Mentoring 16 orphan and needy girls in Kenya

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