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 …
The New Year finds the education team invigorated and preparing to launch the outreach program. Once the program’s implementation schedule is complete, our first priority is to communicate our goals and plans to the community and relevant Ministry, government and school officials. Our intention is to communicate in a way that engages these parties and …
The last post updated you on a lot of the happenings here on this team…and not too much has changed! Janine is working for Aerie on the international team, which is personally sad for me because I love working with Janine, but it makes a lot of sense for our organization and even the Research …
I want to report on a few different things this week, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to do a good job with transitions, but hey, I’ll try. Let’s just see how it goes: First of all, Janine and Lindsay presented their recommendations about the Healthcare program early this week to Jake, Aerie, and …
The Hope Shop Near Migori there is a roadside store, a bright green-painted shack perched on a steep hillside. It’s called the Hope Shop, and every time I pass it I think, wouldn’t it be nice if it was that easy? Buying a little hope at the same place you get soda and gum? The …
Oh, it’s nervous times here at Nuru, I must say. Good times, but nervous times. Janine Brown and Lindsay Cope are getting ready to present their recommendations to Jake, Vivian, and Aerie about the size, shape, look, feel, intent, and meaning of our overhauled Healthcare program. They are recommending some exciting stuff, but a lot …
“The loan contracts might be in that box. No, not that box. Don’t touch that box, it could explode.” I pause in my search for the contracts and turn slowly to look at Charles, our newest office clerk, calmly typing as if he had informed me that we are out of staples. We’ve recently moved …
Ten work days remain before the U.S. team heads out for winter break. My usual gleeful countdown to a vacation has not set in – instead I am willing the days to be longer so my team can make a final push to refine and test our model before the holiday break. This past week, …