Gender Equality Kenya Project #41129

Rural Entrepreneurs Livelihoods Support Project

by Generation for change and Development

Project Report | Jul 15, 2020
Productive Asset Disbursement

By Abdirashid Ali | Executive Director

Abdia at her shope

Dear our wonderful donors,

In my last report, I mentioned that 48 out of 50 women who started the Street Business School training programme completed it and received their certificate. After graduation, the beneficiary women and our staff embarked on feasibility studies on viable business opportunities available in the towns. The women used their newly-acquired business skills, especially market research well before the COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions to movement. Mandera County, where our project is located in is one of the National Government declared COVID-19 hotspot, which means there are no movements of people into or out of the county. Despite this setback, about 19 out of 50 women successfully identified a livelihood option that they felt meets their needs and in line with their experience and skills.

In total three livelihood options was identified;

1. Goats rearing

Nine women choose goat rearing as a livelihood option
In total 117 goats (13 per woman including one buck)

2. Donkey cart business (8 women)

Eight women choose this livelihood option.
Each woman received mature male donkey and a donkey cart, tools required to support quarry activities and maintenance of the donkey cart.

3. Tailoring services

Two women choose this livelihood option
Each woman received a sewing machine, necessary accessories and a supply of materials to make school uniform and usual dresses.
Also, the two women are currently undergoing further training in tailoring to upskill them.

As I mentioned previously, this project is partly funded by DFID's Small Charities Challenge Fund. Our success in securing funding from SCCF was partly made possible by the support we have received from you, our wonderful individual donors. On behalf of our beneficiaries, staff, and trustees THANK YOU.

During our recent monitoring field visits, the project team were happy with the progress most of the women were making. For example, the following women shared their success stories with them.

Fatuma " I am delighted with my stock's performance. So far, we have one additional kid and a lamb. Unfortunately, one goat had a miscarriage, and we expect two more goats and sheep to give birth anytime soon. My son Abdihamid was excited to see the new lamb."

Rahma " my donkey carts have been busy since I received it. I am grateful GENCAD gave us additional donkey cart body suitable for carrying soil. I have the flexibility to engage in different activities. My donkey cart can carry stones, soil and firewood, which means I am always busy. I just secured a contract to supply 200 trips of soil and stones to a construction site. I am pleased."

We are delighted our little investment with your help have put smiles on the faces of many families in Elwak Town. Such positive sentiments coming from our beneficiaries is a reason for us to exist as an organisation. We thank you most sincerely for helping us change many lives.

In the coming weeks and months, we hope the remaining women would have identified their livelihood options and set themselves on the path to graduation out of poverty. The beneficiary women's enthusiasm to succeed is refreshing.

Thank you, our wonderful donors for making this possible. I am sure you will work with us to continue making a difference in the lives of ultra-poor women and their families in Kenya.

This project will be competing for match funding starting Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at 09:00:00 a.m. ET. Any donations of $100 - $499 will be matched at 15%, donations of $500 - $749 will be matched at 30%, and donations of $750 - $1,000 will be matched at 50%. Please consider donating to this project so that we can support our beneficiaries during these difficult times and ensure that they don't sale their assets to cope with the impact of COVID-19.

Thank you, and may God bless you.

Goats distribution

Donkey carts

Permalink

Feb 25, 2020
Remarkable progress to project implementation

By ABDIRASHID ALI | Executive Director

Training Session1

Dear friends and donors,

In my last report, I mentioned that we have completed beneficiary selection and was in the process of validating it and collecting baseline data. This exercise is now complete, and we have moved to the next stage; beneficiary training.

The past three months, our beneficiaries have undergone a structured and tailor-made basic business skills training provided by Street Business School. We adopted the training programme (eight modules) so that its relevant and easily accessible by the ultra-poor women we are supporting. Although challenging, the training programme was an eye-opener both for us and the women. We have seen incredible changes in attitude and enthusiasm shown by the women during the training and during their graduation. The women received a certificate as a recognition for their hard work and new skills acquired.

In addition to the training programme, the beneficiaries also received mentorship support, help with the formation of savings and loans group, group registration and opening of a group's bank account. Also, to help reduce anxiety due to loss of income during the training, we provided the women food packages which were well received.

We are currently assessing their existing businesses (those who are in business) and also map out livelihood options the women could engage in. Once business viability assessment is done, and the women's business knowledge is assessed as adequate, they will receive a productive asset in the form of live animals (goats, sheep cows), donkey carts, sewing machines and stock of goods for those who are keen to start or expand their petty trades. God willing, by the end of March 2020, all women would have received their asset.

We are excited by the changes we have seen so far as the result of the training and we hope that once the asset is transferred, the women will unleash their business acumen and start a sustainable business. Because we know in our community women have played a leading role in providing for their families, we are confident many children who would have otherwise gone to bed hungry will now be able to sleep well. We thank you for having been part of this journey and would love to see you continue with us to reach more women in a similar situation.

As we approach the #IWD in early march, let me take this opportunity to request you for your support as we prepare ourself for the Girl Fund Campaign. Please keep an eye on an email which will go out soon in that regard.

We thank you soo much for your support and generosity.

Thank you and may God bless you.

Training session2

Graduation match1

Graduation ceremony1

Graduation Ceremony2

Graduation ceremony3

Graduation match3

Graduation ceremony4

Permalink

Oct 22, 2019
Finally we are off the ground!

By ABDIRASHID ALI | Executive Director

Beneficiary selection meeting 1

Dear friends,

We are finally off the ground with our project. I am happy to report that our project successfully secured £50K grant from DFID's Small Charities Challenge Fund early this year. We have completed due diligence process, and we have received the first-quarter award of £14K towards the running of the project. As a result of consultation with the fund managers, the number of beneficiaries was reduced to 50 and the remaining 50 to be considered in the next project.

So far, we have recruited the project Manager, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer and other support staff. The Executive Director and the project Manager attended an eight days immersion course in Kampala in September. The course covered business skills training designed for ultra-poor beneficiaries and will be used to train the project beneficiaries.

This month, we carried out the next two stages of the beneficiary selection process, which involved scrutinising of the shortlisted beneficiaries ( shortlisting done by women elders and mosque leaders ) and meeting shortlisted beneficiaries. During the meeting with the beneficiaries, we carried out participatory wealth ranking and group verification of an individual's family circumstances and needs. Through this process, the beneficiaries were able to identify 50 most needy women from amongst 200 shortlisted. The process was amazing and empowering for the women since they were able to identify destitute women from amongst themselves without outside influence. During the last week of October, we shall visit each of the women to collect baseline data and confirm their family circumstances and their ability to engage in economic activities. We aim to complete the validation process by the end of October unless the current heavy rains in the region make it difficult.

God willing we plan to start two months basic business skills training in November. The women will receive their grant in the form of asset transfer early next year subject to the successful completion of the course. We are in the process of completing the market survey to provided them with livelihood options to choose from. We are very excited about this project, and we hope to use it to leverage more support from donors, individuals and institutions to reach more women in the region. We thank you for the support you have provided to us so far, and we hope you will continue walking with us as we expand to reach more ultra-poor and vulnerable population in the region.

Thank you.

beneficiary selection meeting 2

beneficiary selection meeting 3

beneficiary selection meeting 4

Permalink

‹ 1 2

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.