Nuru’s operation tempo and growth over the last few months has been crazy, and with the launch of our new website, I wanted to take the opportunity to update you on Nuru’s International and Domestic Programs. International Programs Leadership/Community Mobilization There are now 670 farm families (about 3,500 people) enrolled as Nuru members. We have …
Nuru International’s Foundation Teams in Kuria, Kenya work hard to promote savings, planning, and budgeting as the cornerstones of the program foundation. So far this year, the CED program has developed several effective strategies to empower Nuru members: the Savings Club Program to accomplish; the Farmer Savings Program, and the Apprentice Program. The CED Program …
This is my first blog post! I am very excited to start communicating with the whole wide world about what I think about every day of the week: poverty measurement. Since this is post number ONE, I’ll start with a little background! Our Senior Research Officer, Stephanie Jayne and I manage Nuru’s Measurement and Evaluation …
The following week Tamwi and I researched the total cost of all the books Gukipimo needed. The price came out to about 50,000 ksh (approx. 675 USD). After playing with some numbers and estimating how much each farmer in Gukipimo could reasonably contribute to buying books, we decided that for every 100 shillings that Tamwi …
Disease Intelligence Network, Part II A while ago I told you all about the concept of the Disease Intelligence Network. As a refresher, the elevator pitch is this: we plan to collect health data and make it useful to the health workers. We want to know who has a cough (and where they are) this …
Most days, I think about my work environment – meetings outside on the grass surrounded by maize fields and cute children – and I feel pretty lucky. Today is not one of those days. David and I are doing our weekly audit of the health center books, not my favorite task. It’s like a painful …
NEW YORK-14 OCTOBER Nuru International held its first East Coast Benefit at the Hudson Terrace in New York City. The event was a huge success with over 100 people attending. Jake Harriman CEO and Founder of Nuru spoke to potential sponsors about the work that Nuru has completed on the ground in Kuria, Kenya and …
Nuru was honored to be invited to the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. Grassroots Movement Director Billy Williams gives a quick update from the event.
When I first visited the primary school in Gukipimo I thought, “Wow, this place looks like it came straight out of one of those sponsor a child ads on tv.” Of all the schools we are working with, Gukipimo is the one in most dire need of infrastructural development. While the primary school has the …
One of our initiatives is to set up hand washing stations. Without running water, it takes some amount of innovation to have a place to wash your hands. Our design is basic: a holey cup with a hook, soap tied by twine (covered by the top of a water bottle) and a small pot or …
Today I got to sit in on the Community Development Committee’s weekly meeting. I wish you could have been there, then you could understand why I have a collective crush on the CDC. Watching them interact and work together makes me so happy.
On October 6th, 2009 Derek and I hopped in my hybrid and began the drive from Morgantown, WV to Atlanta, Georgia. Nuru had just received an invitation to be part of the Social Justice Tent at Catalyst 2009. What does that mean? First, what is Catalyst? Catalyst is a leadership conference in Atlanta, GA that …
Initially I was worried that we would have difficulty getting the parents to commit to going to their schools every morning to check attendance. Most of them are farmers, which means that they often take advantage of the cool morning hours to work on their shambas. Yet, when our Education Field Officers presented the idea …
These last few months, we’ve been working hard at Nyametaburo Health Center. The way medicine is practiced here has really struck me. As an example: a friend had a persistent cough. I took the history and physical and narrowed down to a few possibilities. In medical school, that’s when you get the next round of …