(Publ. 11 NOV 2014) The past three years we have dug a water well, built a school kitchen, and built water ponds for farming. This year we have helped to start 50 new businesses in Kenya!

During this year’s INTA conference in Hong Kong we hosted a reception for clients and partner organizations at the restaurant The Pawn. Our aim with the reception this year was to fight poverty by stimulating entrepreneurship. And more precisely to educate and assist women of Kenya to start their own businesses and become self-supporting.

Due to a great number of attendees at our reception we managed to collect 44,900 SEK, i.e approximately 6,500 USD which was enough money to start 50 new businesses! A great success! We thank all of our guests that made this possible!

The money was handed over to our partner Hand In Hand, and was used to found a Village Uplift Programme (VUP) in a Kenyan village called Mumbuini (about a two hour drive from Nairobi). The programme was started on July 14th 2014, and during the course of two years, this village will now be lifted out of poverty through a series of targeted interventions focused at economic and social empowerment of women, youth and men; and thus, the society, by supporting the creation of sustainable enterprises and jobs. Hand in Hand has also provided these individuals with economic guidance as well as necessary knowledge on how to start and run an enterprise and how to achieve a sustainable livelihood.

Some people are in the process of starting their enterprises, whereas others are already in the early stages of business. Hand in Hand reports that the program is having a great impact on the community as a whole and that members are enthusiastic about attending trainings and activities.

One example of a started business is the one started by Onesmus Muriuki Ndwiga (52), Francis Njega (63), Ephantus Kariuki Mwaniki (45), Catherine Njoki (57) and Susan Wanjiku Mugo (37). Together they have bought an incubator, which they are now using to start a poultry farm. This was a business idea that came to mind upon the realization that the surrounding area had a high demand for chicken, but lacked an incubator. The incubator holds 48 eggs, which the business partners then take turns to check. It takes 21 days for the eggs to hatch and then another three months before the chickens have grown big enough to sell.

Together we can make a difference!

Below you can see some pictures from Mumbuini, Kenya.

Photographer: Hand in Hand