By ECLOF Kenya staff

In Kenya, an ECLOF loan in March of this year gave the Kajulu Women’s Self Help Group a real boost. The women have been able to buy more stock and provide employment for an extra 11 people.
The Kajulu Women’s Self Help Group began in 1993 and consists of 20 members who operate micro businesses in Nairobi. The women aim to improve their standard of living and, in particular, to upgrade their rural homes in Kajulu, a village in Kenya’s Western Province.

The Kajulu women are involved in poultry raising, fish selling, a food kiosk, a hairdressing salon and tailoring. Each enterprise is owned by four women.

The women are also part of a savings scheme and make regular monthly deposits into their accounts.

Recent events in Kenya have shown the resourcefulness and determination of the Kajulu Women. Until early this year, the women who own the fishmonger’s business sold fish from Lake Victoria. They planned to buy a freezer to allow them to hold more stocks of fish. However, in March the Kenyan government banned the consumption of fish from Lake Victoria saying it was unfit to eat. The group decided to shift its source of fish to Lake Turkana in the north of Kenya. Fish from Lake Turkana are traditionally dried and so, even without a freezer, the women were able to increase the amount of fish they bought from the fishermen. Sales increased, profits rose and the fish project, which began with two employees, is now able to sustain four people.

The hair salon business used its share of the ECLOF loan to buy two hair dryers. Custom increased and an extra employee had to be taken on.

The food kiosk has 4 full time workers including a qualified caterer. The group also employs four casual workers on a daily basis. Such a workforce is made possible by the prime location of the kiosk in an area with many offices. During lunchtime the kiosk operates to full capacity due to its reputation for good food, reasonable prices, and a high degree of cleanliness.

With their ECLOF loan, the chicken-raising project bought 200 one-day old chicks to add to the older chicks they already had. This project has existed for a number of years and, because of the quality of service it provides, has many good and regular customers.

The Kajulu Women’s Self Help Group meets each month to arrange their loan repayments and monthly savings deposits. They also exchange ideas and monitor the growth of their businesses. The ECLOF Kenya credit officer attends these meeting as part of a continuous assessment of the group, as well as to maintain a close working relationship with its members.

Using profits from their businesses, the women have been able to re-roof their family houses back in Kajulu and are now constructing water tanks. Through their businesses, the women have become more financially stable and are able to supplement their husband’s earnings.

The Kajulu Women’s Self Help Group is a success story. Not only has success made the group stronger and improved its collective performance, it has also enabled members’ families escape from extreme poverty. This, in turn, has led to a general strengthening of family life.