Last week, Sanergy had the privilege to visit the One Acre Fund in Bungoma – in the far west of Kenya (near where Obama’s family is from). We were able to do this thanks to the generosity of Echoing Green, which offers a stipend for Fellows to travel to learn from one another.

One Acre Farmers at work

Most importantly, One Acre Fund helps us think big. In the last few years, they have served over 100,000 farmers in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania. They employ over 800 people to do so. We literally took photos of everything that OAF did – from welcome guides for visitors to the agendas of weekly meetings. We took away so much, but here are a few key points:

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Last weekend, 18 residents of Mukuru spent their Saturday at Sanergy’s field HQ. They had all responded to a flier that we posted throughout the neighborhood for a new marketing associate.  Of course, there’s nothing quite like referrals from our current team, and they proved to be a great source.

For marketing and branding in the community, we need people from the community. They have their ear to the ground, they know the area like the back of their hand, and they have a real instinct for what generates demand. And it doesn’t hurt that usually the local hires we make are exceedingly popular among their peers and elders.

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Sanergy is always on the lookout for ways to work with youth throughout the slums. Many of our teammates doing waste collection, sales, fabrication, marketing, business support and installation are youth (aged between 18-34 in Kenya). However, we have not yet had the chance to work with youth as Fresh Life Operators. That’s about to change thanks to a partnership we’ve forged with the Kenya Youth Business Trust – the local chapter of The Prince of Wales’ Youth Business International – and through the generosity of the Mackintosh Foundation in the UK.

Last week, we welcomed 12 young people to a weeklong training focused on how to launch a sanitation business. We had thought that there would be a drop off in attendance over the course of the week; who really wants to run a toilet business after all? In fact, the opposite occurred: attendance rose to 14 people!

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Life in the informal settlements is unpredictable. Land demolition, health emergencies, a lack of a social safety net, and flooding in the rainy season are all frequent occurrences. The consequences of these events are devastating. On a day-to-day basis, we strive to reduce the impact of these events by providing better sanitation services throughout the community, which leads to healthier lives and cleaner surrounding areas.

Mitigating damage also extends to helping our team prepare for such uncertainty by making better informed financial decisions. Anne Munene, Sanergy’s tireless Training Manager, has designed a 3-part Personal Financial Management series focused on spending habits, budgeting and savings to help Sanergy’s staff from the community – now 20 people. The first session happened earlier this month.

Anne Munene Leads Training

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Recently, Sanergy had the privilege to attend the Skoll World Forum in Oxford, England, and the PYMWYMIC (Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is Community) Conference in Amsterdam, Holland. It takes a particularly cold heart to not be inspired by the improbable success of the entrepreneurs we meet there, but at Sanergy, where we do group yoga regularly, we melt like butter.

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