WEEK Empowerment Journeys - Lydia Owour

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Authors

Lydia Muchiri
Francis Muchiri

Issue Date

2016-09

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en

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Energy

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Women in Energy Enterprises in Kenya (WEEK) project LYDIA OWOUR BASED IN KISUMU TOWN Mine is a story of rebirth. I had been doing very well employed as a secretary or so I thought. In fact I was confident that my children would never have to struggle if things had been going the way they were. Even when I lost my job, I had a supportive husband. Things changed when my husband died leaving me alone to bring up our two small daughters and our son. An old friend encouraged me to start processing peanut butter for sale in the town. With this I earned about $40 a month. When the WEEK project team invited me to one of its empowerment trainings where I interacted with other energy entrepreneurs and heard stories of success, I got interested. I decided to set up a business selling solar products targeting households that are not connected to the grid. The first ten units I bought were sold out in a week earning about $120. I got motivated and with the mentoring support I got from the project I decided to use my car as my shop to distribute and exhibit different solar products. I am currently selling 5 home systems ($500) per month and I know that I can sell more if I get marketing support from the WEEK project. I sell about 10 solar lighting products ($120) per day. I envision selling about 20 home lighting systems every month. In addition my peanut butter business is still running and earning me close to $100 per month. I am happy that my children will all go through secondary school. I see a bright future. https://practicalaction.sharepoint.com/sites/uk/Marketing/PFRU/ProposalsReports/PROJECT%20proposals%20and%20reports/WEEK%20-%20Gender%20-%20Kenya/WEEK%20Empowerment%20Journies-%20Case%20studies%20-%202016.pdf

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