‘Boot camp’ does not translate in Swahili. I’m trying to describe the next few months of training that our Field Officers will be going through to build on their skill as loan officers. I tell the team that it will be difficult, a nerdy kind of boot camp, and I hear confused murmuring. “Why is …
Nuru International is using innovative new technologies for mobile banking to increase access to basic financial services for rural households living in extreme poverty in Kuria, Kenya. We are working with Mifos cloud-based MIS and M-PESA mobile money transfer services to create a viable solution to some of the issues that persist in providing financial services in …
Thanks to Aerie and his idea that a small group of us who now constitute the “international” team should meet and talk to one another once a week about issues of importance to the Nuru International world, I got to engage in a riveting discussion today with four colleagues about exit criteria. It’s a tough …
So we’re in the middle of our second round of participatory-based Water and Sanitation Training with our WatSan staff. As I talked about in my other post, “Teaching Leaders How to Facilitate Discussions,” our Field Managers have been doing some mock village trainings (our Field Officers being the “village”) with the PHAST Curriculum (a participatory-based training) in …
This week, we presented the following overview of our programs to the Ministry of Education officials and are hoping to receive their approval within the coming week. With the Ministry of Education’s approval in hand, we can then begin communication with the head teachers, school management committees and parents. Once that is complete, we can …
SustainU, a producer of university related clothing using fabrics made from 100 percent recycled materials made in the USA has launched its “oneSHIRT” initiative, a national drive to collect used clothing to be reused or recycled. They have partnered with over 110 universities and colleges to organize and recruit thousands of campus volunteers who will …
Over 70% of the 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty live in rural areas according to the Rural Poverty Report 2011, produced by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Improvements over the past 10 years have resulted in more that 350 million people being lifted out of extreme poverty, but global poverty still …
This week the CED team held the second annual all member meeting for the KAPESA group savings and loans program. Attendance and participation were high, a good sign that the program is strong as it heads into year three. I had my doubts; attendance last year at the weekly KAPESA representative meetings was low and …
I am reading IFAD’s Rural Poverty Report for 2011 right now. It is pretty fascinating. Many parts of it make me feel proud about the work we are doing here at Nuru. For instance, I am glad that we are working with the rural poor, who comprise a majority of those experiencing poverty in the …
One of the biggest challenges I have faced while working with my team to develop our education model is our isolation from innovation. We are in a remote place, working where there are no other NGOs and the only education approaches in place are private and public schools. I know that this is not a …
The Devil Is In the Details Optimism, a tendency toward type-A activity, and the start-up nature of our endeavor has led the Healthcare program to put the cart before the horse on more than one occasion. For instance, we hosted mobile clinics without considering the longevity of that that type of approach, then we launched …
I am glad I work for Nuru. One of the reasons that I am glad I work for Nuru is that we are a grassroots organization. We spend time with people experiencing extreme poverty and we try to tailor the work we do to their specific needs. We don’t develop solutions from the ivory tower. …
So it seems there is still some work to be done on our handwashing station design. After a month and a half of testing, we realized we had failed to account for certain forces acting upon the handwashing stations… children. We learned that children loved playing with the handwashing stations, which is great, except that …
Last week I had the joy and pleasure of taking a little trip away from unendingly snowy Ohio over to the West Coast (Bay Area to be precise) to attend training for Foundation Team 6. It was an almost perfect few days. On a personal note, the combination of Nuru being a virtual organization, us …
On December 13, Charles M. became the first loan client to finish repaying his boda boda (motorcycle taxi) loan. Last year, we vetted a group of trusted boda boda drivers to pilot the loan. The learning curve was steep and we’ve learned a lot along the way about the risks and costs. The boda boda …