Become a Global Citizen and Change Lives--Join the Noble Fight!

Changed lives—Stories of hope and inspiration



Staring into the future without fear

Had it not been for Solidarity House CBO’s table banking program Ms Purity Makandi, now 30, would not have recalled how it feels to smile. Her mother died in 1991 and changed her life forever-and, most likely, her 10-year-old son would have been headed to the same road were it not for this program. Now Makandi has a reason to smile. Although her past memories have brought her so much suffering, now she has a lot to look forward to--Solidarity House CBO has changed her life for the better. She says that she is sure her son will not end up being semi-illiterate like herself. The table banking services program has brought back her lost hope, which had been lost through her past misfortunes. “I’m now sure of getting money every month. The worry I used to have due my son’s school fees is now gone. I can now sleep well at night and plan for tomorrow with confidence unlike before.”

Makandi had to discontinue her primary education to take care of her brother’s two sons when her mother died. The boys were aged 2 and 3. She assumed the role of her mother who used to look after them when they were abandoned by their mother. Besides fending for herself, she had an extra burden of taking care of her two nephews.

For survival, Makandi got into a relationship with a man who promised to marry her. But he left her upon realizing that she was pregnant. Makandi is now a single mother. “I’m not scared like before. With or without the man I will be able to support my boy.” And as she emphasizes her statement with a smile she adds: “this is all thanks to Solidarity House and the table banking program. I now can stare into my future without fear!”

My business, my power

Motivated by easy access to funds at her group every month, Faith Kagwiria, a mother of two, began a small business. And although the business premise is a small wooden kiosk which also serves as her home, she can afford to smile to her renewed dream of becoming a successful business woman. “Unlike other microfinance institutions where you are not guaranteed of money upon repaying a loan, table banking gives you the assurance you need to start a business as you will have access to money every month,” Kagwiria says about the table banking services program. “I think I will realizing my long time dream of succeeding in business. Once this happens, I will harness the opportunity I need to compete in today’s world.”

Like most women in Kenya, Kagwiria is the breadwinner in her extended family. Besides her husband and children, other members of her family look to her for support. “My family’s situation makes me to work very hard. I know I will succeed and take care of my needy family members someday.” Sadly, most men spend their time drinking liquor. Kagwiria’s husband is such a man. It is against this backdrop that Solidarity House CBO endeavors to promote table banking services program in order to economically empower especially women to better assume their bread-winning role in the family.


Getting Involved

(a) Donor

1. As a donor, you can make our “girl effect education” scheme for poverty eradication a dream come true through your generous contribution. Every year, when the fund produces a 50% growth, numerous girls are bound to benefit from this scheme for a lengthy period of time because the money you give as donation stays ‘alive’ and only what it produces goes away to the beneficiary each time.
2. Also, as a donor you can help the extremely poor groups to get to the first rung of development ladder by boosting their shares. In some areas in Kenya, people go to bed hungry for many days (according to the statistics released by the Poverty Eradication Commission of Kenya, poverty stood at 46% in 2005/2006- and this result had not anticipated the post election violence of 2008). With donor funds, nearly 17 million people living in poverty in Kenya can be given hope through the table banking scheme. And just like the “girl effect education” scheme, the money will stay ‘alive’ to continue boosting shares for the in-coming poor groups who are unable to transact business for lack of capital-money on the table for borrowing.

(b) If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention!

If you do not have material means to support the noble fight, your voice counts. Join other Global Citizens around the world and support various campaigns that seek to eradicate poverty and defend human rights worldwide. Such organizations include Amnesty International, Oxfam, and United Nations Foundation.

DONATIONS CAN BE DEPOSITED TO:

SOLIDARITY HOUSE C.B.O, STANDARD CHARTERED BANK KENYA LIMITED, MERU BRANCH, ACCOUNT NO. 0102002078500, SWIFT CODE: SCBLKENX


CONTACT:

P.O. Box 1578-60200, Meru, Kenya. Tel: (254) 711385722,
E-mail: info.solidarityhouse@gmail.com

Education: A Sure Way to Eradicate Poverty

1. Introduction

Since time immemorial, gender has been a big issue. Yet the role gender plays toward a sustained economy of any nation is undeniably crucial. For example, contributions of women to the development of most countries have failed to be recognized in a manner likely to prompt governments to consider investing more in development initiatives geared to empowering women. Had this been done, benefits would encompass everyone, now and in the future.

At the international level, specific human rights instruments have emerged to try and address the issue of women, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 1979 and its Optional Protocol, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women 1993, and the follow-up ‘Beijing Platform Plus 5’ Special Session of the General Assembly. Women’s rights continue to be advocated at this level to ensure that this very important issue stays on the agenda with a view to urge governments to mainstream gender equity in important development areas like constitution, legislature, institutions and policy regimes.

Like most African countries, Kenya continues to lag behind in this area of reform. For example, gender relations in Kenya show that discrimination against women and inequitable practices are prevalent at various levels of the society. And, unfortunately, they are largely embodied in the legal system and administrative structures of the government. Discrimination against women is also securely anchored in the customs and traditional practices of various communities across the country. One of the areas in which gender imbalance is quite common is the area of resource allocation and management. And although women account for over seventy percent of the productive land-based labor force in Kenya, land relations in particular are based on laws, customs, and practices that are aimed at marginalizing and disempowering women. Against this backdrop of utter marginalization of women in a developing country such as Kenya, what would be the most plausible approach toward ensuring an empowered generation of women for enhancing a sustainable growth in both our economy and social life?

2. The ‘Girl effect’ Education Fund: Promoting Girls’ Education through Table Banking Services Concept

Although Solidarity House CBO does not have the resources to break the vicious cycle of illiteracy especially among women and girls in Kenya, the organization continues to gradually promote education under its current program of table banking services as a gradual, sure way of winning the battle against poverty in the country. For example, “education booster fund,” one of the products of table banking services, has seen many of our clients raise enough money for paying their children’s school fees every year. The fund grows by 50%.

While this is a positive note in promoting education among the vulnerable groups in Kenya, the emphasis the girl child education deserves in order to accelerate the fight against poverty is far from being realized. A more holistic approach to successfully fight poverty would therefore be to promote the girl child education through the table banking services which is currently one of the major activities that seeks to economically empower women and youth. Solidarity House CBO is in the process of implementing a special education program for girls under the “education booster fund” scheme. Through its network of self-help groups, the organization will introduce a “girl-effect education fund” in its table banking services concept, which will operate as explained above. However, the fund will come from donors to specifically promote education for female children of the group members. Through partnership with the donor community the “girl-effect education” scheme for poverty eradication can become a dream come true. Every year, when the fund produces a 50% growth, numerous girls are bound to benefit from this scheme for a lengthy period of time because the money given as donation stays ‘alive’ and only what it produces goes away to the beneficiary each time.

Channeling education-related funds through such a scheme is not only effective in promoting education but is also secure as there have been many incidents of education funds being misappropriated even at the government level. In other words, the funds will be squarely in the hands of the ‘owners’. It is believed that once the effect is experienced among the beneficiaries in real and practical terms, it will be a matter of time before the same can be rolled out to the group members with a view to encouraging them to consider enrolling in adult education programs as well.

3. Advocacy

Working with girls is not hard, because what one needs to do is, according to the Nike Foundation’s Girl effect, Your Move program, “just aim for this one goal: catching her at the right time”-when a girl becomes an adolescence. And any work setting can accommodate this campaign, including schools of Higher learning as no one is required to begin a new program for girls but fit the same into the work we are doing.

Besides promoting education among girls through the “girl effect education” investment, the advocacy initiative will encourage people at various levels of work to participate in the “girl effect” campaign to keep girls, and the world, on a positive path.


At this moment of transition, we can ensure that the girl’s window of opportunity is not slam shut forever by ensuring that she:

1. does not drop out of school;
2. does not get married;
3. does not become pregnant; and
4. does not get exposed to HIV

The Noble Fight: Eradicating Poverty in our Midst

Table Banking Services

Solidarity House CBO, an organization involved in fighting poverty in rural Kenya, works with groups registered with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development as self-help groups or community-based organizations. We train these groups in the management of their funds (and those loaned to them from external sources) in a table setting, hence the name -“Table Banking”. Here, group members have access to funds without having to unnecessarily worry about the often strict loaning requirements imposed by most commercial banks, especially the requirement that they put up collateral for loans. The group is the overall guarantor for all external funds given to members through the group, but members are required to guarantee one another at the individual level. Practically, members contribute money as savings and borrow immediately. They are entitled to borrowing based on the amount of shares saved. All this is done openly on the table, and, conceptually, the revolving money is not saved in a commercial bank but goes with members who are expected to repay with a 10% interest within a month. The 10% interest is shared as follows: 7% goes to the group as dividends, 2% becomes the borrower’s additional shares and 1% is set aside for training and record keeping. Due to the duration of repayment, the loan is called “short term loan”. It accounts for twice the number of shares of the member seeking loan while “long term loan,” payable in more than one month, is thrice the number of shares. Unlike most microcredit institutions or commercial banks, this particular program distinctively underlines a ‘win-win’ character in its service delivery—that is, the program benefits all parties, not just microcredit institutions and banks.

Solidarity House CBO works with the poorest segment of the society; the vulnerable and the marginalized who often exhibit a considerable degree of illiteracy. As such, one of the greatest challenges of the organization involves building the capacity of its clients so that they apply the concept of Table Banking properly, thereby achieving the economic empowerment objective. But statistics still show that the level of education of a vast majority of members of these groups remains comparatively low in relation to others in the society. Apparently, most of the group members are women.

The Community Bank

Upon training more than 20 groups over a period of 7 months, Solidarity House CBO successfully led the groups toward the formation of a community bank in 2010, which is the fourth of its kind in the country. Approving the formation of the bank, the Ministry of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030, through its Poverty Eradication Commission, noted:

The Commission is impressed at the stage you have reached towards the formation of the district board…

Although the government believes in the power of the community bank in fighting poverty, no funds were available to this bank upon being approved. This led the directors of the bank to request Solidarity House CBO, which continues to train and provide technical support to the program and serves as the bank’s Financial Intermediary, to undertake fundraising on behalf of the bank in its Minutes of the Board Meeting held on April 6, 2010.