Family Economic Empowerment in the Kenyan Slums

One of Macheo’s many programs is Family Economic Empowerment (FEE). The goal of this intervention is to offer families the capacity to become self-sufficient by providing beneficiaries with basic business skills, budgeting and financial skills, and seed capital for starting a small business. FEE has proven that families, especially women who have gained financial independence, are able to live more fulfilling lives, lift their families out of poverty, and free themselves from other social challenges, like gender-based violence. With your funds Macheo helped Jemimah and her four children create a sustaining and independant life.

Success Story 

 “My children were often sent home from school because I could not afford to pay their fees,” Jemimah explains. She didn’t want to depend on her husband for the money she needed to send them to school any longer. “I decided to move out and depend on myself. I was so tired of being beaten, being humiliated, in front of my children.” Her husband took a second wife, abandoning Jemimah and their four children, yet, Jemimah was determined to see her four children educated, especially her two daughters. However, Jemimah found paying school fees impossible on her own. 

 Jemimah is a 28-year-old single mother of four children referred to FEE for multiple survival needs. At the time of referral, Jemimah had been separated from her husband for three months. She relied on casual jobs to feed her children. The children were not in school (she couldn’t pay the fees) and her youngest child was very malnourished. Jemimah was depressed but determined to do anything to get her children healthy and in school. Macheo provided services similar to what we call “wrap-a-round.” Included in these interventions was the FEE program where she learned bookkeeping, customer service, how to grow a consumer base, and how to market her products. She was given some capital to start a green grocery store. Currently she makes a small profit and her children are enrolled in school. 

 With your support Macheo endeavors to enable vulnerable families to earn and save money, improve health and well-being, influence decisions in their home and community, and connect to networks for support. On behalf of our beneficiaries we are grateful to you for partnering with us to improve families’ lives.  Report by Seth Mwangi