This is a solution much needed for the teenage mothers Wa-Wa Kenya works for. Trainees will be recruited from marginalized rural areas in Homa Bay County. Many of these girls and young women who grow up here don’t complete formal school due to social-cultural-economic issues and live below $1.90 dollars per day. In addition, around Lake Victoria there are limited job opportunities.  And poverty forces many women to engage in transactional sex for fish, to secure a share of the daily catch.  The region has a HIV prevalence of 26% (around 5 times higher than the national prevalence). This has resulted in too many deaths form AIDs-related diseases, orphaned children and child-headed families. Wa-Wa’s approach ensures sustainability and has already supported 500 young women in successful soap-making, fashion design and fish-farming businesses.  One of the successes of the approach is the mentoring up to one year.

10 women are equipped with both soft and technical skills of running a Beauty Parlour. Immediately after the 3-months training, the women will start earning an income. In addition, 50 family members of the 10 new businesswomen benefit from the increased income. An income good enough to cater for their basic needs, and that of their children – like healthy food, health care and school fees – and their families. After a year they may decide to start their own business. It is expected that 8 out of ten women will manage to earn at least Ksh400 (or €3.10) per day, which lifts them out of extreme poverty.

The budget for the following activities is Ksh 1,051,612 (or €8,118). The donations will be used to:

• 3-month residential training for 5 women on beauty treatments and hairdressing. (Jun-Aug)
• 3-month of gaining working experience in Wa Wa’s own Beauty Parlor and mentoring. (Sept-Nov)
• Graduation (Dec)
• Then another 5 women start the 3-month residential training and 3-month of working experience and mentoring (Dec-Feb; and March-May) and graduate in June.
• Wa Wa and the trainees then decide to work in shifts of teams of 5, or to start another Beauty Parlour in a different community. (Jun)
• For project sustainability strategy, trainees will be encouraged to join a table banking scheme. Table banking is a platform where women can access loans in the form of a start-up kit with materials, or a small loan in money for their businesses. The interest accrued will be used for the expansion and growth of their group and businesses.
• 5% to iMPACT direct for facilitating direct donations to local solutions (which helps to cover costs of the website, promotion and proposal writing, costs if financial services and the support to NGOs)

Costs thus include trainers’ fees, training equipment, meals for the beneficiaries during training and certification and for Monitoring & Evaluation efforts. WaWa’s own contribution is the full time staff to the project.