fight agaist poverty – Opening Village Doors

Peter Onyango Aguro, aged 31, a farther of three children, one boy and two girls aged 8,5 and 1 respectively, is a well known tailor in Ng’ong town. He has done tailoring for almost a decade now. He says his greatest inspiration was his Uncle, who taught him all the basics of tailoring. Peter says he exists because of his business, it is from his his sweat that he is able to he pays rent, school fees(tuition) and still puts food on the table for his family.

This chain of responsibilities has become his greatest motivation. He knows he needs to work really hard to meet all these needs. For a number of years in his career, he was employed, but later on his employer went bankrupt and closed down his tailoring shop. With his savings he decided he would put up his own tailoring shop within Ngong town where he had a number of clients. Being that his saving wasn’t enough to get him enough machines and materials to satisfy the needs of his clients; Peter felt that he needed to get a loan to boost his business. He got in Opening Village Doors Foundation when a friend told him about our work. I approached the organization for Ksh. 50,000 ( $500)

Peter used the funds to add two sewing machines one for Ksh. 25,000 ( $250, and another for Ksh. 15,000 ($150. One of the machines he bought was electric, which increased his productivity thus meeting customer deadlines without any problems without loosing opportunities for new orders.The rest of the money he used to add more sewing material. When asked how things are progressing for him, he stated, the loan and mentorship that he has received from Opening Village Doors Foundation has given him so much confidence with his work and given him stability and an assurance that for sure he can sustain his business for many years to come.

Peter is very grateful to Opening Village Doors Foundation and plans to work very hard to pay back his loan so that others can also have an opportunity. He plans to employ one or two people to expand his business. One of his dreams is to help others learn the skill of of tailoring, with time he plans to start identifying young men and women interested in the work and teach them just like his uncle had done.

Thank you for making Potential. Possible!

Twice a year, the World Bank issues a report entitled: Africa’s Pulse: An analysis of issues shaping Africa’s economic future. Just this month of October 2013 the bank released the report and here are a few highlights;

Global economic activity remains subdued, and despite signs of strengthening in high-income countries, significant downside risks persist. Economic activity remains strong in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, underpinned by robust domestic demand.

The economic outlook for the region is positive, although the region is vulnerable to both a sharp decline in commodity prices and the fragility of the global economy.

More than a decade of growth has helped to lower poverty, but the twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity call for a sharp ramping up effort.

A low growth elasticity of poverty means that growth alone will not suffice to rapidly reduce poverty in the region. Accelerating Africa’s poverty reduction will also require more inclusive growth processes and tackling inequality.

Despite the continent’s growth turnaround and progress in the fight against poverty during the last decade, poverty in Africa remains unacceptably high, and the pace of reduction unacceptably slow.

Almost one out of every two Africans lives in extreme poverty today. Optimistically, that rate will fall to between 16 percent and 30 percent by 2030. Under any plausible scenario, most of the world’s poor people by that date will live in Africa. Sustained growth is necessary—but not sufficient—to meet the challenge of accelerating poverty reduction in Africa.

Visit out website and find out more how we are fighting poverty in Kenya through helping individuals start small business so that they can generate income to support themselves and their family and create employment.

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Determined to succeed

Africa’s Pulse