Interviewing to womenpreneur.
An up-close and personal view of women creating power.
An approach to a wide range of women from all over the world who once decided to become entrepreneurs and to follow their guts and break the rules. We love challenges and breaking rules of the expected, and we love the power of women doing so, these are our women:
& Madam Onditi, a Goat or a Sheep ?
Madam Onditi a Goat or a Sheep Project. This is a revolving scheme intended to empower widows by giving a family a mature goat or sheep to rear. The family will own the animal but will give back to the project the second born to be given to another family. The family may be supported financially to put up a shelter for the animal.
To aim is to support a community of widows in Pap Onditi, Kisumu County (Kenya) #goatorsheep
THE OBJECTIVE of this project is to fight poverty and disease through improving economic development for widows in Pap Onditi, Kisumu County (Kenya) through a long-term, holistic approach which includes education sponsorship, life skills, business start-ups and support, training.
​
Our approach to development is holistic empowerment and life skills based interventions through community managed approach. We engage in community initiatives that focus on empowering widows in unlocking their potentials for self-actualisation and durable solutions.
WHY This is a revolving economic empowerment scheme intended to empower widows by giving a family a mature goat/sheep to rear. Beneficiaries will be selected through vulnerability selection criteria established by the project.
Beneficiary forum will be held before distribution of goats/sheep to orient them on the project strategy. The women will own the livestock but will give back to the project the first born goat/sheep to be distributed to other beneficiaries. The vulnerable families may need support to put up livestock shelter and this will be considered case by case.
The beneficiaries are expected to give their contributions as well in putting up the shelter in terms of labor, local materials.
WHERE Pap Onditi is a rural village situated near the shore of Lake Victoria in the western part of Kenya – about 235 km North-West of Nairobi, the country’s capital. ‘Pap’ means a flat, dry place in the Luo language; ‘Onditi’ is a name of a local family- translated: Onditi’s flat, dry place.
The economic activities of the community living around Pap Onditi are subsistence farming, small scale businesses. The area receives very little rainfall throughout the year and drought is a constant phenomenon in the lives of the people. People here survive on less than $1.5 per day.
The struggles of a widow in Kenya
​
Serphina Omollo is over 70 years old and has been a widow most of her life. When her husband passed away, she was left with 8 children under her care. Some didn’t survive. Serphina’s life has been but a struggle and suffering in trying to make end‘s meet. She did not go to school, has limited skills and no income to be able to set up a small scale business. Because of her own financial struggles, she wasn’t able to provide good care and education for her own children so that she could help them lead a good life. She lives with 4 of her grandchildren and hustle daily to fend for them. “I am too old and weak to do manual labor, I depend on well-wishers for support”, she says, “Sometimes, I send the kids to the neighbours to ask for maize flour to make porridge and when we are not lucky we just go to bed with an empty stomach”. Her wish is to see her grandchildren get a good education so that they have decent lives in the future and don’t end up like her or their parents.
Serphina and her family are one of many families that we are hoping to help. Her story is all too common in this region.
Serfina Omollo is receiving her goat as one of the beneficiaries during the project launch in 2018.
TESTIMONIES
The determination of a widow – Eunice Akumu
​
It’s a new day as Eunice opens her small hotel business to her customers a long the road side within the community. Her hope is to make some money for at least a meal for her children and grandchildren. In her own words “I’m Eunice Akumu, a widow for over 15 years since my husband passed away. My husband was the sole breadwinner for the family of 8 children when he passed away. I was left with the sole responsibility of providing for the children and it has not been easy. Life has been hard with daily hustle to provide for the family. Since I did not have any income of my own or savings, I decided to start this small business of preparing hot food and sell along the road side here. At least I can get some money to support my children though the income is so meagre to cater for all their basic needs. It’s better than doing nothing or just sitting at home. My children need me and I have to struggle every day and not give up. My hope is a better tomorrow for them”.
​
Eunice (in white dress above) is receiving her sheep on the 29th October 2018 during the launch.
FUNDS & INVESTMENT
Total cost of the project : 2.266€ 264,252.09 KES
Achieved but we open again the program.
You can reach all the information in this link
​
Phase 1.
Phase 2.
The total cost of this phase is:
Ad. Fund Campaign and Crowdfunding 500€
​
TOTAL = 500 € 58,304.71 KES
STATUS ACHIEVED
​
​
Buying Materials, animals, and deliveries.
​
TOTAL = 1.560 € 181.812,73 KES
STATUS ACHIEVED
​
​
Phase 3.
Implementation and supervision of the project
​
TOTAL = 206 € 24.021,54 KES
STATUS ACHIEVED
​
​
​
After School Art Project
Our After School Art (ASA) project focuses on development and nurturing talent through art. The project targets children between 4 to 15 years old. The art take place in a community centre where the children engage in both indoors and outdoors activities. The community centre is open to all children (around 40-50 kids) from the community who are interested in art. Mostly, these children are son of our community of Madam Onditi. The project focuses on art which include drawing, painting, moulding, other talent related areas such as music.
Prints of the children’s artworks are then sold and the proceeds are ploughed back to the project. The project also collaborates with the various relevant community stakeholders like educational institutions, children and social services departments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and individuals/groups, to promote talent development among children.
​
Total cost of the project : 250.000 Kenyan Shillings 2.084,36€
​
Pic by Shelagh Murphy.
​
​