How it all begun

How it all begun

I have watched the living standards in the community that I  grew up in, in rural Kenya drop over the last two decades. Our friends' and neighbours' children are worse off than they themselves were. They have become adults in living conditions worse than their parents. Their families have relied on subsistence farming that is no longer sustainable. Most of them have a very basic education, on average left school in grade 6 due to lack of financial resources.   They had to drop out of school to help their parents earn a living.

Lelmokwo Women's Group was created in response to persistent and increasing poverty in our community of Lelmokwo in rural Kenya. I believe that enterprise has big role to play in alleviating poverty; by creating employment, not do the employees benefit, but the broader community as a whole benefits. The Women’s Group exists to uplift the community, improve the living standards of the local and broader community. Doing so by creating employment, currently focusing on creating a local footwear industry and other enterprises.

 My name is Angela, I live in Melbourne and absolutely love it. Many many many years ago, as an 18-year-old, I left Kenya to study in Australia. The only things we knew about Australia then was Kyle Minogue and the cast of Neighbours and a some history of Australia’s first nations. Neighbours came on at 6 PM every evening and at the time it seemed the whole country was obsessed with it. I was adventurous and completely fearless as a teenager and I remember being completely unfazed by the uncertainty of living in a new country. I was very excited. Australia was to become my home. It is a country that has my soul. Kenya too, has a very special place in my heart. And that is the resources I have used my own resources to establish footwear production in the local community. We have successfully trained over 70 employees including shoemakers and quality control staff and we aim to train many more.

 Come join us in our journey as we do our bit to change lives, improve the living standards of the local and broader community.

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