Mentoring 16 orphan and needy girls in Kenya

October 2016 Report

Nairobi Kenya,

Dear Friends,

Your contributions have left women empowered with some having ventured into small businesses in agriculture, detergent sales and others offering catering services to those holding parties. The funds also purchased things like pots and pans and dishes and silverware for them to do so.

Some girls, like Wairimu, used to think of some jobs, like car washing, as demeaning. She now has a changed perspective. She now believes that any job that help her earn money to empower herself without putting herself or her health at risk is worthwhile.

Other girls, like Maggie, feel gratified that they are now computer literate. Knowing how to use the internet and office programs like Excel and Word have increased Maggie’s confidence and sense of self-esteem tremendously. Maggie is now helping other girls in her community learn these valuable skills.

Ann has learned how to do sewing so that now she can earn a living as a tailor. She has confided to me that if it were not for this mentoring program she would have had to sell herself for money for necessities of life.

SAWAs mentorship program is filling an important role in training girls who are out of school on income generation activities. In this society, girls are extremely vulnerable to early sex, early pregnancy and HIV infection.  All because they are not valued and have little opportunities to earn money. These are girls who have unlimited potential.

With extreme gratitude,

Catherine Kaimenyi

Dear Global Giving Friends,

On 28^th May 2016 I visited a group of women in Ntugi, Meru county to find out what they are doing with the knowledge and skills imparted to them through our training since November last year. The group has been introduced to concepts of income generation activities and are being encouraged to develop entrepreneurial minds and interests to curb poverty trends in the areas. This way we will use this model Training of Trainers group to reach others in the village. During our first meeting with the group, Caroline, one of our mentees and I had introduced them to the topics of income generation activities and reproductive health.

We are happy to report that the group meets twice a month to educate each other and share knowledge and experiences mainly concerning family life, children’s education and health and business involvement. They have also devised ways of adding value to their liquid soap that they make through adding traditional perfumes to make it more appealing to young mothers. The vertical gardens that we introduced them to are also doing well though the challenge of water shortage is reducing their yields.

Glory, another of our mentees who hails from the same county, is also doing well in a hair dressing job which she got into after her experience with our organization, SAWA. To complement her income from this job, she has learned to sell vegetables and fruits in the evenings near her place of residence. She hopes that she will save enough to start her own hair dressing business so she can quit employment. She is optimistic that she will also be able to offer employment to a few needy girls, thus giving back to the community

With my sincere gratitude for your support in this effort to improve the opportunities for young girls,

Catherine Kaimenyi