I write this week from the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where the waves are crashing heavily and Hurricane Earl is brewing off the coast. We expect it to hit in a couple of hours. I’ve spoken on the phone and g-chatted today with several colleagues and friends, and every one has reacted to the …
A couple of weeks ago, I talked about finishing the baseline for Nyamaharaga. However, we’re not interested in just collecting data. We want to begin conversations with the community so that we can create solutions tukapamoja (“together” in Swahili). So, we’ve been presenting our results to the community, showing them just how contaminated many of …
Today was supposed to be our big meeting to resolve the Taragwiti sponsorship situation. The DEO had called the meeting and had invited the local chiefs, parents, Salvation Army representatives, Nuru representatives, school staff and all other interested parties. This situation is complex. Our education team is treading softly. We don’t want to incite the …
Nuru Is “On the Map” I hope you don’t mind the slight interruption of the 2-week mapping video series, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share a bit of recent news that impacts Nuru’s presence in Kenya. While we have been working diligently to make a reliable map of the area that includes …
August is over! My three favorite months of the year have come to an end. I can’t help but feel a little melancholy during this time of year, just because of the little chill that makes its way into the Ohio air and memories of my childhood and saying goodbye to the childhood friends I …
In my last post I wrote about designing for the extreme user, and Nuru’s holistic, need-based solution for our target “users”, those living in extreme poverty. This week I’d like to think about a different kind of extreme user – the individual poised to break away from extreme poverty. If Nuru’s programs work as they …
A couple of weeks ago, I talked about the desperate need that we saw in a place called Moheto. People were literally drinking from muddy pits that they had dug into the ground. Since the land there is mostly flat, these pits contained stagnant water that was a breeding ground for bacteria. However, this past …
Here is what Francis and Victoria had to say regarding the recent developments. We will be able to provide a clearer assessment of the situation after our meeting on September 1st.
It’s been some time since we’ve posted about Nuru’s Poverty Intelligence Network, but rest assured it’s very much alive and continuing to shape the way Nuru understands aspects of community life. I’m Nathalie Collins, Nuru’s summer intern working alongside the foundation team here in Kuria. Unlike program managers in each of Nuru’s core areas, my …
Expanding to Nyamaharaga So we just finished our baseline survey of Nyamaharaga, one of the new areas that Nuru is expanding to. Want to know where Nyamaharaga is? Well feast your eyes on this Google Map. The locations with numbers (ie 391) are places where people are currently getting there water (“Nymaharaga Pr” is a primary …
Yesterday I went to Bhavini’s, the local grocer, to pick up a few things. While I was waiting to pay, I watched as the man in front of me laid all the school supplies his daughter needed for the coming term on the counter. He was asking Patel, the proprietor, how much each item cost. …
A Taste Of My Own Medicine Not only do the Benidictos (see last post) of the developing world inspire me to do my job daily, but motivating also is having the opportunity to take a ride in our community members’ shoes. For those of us who have grown up with the understanding that the flu …
Every two weeks I have a conference call with a group of friends to discuss a new and creative design of an ideal political economy in today’s day and age. There are four of us: one in New York, one in San Francisco, one in Atlanta, and myself in Columbus. We give ourselves some homework …
The Community Economic Development program is established on savings-led credit and good financial planning. To that extent, we have programs that encourage saving and financial planning before taking out a loan. It is a reasonable path for individual economic development. But design thinking teaches us to profile “the extreme user”. Design thinking is described as …
Moheto Stagnant Springs We just started a baseline survey in one of the new areas called Moheto (read here for info on what a baseline is), and the needs there are tremendous. In the other areas that we’ve surveyed, we at least see some protected springs, in which (relatively) clean water that pops up from …