Nuru recognizes the potential of developing local leadership as a powerful vehicle for driving impactful, long-term change in our projects. However, we also recognize the significant obstacles that must be overcome in order for leaders from extremely poor backgrounds to rise to their full potential in a rapidly growing organization. As I’ve continued to work …
The news is never lacking in articles and commentary on the next popular development model. There are a plethora of models out and about these days, but only a few ever reach the lime light. The focus for the past few years has been on microfinance and in particular, funding microenterprise through small loans. There’s …
At Nuru we recognize that improved sanitation is a critical part of our holistic integrated model to end extreme poverty. Diseases associated with poor sanitation are particularly correlated with poverty and infancy and alone account for about 10% of the global burden of disease (WHO, 2008).
May has found me back in the project on the brink of launching the outreach program. We have finalized a schedule that takes the outreach programs to every grade level in every public school in our area twice monthly. We will have a consistent presence in the schools without causing any interruptions in the school …
Rachel Godfrey Wood is a consultant researcher for the International Institute for Environment and Development and a regular contributor to its blog, Due South. Below is an excerpt from an recent article that was featured The Guardian. Rachel makes some interesting points on how the poor determine their own wealth, and gives and excellent review of …
A couple of months ago I read a book called What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rodgers. I loved the book. It was a quick read, and it changed my outlook on many aspects of my daily life here in the developed world. It introduced me to …
There is a third reason that I did not list last week that our process for randomization might be a little different from other ones – multiple families living at one homestead. Many of the households that we will be surveying during the MPAT are on homesteads with multiple generations, and every once in a …
Nuru International is pleased to announce our inclusion in the Better Business Bureau’s (BBB) Wise Giving Alliance. In light of recent events in the non-profit sector there has been a renewed outcry by the media and general public for transparency, financial controls and adherence to organizational best practices for all charitable organizations. Nuru International firmly …
I must confess part of the process I go through every week to write these blog posts – I re-read whatever it was that I posted the week before. I have to remind myself what had been most on my mind a week prior. This week something unfortunate happened — and I must confess as …
Working from the States for the past few weeks has provided a great opportunity to accelerate the Kenyan team’s leadership of the education program. I am collaborating with them daily to manage the programs, but they are responsible for operations – an experience that is strengthening their project management skills, their inter-team communication and their …
Less than two weeks to go until the Evaluation! I can’t believe it is so soon. It is going to be an amazing adventure. As I mentioned last week, we have been working to develop a sampling frame for the Evaluation that is appropriately random and representative of our two sub-locations, and we’re narrowing in …
A wise woman named Stephanie Jayne once said, “We have two eyes, two ears and one mouth. And we should use them in this proportion.” For the last month, our census team became the eyes and ears of the new communities where Nuru will soon begin performing an evaluation and thereafter implementing programming. Our data …
“We cannot walk on ground that is not our own.” Francis Magige It’s 9 am. Chelsea and I stomp the dirt off our feet gathered during the 30 minute walk from Nuru House to the Regional Training Center (RTC). Already the RTC is buzzing with the activity of Nuru Kenyans going about their work. Broad …
In the fight against extreme poverty you often get questioning glances when you say you are teaching savings. People wonder, if they are struggling to eat or send their kids to school, how can they possibly manage to set aside anything. What we’ve learned, is that sometimes not having enough is a case of not …
For our water and sanitation program we’ve become convinced that need and demand are not the same, and that demand is the key to sustainability. We appreciate what the folks at Aquaya have to say about consumer demand versus our conception of need . Although our work focuses on different audiences- Aquaya focuses on promising …