Inventory Stocked- Businesses Up and Running

What a day. At 6am we were at Kawangware Market buying charcoal stoves, potatoes, charcoal, pans, frying oil, bananas, tomatoes, onions, ketchup, strainers, and anything else they needed for their businesses. We were able to supply them with everything they needed due to your generous donations. You should feel proud that your donations are making a huge difference in the lives of these Kenyans who struggle to provide for their families.
Christine's Chips is 100% complete and operational. She is out on the most heavily traveled road in Kawangware cooking fries and selling them in her new display case we had built for her. We will be stopping by for some fries in a bit. She made sure to let us know we have to pay, with no discount
Eddiah's Chip stand will be complete on Monday. All of her stock is bought and her stand was rented today. As previously mentioned, the bargaining tactic of offering a larger amount of money upfront and a small amount for the following months worked beautifully. The display case is still in progress but will be done for Eddiah to start selling chips Monday morning.

Tabetha's sweet potato stand, which is located 3 stands down from Eddiah's stand, has already sold a few dozen sweet potatoes and a number of bananas. We knew Tabetha was on a mission to succeed when we saw her running behind the cart that was transporting her sack of potatoes, holding on with one hand to make sure the porter didnt make off with her inventory. By the way, it was 5am.
Rebecca's necklace business has really impressed us. She is going to have the opportunity to truly succeed, and we think she will take full advantage of it. We gave Rebecca all of the stock she could possibly handle and are working on getting her a spot at the Maasi Market- A market frequented by tourists in Kenya. For now, Rebecca will be selling her necklaces at local boutiques.

Patricia's stand consists mainly of Omena (mino's), bananas, tomatoes, and onions. Kenyan's love their Omena, which Patricia demonstrated yesterday by eating a mino, raw- leaving only the tail. Good thing we hadn't eaten breakfast yet because we would have seen it again. We joked with her that we better not come by her stand and find only tails of omena left, but she explained that she needed to test them to see if they had stones.

Nina's bed cover stand has been postponed due to Nina falling ill. This is inevitable when your business owner's are suffering from such a harsh disease. We will meet with Nina again when she is feeling better next week.

In all, A successful week. Five fully functioning businesses have been started and 8 future business owners have been selected for next week. Pictures to come soon!

Putting The Pieces Together

During this week, we selected stand locations for our first group of businesses owners, which are located mainly in Kawangware. Renting the stands took some negotiating as we wanted to get the best possible monthly rate. We learned that offering a larger sum for the first month allowed for future months to be at a lower cost. This is ideal since we want the operating costs for the business owners to be as low as possible for them to effectively maintain their businesses. We negotiated most of the stands down to approximately 500 ksh ($6.50) a month and ensured the owner and tenant signed lease agreements.
Today, we traveled with the business owners to the regional market in Gikomba to purchase goods for their stands. In order to get the best quality items and price, we had to get to the market at 530AM. Even at this hour, the market was full of people fighting for the best deals. We will travel to another market in Kawangware tomorrow morning to purchase the remaining inventory. By the afternoon, the stands should be fully stocked and operational.
During this busy week, we also managed to interview 8 new candidates for businesses. We are excited to see some new ideas and interesting skills presented by this next group.

Stressing the Importance of Saving

This week we met with the future business owners on three different occasions to discuss bookkeeping, business strategy, and the importance of saving. Monday we will be opening savings accounts for all six business owners at Equity Bank. We will be requiring them to save a portion of their income each week. Many of the businesses that have fallen in the past were due to the need to use the business capital for emergencies (ie. hospital bills, increased school fees, etc.). This will allow for the patients to plan for such emergencies and increase their overall wealth. Each business owner will hand in their deposit slips at the end of each week. If they are able to save 3000 ksh (about $40), Equity Bank will loan them 6000 ksh ($80) to expand their businesses.

Two new Employees for Buni Nafasi Za Kazi Afrika

Meet our First employee, Wycliffe. He is an economics major at the University of Nairobi and will be completing his studies this year. With an interest in economics of public health, Buni Nafasi Za Kazi Afrika (Create a Job in Africa) is a perfect fit. He will be interpreting and introducing basic accounting skills to the future business owners. He also will assist us by accompanying the business owners to the market to buy their first round of goods.

















Our next employee -Evanson Kavale Wanuama. Evans graduated from the Institute of Advanced Technology in Nairobi. He currently plays semi-professional soccer in the evenings and will be assisting us during the day. He will act as a translator as well as assist us by accompanying the business owners to the market to buy their first round of goods.

Pictures From First Group Training

First Six Business Owners selected

We have been in Kenya for 5 days now and we have been working nonstop. Slum life has already become the norm and a bucket shower a privilege. The need for sustainable income has never been so obvious, especially for those who battle the stigma of HIV/AIDS daily.
Our main contacts in the area are natives Ruth and George, both of whom work with Amka(the local HIV/AIDS clinic that I, Bill, worked at last year). We have relied on them heavily and they have been working to set us up with the proper candidates for our operation.
We interviewed patients in their homes yesterday and have picked out our first six business owners. Training will start on Monday where they will learn basic accounting principles and business strategies. Below are short descriptions of the the interviews that we conducted and our promising new entrepreneurs. All of the business ideas were developed by the patients themselves. All of the future business owners are living in Kawangware- one of the largest, most impoverished slums in all of Africa.



Meet Rebecca.
She is HIV positive and currently on antivirals. In her 10X6 shanty made of sheet metal, reside Rebeca and her 5 children. Three of these children are currently in school, due to sponsors from the western world. Rebecca has been doing any small work she can find, such as washing clothing a few times a week. She struggles to make rent and provide two small meals a day for her family. Her rent is currently at $10.25(800 shillings) a month, which her landlord has warned her will be raising this to $19.23 next month. Her daily living expenses are $2.55, which includes water and food for her family. Rebecca will be making beautiful necklaces out of beads that she makes out of old magazines. The only supplies she needs is large recycled magazines, glue, varnish, finishing colors, necklaces string, and a clasp. The cost to produce one necklaces is around $0.50. These necklaces are selling at around $1.90 to Kenyan locals, which produces a profit of $1.40 per necklaces. Rebecca already has the knowledge and skills to produce the necklaces but she lacks the necessary capital. After our training she will have the necessary capital to start a sustainable business, basic bookkeeping skills, a savings account, and will be able to provide for her 5 children. All due to the funds that you have donated.

Our next visit was with Tabitha. She is a widow that is infected with HIV. She is currently taking antibiotics given to her by AMKA.

Even though Tabitha cares for 7 children and 6 grandchildren all living in her 1 room shanty, she has taken in an orphan. The orphan's birth mother was trying to throw her away and Tabitha said she could not let that happen. All of her children and grandchildren of appropriate age are in school, and Tabitha makes sure she pays the schools fees each term however she can. Currently, her only real source of income is washing clothes, which has not been a reliable job. She wants capital to start her own vegetable stand and would like to sell these items close to her home on a well traveled road. Helping Tabitha start her own job will also affect the lives of the 14 others she cares for.

More Posts to come.

- Bill and Keyur