Nuru

Introducing Nuru Education Training Manager George Nyamweya

The Education Program has seen tremendous growth in facilitation skills over the past few months. This growth is in no doubt thanks to the outstanding trainings of our new training manager George Nyamweya. George worked his way up from Education Coordinator to Field Manager to Training Manager within Nuru’s Education Program. George has a thirst

A Day in the Life of Nuru Agriculture Input Issue

Kenya has a bi-modal rain pattern, meaning it has two rainy seasons. The “short rains” season occurs from October to December, while the “long rains” begin in late February and last up to June. As the long rains season approaches, the Nuru Kenya Agriculture program has started one of the most logistically intense operations of

Thriving in Kenya: an Interview with Claire Rumpsa

We all thought we had Claire Rumpsa pegged. Smart, kind, diligent, and armed with a hint of Northern Irish strength. But fresh off a recent field visit I can assure you that’s is only just the start. I’ve come to find that Claire yields an unexpected sense of humor, just a good shade on the

Celebrating Nuru Team’s Progress in 2012

Looking back and reflecting is something I have never been that good at. The pace of my life over the past five years and the aggressiveness of what we are trying to achieve at Nuru keeps me running so fast that I seldom feel like I can pause, take a breath and take stock of

New Nuru Country Project in Ethiopia

*For an explanation of Nuru’s Proof of Concept, see below. I’m very excited about the launch of our new country project in Ethiopia. I just spent the last three months in Arba Minch, Ethiopia laying the foundation for the project – developing required administrative infrastructure, building a solid logistics and support base, conducting early M&E

Group Savings Give the Opportunity to Meet Communities’ Financial Needs

In July 2012 about 106 Community Economic Development (CED) Msingi wa KAPESA savings club (Mwak) members have lent to their members an aggregate of 448,000Ksh (Kenyan Shillings) in microloans. The loans were given for a three month term. At the end of the third month, all clients successfully paid their loan on the agreed terms and time frame

Indigenous Knowledge, International Development & Smallholder Agriculture

Recently, I was posed a question: How does indigenous knowledge fit into Nuru International’s Agriculture Program? With such a vibrant history in our current countries of operation, Kenya and now Ethiopia, Nuru International’s Agriculture Program leverages the vast sum of knowledge accumulated by local people to create and implement sustainable and scalable agriculture interventions for

Learning From Others: Matt Lee Visits Proximity Designs in Myanmar

I had a great opportunity to visit Proximity Designs and see the work that they’ve been doing in Myanmar. I got to spend time with the design group, led by David Klaus, which is now busy producing a new plastic pump and water basket for farmers there. This group performs needs finding in the community,

Nuru Education Highlights: Team Growth and Management

I recently returned to the States from a visit with the education team in Kenya. We covered a lot of ground in two short weeks. Today, I’ll pass along the highlights from my trip. During my visit with the team, I shadowed outreach throughout Isibania division and worked with the team on areas of growth.

Thank You Nuru

This morning was a foggy morning here in Cincinnati, much like the one above. I didn’t take this picture, it’s from here. I also didn’t see this exact image as this shot was taken from Kentucky, but I did drive along the river to a board meeting this morning, so I got to see the

Nuru Leadership Looks Ahead to Improving Scheduling and Staff Trainings in 2013

With Feedback training in full swing and our Field Managers busy practicing and delivering the training, the Leadership District Managers decided that this would be the perfect time for us to turn our attention to the coming year. While it may seem like the new year is still far away, we have a few big

Nuru Education Team Sets Sights on the 2013 School Year

Looking Ahead This week we are winding down our outreach program for 2012, which has made tremendous strides throughout the past 12 months. Unfortunately, due to the national teachers strike, we will not be able to take our mobile learning center to schools during the school break because the school schedule got pushed back to

An Overview of Nuru’s Agriculture Program Impact and Growth in 2012

Days are busy at the Regional Training Center for Nuru Kenya Agriculture Program staff. With the planting season looming, the staff are preparing to issue agricultural input loans and then subsequently distribute fertilizer and seed to farmers all over Kuria West. In 2013, the program will be working in seven new sublocations. Additionally, the farmer

Education Uwezo Literacy Assessment 2012

During the 2012 academic year, the Nuru Education Program conducted classroom outreach in nine primary schools in Isibania Division, Kuria West District, Kenya. Nuru’s Education Program aims to increase child literacy to the Standard 2 (class 2) level among rural public, primary school students through intensive student-centered teaching and literacy-focused interventions. Workshops were held for

Research and Development Program Strives for Efficient Design and Production

The Research and Development (R&D) Program has been hard at work developing the different teams of the program: Product Design, Production/Servicing, and Logistics. Here’s a quick overview of what each team has been up to. Product Design: We’ve decided to focus our skills in finding and selecting products that have proven impact. There are many great ideas

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