Here I am (far right) with my fellow travelers and the lovely Lucy Mukaria. Lucy is one of the visionaries we met, a woman who rose from village life to being a legislator for women’s rights
I went on the Inaugural “Women’s Journey to Kenya” back in February 2016 and after returning from 16 beautiful days in Kenya I tried my best to settle back into my hectic life, but soon discovered that I missed the tempo of village life and its simplicity.
The world looked so different to me. Suddenly I found myself interested in things I had never even noticed before.
I remember one day at work, an email popped up announcing a shoe drive for a school in Kenya. Before the trip I might have just punched the delete button. But now it looked like the most important thing in the queue. I not only wanted to participate, but I wanted to meet the woman running it.
As it turned she was from Kenya, helping a remote rural school in her grandmother’s village, much like one of the schools I visited on the tour. We instantly became good friends and I helped her with even more projects in Kenya – all while holding down my day job managing risk in the world of banking.
Sending Debbie (the woman from the bank) off to deliver school supplies and hygiene items to her village. My friendship with her kept my Kenyan connection alive once I was back in the States.
This one global friendship fed my need to stay connected to Kenya, but I wanted more. What really excited me was women’s economic empowerment. I decided to reconnect with one of the Kenyan women featured in the tour, Esther Mbaabu, and asked her “how can I create a sustainable project for the women in your mother’s village?”
My new friend Esther Mbaabu holds a PhD in women’s land rights. She’s returned to work with her 90 year-old mother, Mary, and her village to empower women through indigenous knowledge about the land.
“What do they really need?” I asked. Without losing a beat, she said “chickens”. I infused a small amount of capital (with her guidance) and we gave chickens to 20 women. Pretty soon the chickens multiplied and those families had a fresh new source of protein to eat and the eggs were sold to pay for their children’s school fees. Almost instantly, the women had their own business! The first 20 passed on starter chickens to another group of 20 and 2 years later 80 women have a sustainable stream of income to help their families. More women will get their turn. The videos I get from Kenya showing the village women with their chickens are beyond priceless.
After making my initial investment in capital, Esther and I watched the women of Balm Touch, a self-organized group of tea farmers, expand the chicken project beyond anything we could have imagined.
This was all more fun than my day job, so after many rounds of financial projections my husband and I agreed that I could retire in the next year. A year later I concluded a 30-year career in banking. That was 15 months ago. Since then I have volunteered in Fair Trade retail, sorted and packed books to be distributed across Africa at Books For Africa. Because I was in that warehouse I met yet another Kenyan woman who works with women in Kenya and Ghana in Atlanta! Doris Mukangu designed a sewing academy and clothing line to empower refugees and sell the products of Africa women.
Another new friend from Kenya that lives near me in Atlanta! Doris Mukangu created the Amani Center where she sells hand-made products by women from Kenya and empowers refugees.
My interest in economically empowering women, which was awakened during my time in Kenya, is being satisfied through my work in these global friendships. The work is so satisfying. Life is good. Thank you, Kenya!
