Kakamega Region - First Week of Longevity Study

Written on April 5, Kakemega Region, Kenya
By Christine Rose

This past week, four Kenyan Evaluators and I spent a full week in the Field conducting the Village Enterprise Fund Longevity Study in the Kakemega Region of Kenya (the first of six regions to be included in the Study). As a refresher, the purpose of this Longevity Study is to evaluate how many small businesses that received VEF Grants ($150 Grants to the poorest of the working poor) from the timeframe of 2004 to 2008, are still operational. This is to to affirm the health of the program for those providing grants, and also for VEF to get visibility into the long-term success of the grants and where improvements could be made moving forward.

Three of the four Evaluators, from left to right in the photo above, are Duncan, Philip and Mike – see if you can pick me out of the crowd! The team has proven to be all and more than I could hope for – they are very hard-working (we generally spent 12-hour days in the Field which is closer to Silicon Valley working hours than Kenyan), are smart and intuitive, and have been as eager as I to secure valid results for this study. We have all been personally impacted by the people we have met, and the stories we have heard along the way… more to follow later in this blog.

Our goal was to locate and meet with 60 business entrepreneurs in the Kakamega Region in one week; this averaged to each Evaluator visiting 3 businesses per day (I accompany one Evaluator each day). So, you say to yourself, what so hard about that?? Let me attempt to provide a little context… Let’s say you were dropped in the middle of the Bay Area, never having been there before. You are given the names of 60 start-up businesses that were launched between 2004 and 2008. You are armed with the names of the businesses – but you soon discover that either no one actually uses their formal business name (trust me, there are no sign placards on tiny roadside kiosks), or their business type has changed over the years. No worries, you have more information; you have the names of the five original group members – but wait, the names on the documentation are their official names, but no one goes by those names, and community members don’t recognize individuals by those names. And, just in case you are feeling a little lacking in information, you are given a map – but it’s a map of the US which hardly shows the location of San Francisco, let alone Bay Area detail; no maps to the detail you need exist – nor do most of the streets have names. You are only allowed to use public transportation, and you have a total of 3 hours on average to locate a business, find one of the business owners, and conduct a formal interview. I personally think that “The Amazing Race” is out, and I’ll launch a new reality series called “Sleuth” upon my return, with the above as the criteria, set in various exotic worldwide locations – do you think it’ll take off?

OK, now that I’ve painted a pretty dismal picture, can I just say what a rush we get each time we locate a business, given these tough search parameters? And I am very proud to say, that the team has been able to locate almost every business! Granted, some groups have either changed business focus, or have gone out of business over the past 6 years (consider how many in Silicon Valley have gone through this process) – our goal is purely to track down a tie to each business, and after meeting with people originally involved when the VEF Grant was received, to determine (by a number of criteria), if that business is still operational or not (or, to put it more succinctly, if the initial VEF Grant is still benefiting those individuals). Watching the Kenyan “communication network” in action is intriguing –and actually quite effective! Most everyone in rural Kenya is very willing to help out - so imagine women who are planting maize, shouting across fields to their neighbors, asking if any names we are looking for are familiar. Or perhaps the old man on the bicycle who remembers that just a 5 minute piki piki (motorbike) ride away, he recalls seeing a carpentry business that might be the one we are looking for… Or the boda boda (bicycle taxi) guy who suggests we go to the nearby tailor shop to get information about the butcher shop we are seeking… Just locating the businesses has been a wonderful experience and full of fabulous stories! And I know full well that none of this could have been possible, without the help of the local Kenyan team.

And then the businesses owners and their stories…. Of course there are many stories of heart-breaking challenges; family deaths and funeral costs, poor harvests due to weather issues, businesses impacted by the 2007 post-election violence, and the lists goes on. But 3:1, the success stories outweigh the failures; and considering the harsh conditions, I am more than impressed! I could bore you with details of story after story, but I will share only a few highlights… I feel truly blessed that rather than hearing a bunch of statistics, I am getting to personally meet the people and faces behind the statistics – real people with real lives, real hardships, and real dreams.

The first story is of a woman named Flora. She runs a small tailoring business (photo to right). Prior to receiving the VEF Grant, her family had to borrow every basic need from her neighbors, right down to salt. Now that she owns a sewing machine, she is able to be independent, take care of her families’ needs, and can even afford to send her children to school! Flora flashed a gorgeous smile as she shared their small – yet significant – successes.

The second story is of a man named Richard, a Mandazi Distributor (mandazi are fried doughnuts). His business group makes fresh mandazi every morning, and he distributes them to the local community from the back of his bicycle. When I think of the small income he makes, yet the fact that it is enough to give him the push out of absolute poverty so he can now pay rent, feed his family, and buy shoes for his kids, its pretty impressive. I love the sparkle in his eye and look of personal pride, as he shares that he truly is providing for his young family!

The final story is of Margaret – her husband is currently in jail due to a family dispute, and she is responsible for raising their four children on her own. Her small vegetable businesses (started with funds from a VEF Grant) has improved enough that she has been able to buy a cow. Her children have milk to drink, and by selling milk she raised enough money to purchase a goat. Through hard work and perseverance, she is able to provide for her kids and each one is in school. Margaret exhibited such confidence and grace – and pride – as she shared this story with myself and Philip (the Evaluator). I have the utmost respect and admiration for Margaret! I truly don’t think I could be accomplishing what she is, if I were in her same situation… (Picture with Margaret and her kids to the right.)

I am inspired by the individuals I have met thus far, and am encouraged that the work VEF (and many other NGO’s) is doing, is truly making a difference in individuals’ lives.

On a closing note, I cannot imagine a better way to explore a country of vibrant people and beautiful landscapes, than through a study like this! It truly is “Adventure with a Purpose” – the exhileration of speeding through picturesque countrysides on the back of a motorbike, hunting down that elusive business, is an adventure I most highly recommend! I feel that I am getting to know intimately the unique and wonderful country of Kenya – and am loving every moment of it!