Rural Entrepreneurs Livelihoods Support Project

Dear friend,

Since our last report, our team have been monitoring and mentoring the beneficiary women every month. Despite the challenges faced due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic since 2020 and the severe drought in 2020 and 2021, most of our beneficiaries have made good progress and showed resilience to the perennial shocks.  As a result, the majority of our beneficiaries have not sold the productive asset provided in 2020 a testimony to our theory of change.

I would like to share a case study of one of our beneficiary women.

Hawa:

Hawa lives at the edge of Elwak Town. She has four children, three of them in school. Hawa also has a disabled child at home. Her husband is a casual labourer in Elwak Town. Before receiving the asset, the family relied on money her husband brought home after a long day of labouring work. However, there never was a guarantee of finding manual work. On odd occasions, Hawa's husband came home empty-handed, leaving the family to rely on the generosity of their neighbours.

Acceptance as the project's beneficiary was, therefore, a welcomed intervention. Hawa chose the donkey cart business since " there is a good demand for building materials such as stones and soil" in her own words. She also had an idea of building her children a roof over their heads. So the donkey cart business both complimented the family's erratic income and enabled them to collect the materials they needed to construct a room, at least for the children.

So far, Hawa has achieved the following.

• Collected 200 trips of building stones using their donkey cart.
• Collected 130 trips of soil
• She has started constructing a toilet for the family (they have dug up to 20 ft).

According to Hawa, the toilet, once completed, will be a significant relief since they don't have to visit the neighbours' plots for the call of nature and hence protect their dignity.

This is just one example of the women beneficiaries who have done well. There are some who have completed a room for their family, started a new business to supplement their chosen livelihood option and many more. We thank our donors for believing in our mission and making generous donations. While we have touched the lives of many women, there remains many more who we are yet to reach. We kindly request our supporters to join us this Giving Tuesday to help us reach more women. Please help us reach more women and reduce the endemic poverty in Northern Kenya.

Thank you and May God Bless.

Links:

• Hawa's testimony