Help 23 needy families get sustainable livelihoods

GLOBAL GIVING REPORT

FEBRUARY 2021

Update on microenterprises

Early this month together with our partners Wessex Social Ventures (WSV) we held a meeting to plan on related activities for the year.  Many of the activities had come to a halt in 2020 due to the outbreak of Covid 19 which affected most of the projects we had set up for guardians. The meeting focused on brainstorming on how the businesses will continue operating without any hindrances and how the families can regain sustainable sources of income. We also discussed the measures we will take aligned with government policies geared towards stopping the spread of Covid 19.

Fig 1. Meeting between WSV and Kickstart Kids

Roots Update

We have been working closely with the community farmers through demonstrations and training to test the root fertilizer which is high in organic matter, improves the soil structure and greatly improves the ability of crops to take up nutrients from soil.

The demo vegetable garden we had set with farmers yielded healthy crops and this proved the effectiveness of the roots fertilizer. Other famers also tested the fertilizer on tree seedlings. We will continue working with the community famers who will help us identify new customers for the fertilizer as they become our ambassadors in the community. The income generated will be directed towards child centered activities.

Kindly see the attached demo for vegetables garden and tree plantations pictures

Fig 2. Vegetable garden

Fig 3 and 4 – Tree seedlings where fertilizer was applied

New family micro-enterprises Updates

We identified a hassle free income generating activity during this period of Covid 19 to boost the guardians and ensure the families a sustained level of income through out since most of the microenterprises that had been implemented earlier were affected by the pandemic.

These were split across a number of families and included livestock faming, masaai beadwork, poultry and salon business. The micro-enterprises were selected according to interest and experiences the guardians had and also what worked better in their geographical location. We have already implemented some of this projects and we are finalizing on the remaining ones.  

We will walk together with the guardians to ensure the project picks up and assist them where they will require our help as we monitor the progress and evaluate if the project meets our objectives.

Herewith are some of the pictures of the income generating activities (IGAs)  

Fig 4 – A guardian being assisted to purchase beads

Fig 5 – A 2nd guardian being assisted to purchase beads

Fig 6  - One of the cows purchased for a family

Fig 7 – Items purchased for Salon business

• Global_giving_report_Feb_2021.pdf (PDF)
  

Roots Update

The Roots fertilizer yielded good results from the trial farm we had previously set up to test how effective it was compared to other fertilizers. This elevated our next step of inviting the community farmers together with our partners from Wesex Social Ventures (WSV) for a demonstration and training to understand Roots fertilizer which is high in organic matter, improves the soil structure and greatly improves the ability of crops to take up nutrients from the soil.

They were taken through the process Roots fertilizer undergoes right away from the toilets to where house where it is converted to nutrient-rich fertilizer which is Root compost that comes from human solid waste and Nitrogen which is human liquid waste.

We together with the farmers had to set up a demo garden in it we planted vegetables of different types such as spinach, kale and the local vegetables. The fertilizer used was Root compost which is for healthy soil and strong roots and Nitrogen which is for green leaves and faster growth.

Together with the farmers we will keep on monitoring the garden to observe the growth of the plants to measure the effectiveness of the fertilizer. This will be our community pillar to empower the community through child centred initiatives.

Herewith are some of the pictures

Introduction of new family micro-enterprises

We have been working closely with our guardians since we reintegrated our latest cohort of children with families, through helping them identify hassle-free income-generating activities during COVID-19 pandemic. We are in the process of starting off new micro-investments for them that will be split across a number of families, which will include poultry business, masaai beadwork business, hairdressing business and dairy cows/goats that will provide milk for sale. This will be additional support in response to COVID-19 which will help them generate basic income for stabilization, get independence from the pandemic and also help keep the kids busy as they wait to resume school in January.

We will give an update of this in our next report