Kiambu

Today was my last day in Kenya. These trips have been going by so fast! I have another wonderful overnight flight in which I will probably get 1 hour of sleep and look absolutely terrifying tomorrow. Can’t wait! Haha.

So today I saw a project that I really fell in love with. I met up with a woman by the name of Susan, a former banker who is the director of the Kiambu project for village women. This project gives women business training so that they can efficiently budget for their household as well as earn an income and run a business. It was started in 2003, and has since then helped about 1,200 women. Before I start talking about this project there is something that is important to understand. Life for women in Kenya, in Africa in general actually, is very hard. This may be a generalization to some, but usually in the villages the man/husband does not do any work and the woman/wife is left to be the breadwinner. I have seen it with my own eyes… men are sitting around doing absolutely nothing, and women are either in the markets selling things or seen carrying heavy loads of goods on their heads. This isn’t to say absolutely no men work in Kenya, but like I said, in general this is the case.

So you have the woman who is struggling to make a buck, provide for their family, and put the children through school, which is often not a priority for the husband. The husband usually does not see the point in spending money to send his daughters to school, and since the woman is thought of as less of a person, whose opinion does not really matter, the girls don’t go to school beyond primary. Basically if these women ever want to see a better life for themselves, or their children, that responsibility rests solely on them.

Now…Kiambu enters the scene. Susan has recognized these issues among the women of Kenya and has decided to do something about it. University students studying business volunteer their time to teach these women, who are anywhere from 25-60, about business. Some things that are covered: startup capital, time management, efficiency and record keeping, inventory, marketing, micro finance, budgeting, saving, and even stress management since many of these women are living in very stressful situations. The integration of University students and village women is so unique and really works. Many of these women are illiterate so the youthful teaching style of the University students really helps the women remember the lessons. Each lesson is followed by a skit that covers the topic of the day. I had the pleasure of attending a class and watching a skit on marketing!

During a break of the class I got to talk with the women. Some of them are very bright!! They were very curious as to what I was doing there and weren’t shy to ask questions. They were very interested to know what “Obama Land” was like. I tried to paint a picture of democracy for them; a land where government, despite its flaws, is mainly there for the people, and if it isn’t it will surely hear about it. I don’t want to trash the Kenyan government because after all I am not a citizen and don’t know every detail of what goes on, but I just can’t help but wonder where the government is. The people in Kenya don’t even have water for God sakes. Lack of water has become a grave problem across the Country. It is truly amazing the lack of support anyone receives from the government; voices are not heard.

They also wanted to know what kind of programs Foundation SCA was interested and how they could help! I told the ones that expressed an interest in volunteering that I would remember they offered!

Every woman gets a mentor after they complete the program. These mentors meet with the women every week for 6 months. They not only talk about how the business is going, but how they are managing family and life in general.

I know this post is becoming terribly long but just one last thing I want to talk about. The success stories!!! One woman in particular has an amazing story I want to share the condensed version…

Meet Naomi. Naomi wasn’t allowed by her husband to leave the village and partake in business activities. She somehow managed to enroll in the program in 2004 with her husband’s permission and immediately gained value from what she learned. She bought her own cow when she had enough money. Her husband had his cows, but she wanted her own. Because she was illiterate she made sure that she sold her milk to the local dairy store because they would write down the amounts and money owed on a paper. She would make her son confirm that they had written the correct amounts and weren’t ripping her off. This is how she was able to keep records despite her illiteracy.

Flash forward to 2009 and Naomi now has 3 cows, water, a truck, no dirt floor, electricity, a plot of land in her name, and the respect of her husband. She has even gained the income to send her youngest daughter who is 15 to private school.