominate women for business funding from Make A Difference. First, teachers carry out a series of home visits to those homes which they identify as in extreme need. Susan explained that these home visits form part of normal school routine. They enable the staff, she says, to get a true picture of the home situation. They also allow for assessment of the ability of a mother to sustain a business and to use its income appropriately to support her family.

Once the teachers are satisfied that this family would benefit from support to set up a business, they talk to the woman about the type of business they feel will work for them. A challenge is to encourage them to think big and to think beyond setting up a shop. Susan then helps the mother to draw up a budget, with all costs itemised (and prices checked by Susan and other teachers). This is then submitted to the charity along with photos of the woman and her family and information about them. Once we have sufficient money, this is then sent out to Susan. She purchases the equipment, photographs its presentation to the family and sends me the photos and copies of the receipts.
The process does not end there. While Susan helps the women to set up and begin to use their own bank accounts, other staff support her with budgeting and practical issues such as safe storage of resources. The head teacher, Jane, and these other staff, regularly check on the progress of the business. If income is down, Jane is likely to ask why, and what is going to be done to improve the situation.

These dedicated teachers have my utmost respect and admiration.

More updates

Susan, my contact in Kenya, is doing sterling work.
A recent email tells me about progress to date and reveals so much about her vision.
She writes:
 "The sewing ladies are doing well , I have assigned them to help in mentoring the two ladies (Munyazi and Naomi) on record keeping , saving the profits and setting the price of commodities depending on changes of goods in the market. They are now my role models.
I also told them to support each other i.e buy goods and services from each other as a way of promoting our group.

Mrs Bembaji is fairing on well, her boda boda business is doing well ,its income is ksh 2,000/= per week, she now has ksh 20,000/= in her bank account. She can now go to the bank alone and deposit money something that she had not done in her life, she feels empowered with knowledge and financially. her sons are now concentrating on studies and no longer go out to sell water as they used to do in the past to feed their families. they look clean ,healthy and well kept.

The sewing ladies are now looking for order to stitch clothes for people with family functions who want to dress in clothes that look similar .this has boosted them over the school holidays and it has also kept them busy."

There is so much to love in this.
The fact that the first group of ladies are now being used as "role models".
The initiative in using these ladies to mentor the newest business set-ups.
Susan's encouragement of all of these ladies to use each other for goods and services - another way of supporting each other.
The fact that she has enabled Mrs Bembaji (who set up the first boda boda business) to run her own finances, and that Susan can appreciate the change in Mrs Bembaji in being able to manage her own finances.
The fact that the sewing ladies are constantly looking for new business opportunities and doing so increasingly independently.

This is all so good.

Poverty to potential

The latest business to be set up belongs to the Mwambire family.

.They live in Barawa village in Utange and have 10 children. Mrs Mwambire is currently pregnant again. 

 Kache is 39 years old and  married to Erick  who is 48yrs old.  Kache is a house wife while Erick is a casual laborer. They have ten children"

Emmanuel is 21 yrs old and a casual laborer

Pendo is 19 and at secondary school.

Tom (17), Davis (14), Gabriel ((12) and Musa (9) are all at Utange Primary school.

Hussein (7), Mercy (5) and Katuma (4) are old enough to be at school but have never attended school.  

Polyne, who is one, is currently the youngest child.

When Susan asked the parents about a business idea .they suggested we buy for them a stone cutting machine for cutting stones at the quarry, a generatorand a starter stock of fuel.  All this will cost less than £500.

Susan has already arranged to meet Mrs. Mwambire on Monday at school together with the headteacher. because her situation is "pathetic".  Susan hopes that she and the head teacher will be able to advise her well. They want Hussein, Mercy and Katuma to join Utange primary next term. 

I have agreed to provide funding for the business and also to buy uniform and shoes for the younger children so that they can start school. 

This is how we change lives, on family at a time.

Star Wars bag

These bags with embroidered panels are always popular.  I love the slogan on this one.

Star Wars fans - get it quickly; it is a one off!

Reversible dog bandanas

Along with the baby bandanas shown in an earlier post, a new item at this year's sales will be dog bandanas.  These are, like the baby bandanas, lined with fun cottons and are reversible.  Unlike the baby bandanas they have no fastening - instead they cleverly slip over a dog's collar.  I have made them in four different sizes.  Here is Duke modelling the medium size.

Kennedy bag

This new design is my own adaptation of the Kennedy bag which can be downloaded for free from Sew Sweetness.
I had to adapt the pattern because few pairs of jeans provide enough fabric for the sides of the bag.  Instead of cutting it in one piece I therefore pieced it from four rectangles - which also allowed me to use pockets.  I omitted the straps - having cut them out, they just didn't look right - but loved the little corner features.  This is a sizeable messenger-style bag which I hope will sell well.