“Nashukuru sana MIDRIFT.Wametusaidia kuosha picha yetu kama wajane kwa Kijiji.

Kitambo ulikua unaonekana uko smart akina mama wanaambiwa wachunge isikue ni mabwana zao wanakamuliwa.

Kuna watu walisema wamama wa Pwani Lare Widows group hawaendi mbali,hapa ni wapi?”

These were the final sentiments of Lucy Waithera, the chairperson of Pwani Lare Widows group, whose membership is drawn from widows in Kiugu, Lare ward of Njoro Sub-County.

Hers is an outcome of capacity strengthening and mindset shift bearing fruits in her community.

She said, “I received an invitation from my area chief to attend a sensitization forum on strategies for holding leaders accountable and a Sports for Peace and Development activity.

During the forum, we were strengthened in the saving culture and learned how savings can propel a prospective business.

We were also informed about the available empowerment funds and initiatives in the National Government, how to apply for them, and the process and eligibility criteria used.

That information struck my mind and I meditated about it in all sessions even during the Sports for Peace and Development activity, I was not involved because I was eager to go home and share the information with my group members.

Our group was formed in 2014 and focused on table banking and merry-go-rounds. Still, it was not viable in the long run as we only contributed and shared money with no tangible project attached to the initiative.

When I met my group members, I informed them of the information and knowledge I got.

They agreed on the need for a saving culture and a paradigm shift from what we used to do with our group money.

Unfortunately, not everyone was eager to join, nevertheless, the few who decided on the new project met and fronted strategies for formalizing it.

We agreed to form another group specifically dedicated to widows and formally registered it as the Pwani Lare Widows group. We officially left our former group, and formally registered as the Vision Women group.

This new group's secondary mandate was to address our wants as widows primarily caring for our households.

In our first meeting, we agreed on enhancing the quality of our livestock for milk production and cultivating fodder for animal feeds. This would greatly reduce the costs associated with production.

We also hired a 2-acre piece of land to cultivate fodder for six years, facilitating the project's sustainability.

The money that we had saved in our previous group was subdivided amongst ourselves and each person started the process of breed improvement in their homesteads.

We also agreed on contributing Ksh 500 in our meetings for savings.

The results have been positive as our members can now save some cash after selling their milk, utilizing a percentage on their household expenses, and plowing back some profits to breed improvement.

I thank MIDRIFT HURINET for facilitating the capacity-strengthening initiative as they are the only organization that has trained our members who now have a mindset shift that is beneficial to them”

Her sentiments were echoed by the group's treasurer Naomi Wairimu who said the members' profits from their milk production have tremendously increased.

“Our Milk production has doubled and some of our members have even tripled theirs.

The idea of turning the table banking and merry-go-round into an agricultural venture was a masterstroke.

We are now sharing this information with our community members and some are already implementing the ideas and savings culture.

Our former members in the vision group who did not join us have requested to join our group and we are working to ensure we form another one since Pwani Lare Group specifically draws its membership purely from widows around our community. “She said.

Esther Wanjiku the group Secretary added that from the training their group chairperson attended and from their business venture of enhancing Milk Production they are engaging, they have enhanced their financial independence as widows hence reducing their economic vulnerabilities & educating their children, have exhibited resilience in their fodder cultivation, joined the community security structure

due to their increased surveillance brought about by their response in taming livestock theft and using their role as women to be agents of Peace and Security within their community.

The group Vice Chairperson Jane Wanjira opined that their plans entail adding value addition to milk products, owning a dairy business, and having a milk cooler for economies of scale.

As a group, they also want to increase the number and quality of breeds, have proper structures for their livestock, and apply for available Government Empowerment funds and grants from the Women Enterprise Fund, NGAAF, and UWEZO fund to boost their business initiative.

She requested more training targeting other women groups in her community and linkages to agencies in the agribusiness.

The community village elders, Danson Kamaiko and Simon Nyaga, all praise the Pwani Lare widows’ group.

They lauded the Women's group for the effective formation and success, an aspect other groups in the area have struggled with, and encouraged other groups to use the knowledge from Pwani Lare in activating theirs to benefit from the economies of scale and expertise,

unity of purpose & information sharing on the best practices.

Community engagements such as Chief baraza’s have been used to mainstream information sharing on the benefits of formalizing groups which has had a positive ripple-down effect on Peace and Security in the area.

It has also contributed to other community projects such as water projects, tent buying & hiring for community events, land buying & motorcycle purchases among different community age groups, behavioral change after awareness campaigns on the illicit brew, emergence of local centers, chiefs camp, schools, and development projects from the National Government.

One of the youth group leaders in the community, Simon Muchemi, feels encouraged and motivated by the success story of the Pwani Lare Women group.

The youth in the area have challenges in group formation and dynamics due to competing interests which are further compounded by not adhering to their written Constitution, loss of funds in existing groups, family feuds due to cases being reported to the Chief, a lack of funds for registration, and unemployment.

He requests more awareness campaigns on the importance of the saving culture, group formation and dynamics, and opportunities for available empowerment funds and grants from Government agencies.

The awareness forum on strategies for holding leaders accountable and the Sports for Peace and Development activity under the Kenya

Electoral Conflicts Mitigation & Civic Education Support program #ECCES is supported by USAID Kenya through Act Change Transform.

By Jacob Karani