Ladies of Mercy Eastlands - CBO believes in showing people how to change their lives instead of having to rely on others. We believe in providing long term solutions to poverty through giving skills that can provide sustainable incomes. Our greatest challenge is providing the financial support needed to start up in business.
Through business and skills training, we provide women with the opportunity to create and expand businesses in areas such as pig rearing, chicken farming, agriculture, small shops and handcrafts.
Of the 42 tribes in Kenya, 40 of them practice FGM. Girls from the age of six are forced to undergo the traumatic, painful and dangerous practice of FGM despite the Kenyan Government banning it.
We hold seminars in Nairobi, Kisii, Kisumu and other parts of Kenya and alot of Girls attend. The seminars are held In April, August, and December. It costs Ksh 1000 to keep a girl for one week boarding during the training, but unfortunately due to the high rate of poverty few or no girl can afford. This limits our capacity and that of the groups to rescue more girls. We have to raise that money, which proves to be very difficult since we have no funding.
Ladies of Mercy Eastlands - CBO works on the ground with local groups and within the community to advocate for the rights of girls and to help end FGM.
Ladies of Mercy Eastlands - CBO believes in showing people how to change their lives instead of having to rely on others. We believe in providing long term solutions to poverty and hunger through giving those in abject poverty the skills that can provide them with sustainable incomes. Our greatest challenge is providing the financial support that they need to start up their business.
Business Training
We have a training manual that we use to teach local women groups the business skills they need to start and expand small businesses within their communities.
So far we have trained over 100 people from 15 different groups on areas such as marketing, where to buy their stocks and how to manage their money. Each trainee was helped to write a business plan.
Pig Rearing
We intend to start a commercial pig farm that will not only benefit kenya but the global stage at large.
Chicken Rearing
The chicken rearing project began in July 2019. We had to start off on a smaller scale than we wanted - there are vaccinations, antibiotics and glucose... Not to mention the building work, feeder, water dispensers and heat lamps that Ladies of Mercy Eastlands had to get. Another problem is the unreliability of the power supply.
For over a year now Ladies of Mercy Eastlands members have slowly been saving money bit by bit, getting everything ready as they get money and luckily the project was implemented.
To ensure the sustainability of the project, Ladies of Mercy is going to sell some eggs and chicks. Also, after some period of time Ladies of Mercy intends to generate enough money from the project by selleng chicken after maturity in-order to expand the project to a bigger one. We want to start out small in case any mistakes are made; so we can learn without compromising the viability of the project. We're also lucky that there is a lady who lives near where the chicks are being kept, who reared chickens in her village, and is more than happy to give advice and encouragement.
Of course the major problem is funding. We had to start off on a smaller scale than we wanted; each layer costs 95 KES and the cockerels are 15 KES so this batch cost 30,750 KES.
The suppliers, who bring the chicks, gave us a few extra - but there are still the vaccinations, antibiotics that get added to the feed for the first two months, and things like glucose in their water to factor in. Not to mention all the building work, feeder, water dispensers and heat lamps that Compassion had to get before we began.
Another problem we face is the unreliability of the power supply. With such a massive investment involved we really don't want anything to go wrong with the chicks and one thing we have to do is keep the chicks warm.
Crafts
We provide local women's groups with the skills to make a variety of craftwork from shoes to mats, beaded jewellery to art and detergent. Ladies of Mercy Eastlands provides training over a one month period and provides advice on product design, marketing and retailing.
Items are sold in our office room in Nairobi, Kenya along manyanja road or through local markets.
Agriculture
In total, Ladies of Mercy Eastlands - CBO has one plot of land for cultivation. We grow mainly maize. The land provides a small income for Ladies of Mercy Eastlands - CBO as well as an opportunity for training.
Many seedlings are given away to women so that they can start their own agricultural ventures, but some of the produce is sold at below market value to provide local women with a sustainable source of income.