Project 12 is all about the empowerment of people suffering from HIV Aids and poverty. Setting up an income generating activity for them and providing training. Full of motivation to keep going.
We have received the following update from FRC; Traing workshop complete and all systems are GO..
Youth
The first group was a group of youth from Korogocho (a slum in Nairobi with a high concentration Muslims of Somalis and Boran decent) had initially proposed to do shoes hawking/selling business but switched to snacks business since they had tried the shoes business as they were waiting for the loan from us and realized it is seasonal and with very slow return.
Women
The group had proposed to conduct kanga or women wrappers in Kibera, they still wished to carry out the same business, December being a month of weddings business is expected to be high. There were however 3 more very needy widows and HIV positive too who joined the team proposed to do food business.
Training
There were two trainings one for all and another one specific for the youth who needed extra skills in their line of business.
The Business management training was conducted and all the 13 participants attended, topics covered included, business plan, marketing, book keeping, record keeping, calculation of profit and loss, saving culture, reinvesting and increasing capital base etc.
The levels of knowledge on business management varied but were generally low, participants were taken through a pre and post knowledge assessment so the training could capture best weak areas focus them individually to bring each at par with fellow team members.
The Skills training for the youth was basically showing them how to make the snacks they were going to be selling they included Bhajia, samosas, mahamri, mabuyu sweets, chapatti breakfast sandwiches/toasts etc. this training unlike the other one was hands on/ practical and took three days.
The youth were able to learn not only the ingredients but also processes, preservation, packing and the hygiene that go with food business to avoid food poisoning.
All the trainees both youth and Women did agree that the training had offered them knowledge and better skills to do their business more professionally, this will help them not only conduct their business in some more professional and productive way but also improve their service delivery and increase their profits
Conclusion
The training equipped participants with new techniques and management skills that even though they had in the past been involved in small businesses did not realize that it was important to follow and apply certain practices for business success. They were also taken through our Monitoring and evaluation of their progress tools, like the record books and asked to be updating them on a daily basis so that when out representative visits them, it will be easy to just use the book to know the business progress and determine challenges.
Contract signing
After the training, participants were requested to prepare their project plans that included projected profits and loan payment intervals. The beneficiaries were were contracted in three groups, the youth formed one group, the five women from kibera also formed the second group and the third group composed of 4 women who were contracted individually.
tracted beneficially filled contract forms with clear spelt our term on management, monitors, technical support and loan repayment. They deposited with us their identifications, passport size photos and physical location of their businesses
Signed Agreement for this Project Signed Agreement - Project 12 - FRC