Project admins
Recommended projects
Kwareslum Youth Group
Background on Kwareslum Self-Help Group
The Kwareslum Self-Help Group, located in Kisii, Kenya is dedicated to lifting teens and young adults ages 15 – 24 out of poverty, using business and skills training as the vehicle for economic empowerment. Kwareslum was founded by a local college graduate who returned to his hometown to lead efforts towards major social change. In the last two years, the Self-Help group has built their own electricity generating system and trained their teens in basic computer literacy. Today, they are writing a business plan to create a poultry business. This business will raise chickens for the eggs. In spite of the area’s poverty, there is great demand for eggs and the Self-Help group can be a significant part of meeting this market demand.
Basic Description of the Organization:
1. Location: Kisii in the Nyanza Province of Kenya
2. Number of teens: 1,203 Teenagers
3. Poverty: Kwareslum’s youth come from Kisii, where a family’s typical income is $75 per month. Many young people in this region drop out of school because they cannot afford school fees still charged in many areas of Africa or because they need to earn money for their families. The youth at Kwareslum are fortunate that they are learning basic computer skills and business management, but they now have only one computer since their offices and equipment were destroyed in a fire last fall. Although Kwareslum has been seeking funds to start a business for several months, its members have been unable to find any financial support thus far. Even microfinance institutions created to serve the poor have turned down Kwareslum’s loan requests due to their lack of collateral.
The Need for Financial Support
Kisii, Kenya is a rural area plagued by poverty and disease. Kenyans in this region are faced with high unemployment rates, teen pregnancy, and high rates of HIV/AIDS students dropping out of school. Kenya’s rural areas have been forgotten by a government that pours its resources into its urban areas. Yet while the Kenyans of Kisii may be ignored by the government, these are people who will not be forgotten. People in this region recognize that they can improve their lives if given the opportunity. They are determined to create a better life for themselves and the generations to come. The Kwareslum Self-Help Group is harnessing the energy of the area’s youth to make change happen through business. They know that if they can take the first step of building a successful business, others will follow.
Although it is stretched for funding sources, the Kwareslum Self-Help Group continues to offer youth some hope for dignity and economic security. By training the youth in how to use computers and offering them training in entrepreneurial skills, Kwareslum improves employment opportunities for the youth. Addressing the dire situation of the youth could not come at a time marked by greater urgency than now: with high unemployment, little education, and little hope for more schooling, the youth could easily be headed towards a future more bleak than their parents’ present. Kwareslum offers them the skills and the income-generating projects so desperately needed to literally put food on the table.
The recent post-election violence has made life even harder for their youth. With the ever increasing inflation and lack of resources, they are forced to drop out school and look for food. More and more young people are in searching for options that will help them support themselves and their families. The need and demand for job training and services is evident from Kwareslum’s membership and waiting list. They have a youth membership of over 1200 teens and young adults and 2,145 more are on their waiting list. By applying for more financial and other resources, Kwareslum plans to bring more young people out of poverty and empower them to change their lives for the better.
Through this new poultry business, Kwareslum’s members will be able to earn money for short-term needs and learn valuable vocational skills that will ensure employment opportunities for years to come.
The Project
What is unique about the Kwareslum poultry business is that the youth will build a business with the goal of running it themselves. This means they will be more than employees – they will be owners-in-training. Not only will they learn about the chicken industry and raising healthy animals, they will learn significant business skills that include business finance, sales, customer relations, marketing and long-term strategic planning. They will earn money and, at the same time, develop entrepreneurial skills. Kwareslum sees this as the first of many businesses that they will build in the community. Their strategy is to use entrepreneurship to steadily build a business economy in the region and for the region.
Please join us in empowering young people by providing employment and life skills. You can personally help us open the door to new options and opportunities so that the young people of Kenya can counter the disease, unemployment, and low education rates that characterize their lives in Kisii. With organizations like Kwareslum, there is hope that the next generation will live easier lives.
Background and Description from Jones
The Story of Jones Otieno Obiria, Group leader, Kwareslum Self Help Group, Kenya
My name is Jones Otieno Obiria. I was born in Igenaitambe Village, which is 50 km from Kisii Town in Kenya. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. I am the founder of Kwareslum Self-Help Group, which serves the poor youth of Kisii.
I returned to my home region to address the abject poverty there, which is a result of both government apathy and land pressure, among other factors. The local government has forgotten us, and there are no projects or organizations involved in assisting our village. In addition, land pressure due to population increases has resulted in families having only small plots on which to do their basic farming, and these plots do not yield enough to feed a family. In this area, 98% of the families are below the poverty line, living on less than US $1 a day. More than a half of the population goes to bed without food at night. People are constantly trapped in a cycle of poverty from one generation to the next.
I saw how miserable people were in my community, resorting to prostitution in order to get food, and dying from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, STDs, hunger, malaria, malnutrition, and micronutrient deficiency. I founded the Kisii-based Kwareslum Self-Help Group to reduce poverty by engaging young people in skill development and income-generating activities. The project beneficiaries are the poor youths who have dropped out of school due to a lack of money for school fees and their families’ need for additional income. Some of these teens have resorted to prostitution to earn a living and now face a greater risk of contracting HIV/ AIDS disease.
I believe that I can make a positive contribution to the vulnerable people in the community and to my country by engaging youth, which will be useful for the development of the country. Having been born and raised in the community enables me to understand the problems and needs of our community. I am ready and able to teach the youth of Kisii how to lift themselves out of poverty and become self-sufficient, highly-skilled adults.
The Kwareslum Self-Help Group, located in Kisii, Kenya is dedicated to lifting teens and young adults ages 15 – 24 out of poverty, using business and skills training as the vehicle for economic empowerment. Kwareslum was founded by a local college graduate who returned to his hometown to lead efforts towards major social change. In the last two years, the Self-Help group has built their own electricity generating system and trained their teens in basic computer literacy. Today, they are writing a business plan to create a poultry business. This business will raise chickens for the eggs. In spite of the area’s poverty, there is great demand for eggs and the Self-Help group can be a significant part of meeting this market demand.
Basic Description of the Organization:
1. Location: Kisii in the Nyanza Province of Kenya
2. Number of teens: 1,203 Teenagers
3. Poverty: Kwareslum’s youth come from Kisii, where a family’s typical income is $75 per month. Many young people in this region drop out of school because they cannot afford school fees still charged in many areas of Africa or because they need to earn money for their families. The youth at Kwareslum are fortunate that they are learning basic computer skills and business management, but they now have only one computer since their offices and equipment were destroyed in a fire last fall. Although Kwareslum has been seeking funds to start a business for several months, its members have been unable to find any financial support thus far. Even microfinance institutions created to serve the poor have turned down Kwareslum’s loan requests due to their lack of collateral.
The Need for Financial Support
Kisii, Kenya is a rural area plagued by poverty and disease. Kenyans in this region are faced with high unemployment rates, teen pregnancy, and high rates of HIV/AIDS students dropping out of school. Kenya’s rural areas have been forgotten by a government that pours its resources into its urban areas. Yet while the Kenyans of Kisii may be ignored by the government, these are people who will not be forgotten. People in this region recognize that they can improve their lives if given the opportunity. They are determined to create a better life for themselves and the generations to come. The Kwareslum Self-Help Group is harnessing the energy of the area’s youth to make change happen through business. They know that if they can take the first step of building a successful business, others will follow.
Although it is stretched for funding sources, the Kwareslum Self-Help Group continues to offer youth some hope for dignity and economic security. By training the youth in how to use computers and offering them training in entrepreneurial skills, Kwareslum improves employment opportunities for the youth. Addressing the dire situation of the youth could not come at a time marked by greater urgency than now: with high unemployment, little education, and little hope for more schooling, the youth could easily be headed towards a future more bleak than their parents’ present. Kwareslum offers them the skills and the income-generating projects so desperately needed to literally put food on the table.
The recent post-election violence has made life even harder for their youth. With the ever increasing inflation and lack of resources, they are forced to drop out school and look for food. More and more young people are in searching for options that will help them support themselves and their families. The need and demand for job training and services is evident from Kwareslum’s membership and waiting list. They have a youth membership of over 1200 teens and young adults and 2,145 more are on their waiting list. By applying for more financial and other resources, Kwareslum plans to bring more young people out of poverty and empower them to change their lives for the better.
Through this new poultry business, Kwareslum’s members will be able to earn money for short-term needs and learn valuable vocational skills that will ensure employment opportunities for years to come.
The Project
What is unique about the Kwareslum poultry business is that the youth will build a business with the goal of running it themselves. This means they will be more than employees – they will be owners-in-training. Not only will they learn about the chicken industry and raising healthy animals, they will learn significant business skills that include business finance, sales, customer relations, marketing and long-term strategic planning. They will earn money and, at the same time, develop entrepreneurial skills. Kwareslum sees this as the first of many businesses that they will build in the community. Their strategy is to use entrepreneurship to steadily build a business economy in the region and for the region.
Please join us in empowering young people by providing employment and life skills. You can personally help us open the door to new options and opportunities so that the young people of Kenya can counter the disease, unemployment, and low education rates that characterize their lives in Kisii. With organizations like Kwareslum, there is hope that the next generation will live easier lives.
Background and Description from Jones
The Story of Jones Otieno Obiria, Group leader, Kwareslum Self Help Group, Kenya
My name is Jones Otieno Obiria. I was born in Igenaitambe Village, which is 50 km from Kisii Town in Kenya. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. I am the founder of Kwareslum Self-Help Group, which serves the poor youth of Kisii.
I returned to my home region to address the abject poverty there, which is a result of both government apathy and land pressure, among other factors. The local government has forgotten us, and there are no projects or organizations involved in assisting our village. In addition, land pressure due to population increases has resulted in families having only small plots on which to do their basic farming, and these plots do not yield enough to feed a family. In this area, 98% of the families are below the poverty line, living on less than US $1 a day. More than a half of the population goes to bed without food at night. People are constantly trapped in a cycle of poverty from one generation to the next.
I saw how miserable people were in my community, resorting to prostitution in order to get food, and dying from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, STDs, hunger, malaria, malnutrition, and micronutrient deficiency. I founded the Kisii-based Kwareslum Self-Help Group to reduce poverty by engaging young people in skill development and income-generating activities. The project beneficiaries are the poor youths who have dropped out of school due to a lack of money for school fees and their families’ need for additional income. Some of these teens have resorted to prostitution to earn a living and now face a greater risk of contracting HIV/ AIDS disease.
I believe that I can make a positive contribution to the vulnerable people in the community and to my country by engaging youth, which will be useful for the development of the country. Having been born and raised in the community enables me to understand the problems and needs of our community. I am ready and able to teach the youth of Kisii how to lift themselves out of poverty and become self-sufficient, highly-skilled adults.
