SHOFCO Updates
Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) is a grassroots movement that catalyzes large-scale transformation in urban African slums by providing critical services for all, community advocacy platforms, and education and leadership development for women and girls. In addition to supplying 2.5 million liters of water, 6 health clinics in Kiberia and Mathare, and 954 youth job placements, SHOFCO has recently launched a Manyatta Community Resource Center in Kisumu County. The facility features a community-based library and amenities for the SHOFCO Women Empowerment Program.
Success Stories from The SHOFCO Women Empowerment Program:
Irene had been running her business for a few years in Mathare urban slum before she enrolled in entrepreneurship and employability training at SHOFCO. The 34-year-old says:
“When I attended the training, I learnt some skills that are helping me to grow my business. Before the training I had no idea about record keeping or customer care. I was just doing the business of plaiting people’s hair to make some money to pay my bills.”
One-year after the training; there is a huge difference in how she runs her business.
“I am now keeping records of what I buy, what I use and what I earn on a daily basis. I track my profits and losses, and I am able to save some profit to increase my stock,” says the mother of three, adding that she has developed some form of financial discipline to ensure she achieves her goal of owning a boutique and salon.
“The least I can make in a day is KSH300 ($3) and the most I can make in a day especially on weekends is KSH2,000 ($20),” she says.
Irene saves a quarter of her earnings, injects half of it in her business, and uses the remainder to supplement her husband’s earnings to provide basic needs for their family.
Halima Shabani, joined SHOFCO’s employability program in 2017.
She says: “I gained a lot of skills including the ability to dress accordingly, organize myself, develop a curriculum vitae and also the ability to communicate better. One thing I always appreciate for the employability training is that it opened my eyes to start seeing business ideas in my environment. I started thinking about starting a business!”
Halima would enroll in SHOFCO’s entrepreneurship and business skills training program in 2019 where she learnt customer care, branding, marketing strategies, business costing and record keeping.
“The training laid a foundation for me to establish my own business in 2019. I add value to groundnuts to produce roasted groundnuts and peanut butter,” Halima says.
Halima started her business with her KSh3,000 (USD30) savings and is currently supplying her community with the products. She also delivers the products to her customers from outside her community.
“I market my groundnuts and peanuts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. They have greatly exposed my business and I even have customers from outside Nairobi,” she says with a broad smile.
Halima is also web development student in a college in Nairobi
“I prepare my products at night because I go to school during day time. I also get breaks during the day to deliver the products to my customers. Good time management has helped me a lot,” she adds.
During the COVID-19 period, her business has been affected. She says restriction of movement and fears of being infected with COVID-19 has been a threat to her business.
“People in the community still consume my products although demand has been a bit low. People have lost income and they are prioritizing other things. What has helped me is expansion of my customer base. I spend most of my daytime now delivering products to my customers within Nairobi,” she adds.
Thank you, SHOFCO! Read more success stories here
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