Over the past three years Spirit in Action has supported 33 small businesses in the informal settlement of Korogocho in Nairobi, Kenya. The local coordinators Wambui and Josephine continue to train and mentor the groups, helping them improve their current businesses and expand their enterprises with the SIA $150 grants.
I received these updates on some of the latest business groups there:
Expanding businesses
Amos and Dorcas took their existing grocery business and used the SIA grant to buy at a wholesale level, reducing their costs. Amos reports “I’ve been able to increase my stock and get many more customers. I have also been able to pay school fees and buy food and clothing for my family.” They have two boys, aged 8 and 4. Together the family sells arrow root (also known as taro), tomatoes, onions, and kale.
“Life has changed for the better”
Monicah is the kind of dedicated, smart woman who seems like she will go far in her business! She cooks and sells cashews, mabuyu and coconut. Mabuyu is a Swahili delicacy from Baobab seeds. She also has eggs and simsim (sesame seeds) at her shop.
Wambui reports, “Monicah no longer hawks around but got a place around the area of her house and built a structure. She bought all she said she would buy and has managed to reinvest 20% of the profit into the business. Life has changed for the better. She can now afford school fees, buy textbooks, feed her children well, and attend any medical need.”
Saving and Investing
Patuli buys cakes and mandazi (donuts – yum!) from bakers and resells them. She has been ill in recent months, and even so she feels her life has changed for the better. Patuli was able to join a chama (micro-savings investment group) for the first time and has saved a bit. She is grateful that now her children (aged 11 and 13) can eat three meals a day, like never before.
As you may be beginning to see, most of these small businesses are helping to pay for basic needs. They help parents pay for school fees and rent. They help families stay healthy by enabling them to eat enough food and pay for medicine when necessary.
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