Peace Initiative Kenya How Women Entrepreneurs’ Business Mentorship ES C C U PIK S RY STO
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Domestic violence can attack the very core of a person’s self-esteem with devastating feelings of helplessness. The effects are worse when the survivor does not have a source of income to sustain their livelihood, should they gather the courage to quit an abusive relationship. Support from the community and family can go along way into helping a survivor of violence pick the pieces and rebuild their lives anew. Meet Elizabeth Wanjiku, a single mother of three, who walked out of an abusive relationship to make a better life. For 12 years she lived with her husband, a primary school teacher, who not only became alcoholic but was also failed to provide for the family and was violent. Wanjiku who was unemployed at the time, says: “he would return home drunk every evening with nothing to feed the family. He would beat me up and humiliate me in front of the children. The situation was so unbearable that I decided to walk out.” As a single mother, Wanjiku struggled to support her family with the little income she earned from casual work of washing clothes in Mukuru Kwa Njenga slums of Nairobi. Though her daily income was meagre, she did not give up the dream of educating her children and making their lives better. She had learnt how to knit sweaters, though she did not have the requisite funds and business acumen to make a livelihood from the knowledge. Wanjiku’s life took a turn for the better when she was selected to join a group of 30 women who would benefit from business mentorship by the African Women Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP) Kenya Chapter. Following an eight-month training and mentorship on entrepreneurial and product development skills, Wanjiku also received a seed capital to start her Sweater Business. According to Wanjiku, the AWEP mentorship program restored her selfesteem and helped her realize that she could do something with her life rather than just sitting at home,” says Wanjiku. “This mentorship helped me realise that I can be among change makers in my society.” With the skills and capital at hand, Wanjiku has
Transformed Beneficiaries now partnered with a friend to rent a shop where they knit and sell sweaters. This opportunity enabled her secure a contract to knit up sweaters for St Elizabeth Lungalunga School in Embakasi constituency, Nairobi County. This being her first formal engagement, Wanjiku is working hard work expand her business and create employment. Wanjiku’s determination to succeed and building a better life for her children makes her stand out among her peers in the community. She acknowledges the opportunity accorded to her through the PIK project as a second chance in life and feels privileged to have gone through the training, as it also allowed her to go back to school as a part time student to expand her opportunities. Susan Oyuko, Programme Officer at AWEP, says that after the training, the 30 beneficiaries were divided into six self-help groups of five members each. “The self-help groups have been legally registered and group bank accounts opened with all members as signatories for accountability,” notes Oyuko. “AWEP gave each beneficiary a seed capital of KSh20, 000 that was deposited into the group account to help them start their own individual businesses. Each selfhelp group pools resources together part of which is the seed capital. The members save and borrow from their group to develop their businesses.” The African Women Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP) Kenya Chapter AWEP, an implementing partner of the Peace Initiative Kenya (PIK) project of the USAID and International Rescue Committee (IRC). AWEP implemented a successful pilot project on addressing gender based violence through economic empowerment Nairobi’s informal settlements of Kasarani and Embakasi constituencies. Elizabeth Wanjiku sweater business premises