By Robert L. Strauss IF JAKE HARRIMAN’S EPIPHANY about war and peace came in 2003 along Highway 7 in southern Iraq, then Alex Martin’s arrived aboard the Magellan Star, a German-owned cargo ship pirated off the coast of Somalia in 2010. Martin, a major in the Marine Corps reserve who co-directed Nuru’s operations in Kenya …
Involving key stakeholders when initiating a project in a new community is essential to the success of any intervention. If a community is involved from the start, it is more likely that the community will accept the programs, become active decision-makers and ultimately advocates and ambassadors for the program. Nuru Kenya takes great care to …
On Friday, October 9th, Nuru Kenya hosted a community-wide event where over 1000 people—including Nuru farmer households, staff, partners, community stakeholders and government officials—gathered to commemorate the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. This provided Nuru Kenya with the opportunity to celebrate our progress in Kuria West and seek buy-in from the community, government and …
MIGORI COUNTY, KENYA—In commemoration of the upcoming International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17, 2015, Nuru Kenya is hosting a gathering at the office of the Mabera Division District Officer on October 9, 2015 starting at 9:00 AM EAT. This event is open to the community. Nuru Kenya has extended invitations to …
In the 2015 long rains harvest season, Nuru Kenya piloted an approach of linking farmers to reliable markets where they can commercialize their crops. By aggregating and selling farmers’ surplus produce, Nuru Kenya helps farmers optimize their earning potential and make the most of their crop yields. Market linkage activities involve a number of steps …
Feature photo: A Nuru Kenya Healthcare Field Manager introduces himself to a Nuru farmer family during a home visit. As the Nuru Kenya Healthcare Training Manager, I was delighted to add seven new Healthcare Field Officers (FOs) to my team. After their successful recruitment, training and shadowing, it was time for the mapping process whereby FOs would locate …
As a woman journeying through various roles in different organizations, I have grappled with conflicting cultural expectations whenever I dared to seek challenging but fulfilling experiences. Fierce competition notwithstanding, gender intricacies further complicate women’s access to leadership opportunities—more so in the rural, remote communities in the developing world where leadership roles are deemed masculine. I …
After only two months on the job with Nuru in 2012, we were confronted with a teacher strike. At that time, I did not know a lot about the political dynamics surrounding the teachers’ strike, but I wasn’t expecting it to become a yearly occurrence. Once again, as has been the case for the past 4 …
Feature photo: Impact Program Manager Bennadette Mugita presenting on health communications during a Nuru Kenya team building exercise in Mombasa in May 2014. The last few years at Nuru Kenya have been years of tremendous growth. As the organization grew and evolved it became apparent that someone was needed to coordinate across impact programs to ensure …
In June 2015, Nuru hit a major milestone that was seven years in the making: Nuru International’s expat team exited Kenya, leaving behind a fully functioning and locally owned and managed organization dedicated to ending extreme poverty in Migori County and across Kenya. When the first expat team settled in Isibania in 2008, the goal was to …
Feature photo: Women at a savings group meeting in Meteka Mele, Boreda District, Southern Ethiopia. For the last two or three decades, microfinance has been regarded as the panacea for poverty alleviation by donors and international development experts. There are concrete examples confirming that microfinance has uplifted thousands of people out of poverty, such as the families …
Nuru works with farmers in groups. Mama Hellen was elected to lead her group, Isebania Umoja. To provide for her family all year round and educate her children, she relies on farming with Nuru Kenya’s Agriculture Program. Mama Hellen Boke Monanka is a hard working farmer in Kuria, southwest Kenya. At 43, she’s married and …
Feature photo: The Nuru Kenya District Scaling team pushes ahead into unknown territory. Nuru has always possessed a strong bias toward action. As a team, we’ve learned and improved our model by formulating creative solutions to myriad obstacles. So when the challenge of how to select a district for scaling arose, Nuru was up to …
Feature photo: NKSE poultry farm employees load eggs into a tuk-tuk to be delivered to local dukas (stores). June 2015 marked Nuru International’s achievement of its most exciting milestone to date—its expat exit of Nuru Kenya after seven rewarding, and of course, challenging years on the ground. For Nuru Kenya Social Enterprises (NKSE) in its …
Feature photo: Elias Fanta (middle) with Nuru Ethiopia Financial Inclusion team during the Financial Inclusion Program Planning Process in Zefine, Ethiopia. In June 2015, Nuru International achieved a significant milestone: the exit of expat staff from Kenya. Having served an expat rotation and as the only member of African descent on the U.S. international operations …