Ninja vs Penguin

Penguin June 14th, 2010

Pray for:
- God’s provision to Rosemary and her family.
- Micro-finance to go beyond just giving loans, but doing business evaluation too

What happened:
- morning class got rained out
- met Ken at prestige, went down town
- went around different places to get brochures, did some souvenir shopping
- went to lunch, met Felix, a documentary photojournalist and filmmaker.
- went around to look at various banks
- went to Yaya
- went to Kibra Academy. met with Rosemary’s mom
- went to Prestige, had dinner with Ken and Eva
- went home

Today, I met with Rosemary’s mom, along with Ken and Principal Sobwa. She hadn’t been able to afford school fees, so the intention was to find out what was going on.

Her mom had a small business as a caterer. But she got sick, fell behind, and couldn’t afford stock to keep the business going.

We started by looking at her weekly business expenses. Groceries, rent, salary for her 1 employee, etc. Then we looked at how much she was making gross.

Afterwards, we looked at her personal expenses for herself and her two daughters. We asked about food, rent, clothes, toiletries, etc. As we were asking these questions, some of them numbers she quoted regarding toiletries and clothing were woefully low. She was quoting 200 KSH ($2.50 USD) a month for 3 women, which would include pads for feminine needs. Unrealistic by any standard.

After budgeting more appropriately, it was determined that she would not be able to make ends meet. She would be short by 2000 KSH ($25) per week.

Then, we asked her if there were any ways that she could expand her business. She said that the area that she was in was oversaturated. One solution was to move to a different area to set up shop, but rent and expenses would be higher too.

Before we sent her home, we asked her to put together a business plan, do some market analysis, and return on Wednesday so we can look it over.

If all goes well, we’ll be entering the micro-finance business.

In the meantime, the money raised for Rosemary’s school fees will be used like a scholarship to ease pressure on her mom.

• Kenya: Day 32 – Faulu Micro-finance (0)
• Kenya: Day 26 – School fees (0)
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Tags: Entrepreneurship, Kenya 2010, Microfinance, Missions, School fees, Trips

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Penguin June 10th, 2010

Pray for:
- Rosemary gets the provision to return to school
- Wisdom and insight of what to do about Rosemary and what to say to her parents

What happened:
- met with Koo at Java House to talk about climbing Mt Kenya
- went home and converted footage from MOV to WMV for Windows Movie Maker
- went to Prestige to meet with Pastor Faith, who didn’t show
- went to Kibra Academy. Futama finished shooting today. i brought the kids chocolate cake that Helen, from my small group, had made

Yesterday, Rosemary, one of my students, at Kibra Academy came up to me and apologized for not being around. She hasn’t been attending school because she can’t afford school fees.

I talked to the principle today, and he told me that he had already let her come for one term, waiting for payment. She has since started her second term.

In total, Rosemary owes 12,000 KSH ($250 USD) for this year. And most likely the same amount for next year, where she’ll be a senior. Then 5,000 KSH ($75 USD) for the national exam. For a total of $575 USD to finish high school.

It seems like a shame that she should be kept from her future because she can’t afford to go to school. Sadly, her story is indicative of many in Kibera.

My heart goes out to Rosemary. She’s bright, she’s eager, and she’s studios. I would consider her one of the stars in my class. I want to tell her that she doesn’t have to worry about school, that it’s covered. But is that the wisest solution?

This is one of the problems Filamujuani is looking to fix. But how best to fix it? How do you make it sustainable?

I asked the principle if I could meet the parents on Monday. I don’t know what I’m going to say or ask. But if I can figure out a way to keep her in school without directly sponsoring her, that would be preferable. But if we can’t come to a decision, am I willing to sponsor her?

Say I do sponsor her. What about the other kids who can’t pay school fees?

Today, Futama wrapped production on her first short film today, Sumatra.

It was really great seeing a crowd form to watch them shoot. It was to the point where they were getting in the way of the wide shots that Futama was shooting.

Monday, we will start production on Shaban’s film.

• Kenya: Day 30 – Entrepreneurship (1)
• Kenya: Day 24 – Cheers! (1)
• Kenya: Day 19 – Production (0)
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• Kyrgyzstan: Day 2 – 7/8/08 (0)

Tags: Kenya 2010, Missions, Production, School fees, Trips

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