Our Programs

Skills development

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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.

Cultural/traditional activities

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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.

economic empowerment

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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.

Sustainability

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.