After only two months on the job with Nuru in 2012, we were confronted with a teacher strike. At that time, I did not know a lot about the political dynamics surrounding the teachers’ strike, but I wasn’t expecting it to become a yearly occurrence. Once again, as has been the case for the past 4 …
Feature photo: Impact Program Manager Bennadette Mugita presenting on health communications during a Nuru Kenya team building exercise in Mombasa in May 2014. The last few years at Nuru Kenya have been years of tremendous growth. As the organization grew and evolved it became apparent that someone was needed to coordinate across impact programs to ensure …
In June 2015, Nuru hit a major milestone that was seven years in the making: Nuru International’s expat team exited Kenya, leaving behind a fully functioning and locally owned and managed organization dedicated to ending extreme poverty in Migori County and across Kenya. When the first expat team settled in Isibania in 2008, the goal was to …
Feature photo: Nuru Ethiopia Healthcare team presents the program proposal in Hawassa. Left to right: Mathewos Echamo, Telaye Wamisho, Rebecca Dutton, Mekdes Bekele, Zelalem Abera. In July 2015, the Nuru Ethiopia Healthcare team successfully completed and presented our program proposal to our colleagues at Nuru Ethiopia. The completion of this distinctive six-month program planning process is …
Feature photo: Women at a savings group meeting in Meteka Mele, Boreda District, Southern Ethiopia. For the last two or three decades, microfinance has been regarded as the panacea for poverty alleviation by donors and international development experts. There are concrete examples confirming that microfinance has uplifted thousands of people out of poverty, such as the families …
Last September, you held garage sales, and organized benefit dinners to raise over $25,000 to help bring lasting change to our neighbors in Kenya and Ethiopia! #30Ways is back. And you’ll want in. If you have a passion to further Nuru’s work and a willingness to invite …
Nuru works with farmers in groups. Mama Hellen was elected to lead her group, Isebania Umoja. To provide for her family all year round and educate her children, she relies on farming with Nuru Kenya’s Agriculture Program. Mama Hellen Boke Monanka is a hard working farmer in Kuria, southwest Kenya. At 43, she’s married and …
As the car weaved in and out of the two-lane road, I observed the Ugandan drivers in the streets of Kampala, amazed at their tenacity and confidence feeling unsure but safe in this taxi on our way to Entebbe Airport. I was happy to be a mere passenger on this journey allowing Charles, the taxi …
Feature photo: Nuru Ethiopia Education team at Program Proposal Graduation (left to right: Getachew Abebe, Teferi Womber, Kevin Nascimento, Wondemagegn Gezahegn, and Feven Yimer). We’ve done it! To the Nuru Ethiopia Education team, I can only say but one thing, gobez! – ‘good job!’ in Amharic! Completion of the Program Planning Process (PPP) marks a major milestone in …
Feature photo: The Nuru Kenya District Scaling team pushes ahead into unknown territory. Nuru has always possessed a strong bias toward action. As a team, we’ve learned and improved our model by formulating creative solutions to myriad obstacles. So when the challenge of how to select a district for scaling arose, Nuru was up to …
Happening Now Anchor Jon Scott brings the nation “good news” by interviewing Jake Harriman – discussing Jake’s recent speech before former Presidents Bush and Clinton, the market gap Jake noticed that led him to found Nuru International and how Nuru’s unique integrated approach to ending extreme poverty depends on local leaders building and scaling programs on their own. Iraq War veteran’s …
Feature photo: NKSE poultry farm employees load eggs into a tuk-tuk to be delivered to local dukas (stores). June 2015 marked Nuru International’s achievement of its most exciting milestone to date—its expat exit of Nuru Kenya after seven rewarding, and of course, challenging years on the ground. For Nuru Kenya Social Enterprises (NKSE) in its …
Clinton Global Initiative, an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, convenes global leaders to create and implement innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. Nuru International, a US-based social venture, equips local leaders in remote rural areas to eradicate extreme poverty in their communities. As a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, Nuru has been …
A more appropriate name for this post would be something like: “11 Lessons from Living in Rural Southern Ethiopia for 2 years and Working with the Leadership Team to Build Local Leadership Capacity, Design our 4 Impact Programs (Agriculture, Financial Inclusion, Healthcare and Education) and Launch a Burgeoning Development Organization in a New Country.” However, …
Feature photo: Nuru Kenya Education Facilitator Wang’enyi Conslata Babere leading a training on project management for newly hired field officers. This week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, key stakeholders, government officials and development experts are meeting for a ground-breaking summit to discuss funding strategies for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2014, in an effort to …