Micro-enterprise Development

This week in MDP (micro-enterprise development program):

Mon Feb 5- I was able to meet with one of my groups from last year, Ngairwe Vijana youth group, to follow up on their group projects. I was excited to see that they were having a lot of success in their honey project and were able to even expand their hives from 9 to 13 within just one year. It was also interesting to see that their mushroom project had progressed. When I visited last year they had not yet begun the mushroom project, but had high expectations for it to be come a high revenue product. Unfortunately, the demand for this type of mushroom (oyster mushrooms) was less than projected, but it has only been about a month since they have begun selling this new product. The time and capital investment is very high for these mushrooms, so I plan to assist the group by developing a marketing plan to help increase sales on this project.

Tue Feb 6- Van broke down and was not able to visit any groups.

Wed Feb 7- the other MDP volunteers and I took a nice field trip to a group in Bungoma town who have greatly benefited from the skills and knowledge that previous MDP volunteers had provided them. They began just 3 years ago manufacturing and selling small quantities of cleaning products and hand soaps. Today their business has grown to a Ltd. (limited company, similar to our LLC), attained certification from the Kenyan Economic Bureau of Standards, been able to hire 17 employees, and secure contracts to sell to hospitals and schools throughout the region. They have also expanded into different product lines, like hand creams, and have plans to soon grow even more. It was very exciting and encouraging to hear about and see this small group have such success in such a short period of time. I can only hope that I will be able come back in a few years and see that some of the groups I have worked with have also achieved this type of success.

Thurs Feb 8- myself along with 2 other MDP volunteers visited a group in a very poor village near Kabula called Family Care. Family care group consists of 15 very smart, hard working, and eager members. They have been in business together for only one year, but have big plans and great ideas for the future. They currently own one sewing machine, which they use to tailor school uniforms for 4 different primary and secondary schools in the area. They are seeking advice on how to attain a loan to purchase 3 more machines to increase this business. They also are planning to expand into agriculture by planting and harvesting rice, passion fruits, and ribena (a flower which is boiled to make a delicious, fruity juice).  They were extremely organized, well thought out, and motivated. I feel that they have great potential to expand and grow successfully.  We used today to gather information about each of the project’s costs, product timeline, and sales to compile an appropriate business plan for the group. They will hopefully be able to use these recommendations and business plan to attain the loan they need to build and grow each of the projects.

-Aimee Berniard