Finding stability and sparking ambition

How UKR families are building their financial footing

while dreaming even bigger 

Catch a glimpse of families busy developing their livelihoods. From farm ventures to roadside green grocers and bustling market centers, families we serve are working hard today and every day finding a new sense of financial stability.

Look below to see some of the ways parents build their own visions of long-term self-reliance by combining hard work with Family Care's three years of training and resources.

SILVIA'S BEAUTY SALON 

Silvia started a hair salon business after Family Care helped her find training and acquire tools of the trade. When Victor from the UKR media team paid her a visit, he discovered she's already dreaming about adding new services and developing a plan to buy her own piece of land.

Click here to read her story on our Kenyan partner UKR's website.

BUSINESS GUIDANCE & TRAINING

All UKR families engage in extensive small-group and individual training sessions to help them grow their sources of livelihood. This process helps families identify market gaps and leverage their unique strengths.

For example, a family living along a busy road might sell fried snacks or clothing to passerby. A mother living near a public school might strengthen her sewing skills and then make student uniforms. And a family near a stream but off the grid might plant a lot of bananas and dig a fish pond.

When all goes as planned, families develop multiple sources of income that fit their schedules, skills, and resources.

And often, several of these ventures complement each other - like a family's small eatery selling hot meals made of food from their farm, with customers' scraps providing animal feed and compost to complete the cycle.

FREDERICK'S BEEHIVES

Frederick got into beekeeping after a workshop organized by the UKR agriculture team. Recently he set up four hives with help from his Family Care budget, and he has a plan for adding more.

They're all secured in a structure he built that protects bees from bad weather and curious grandchildren, while also protecting their precious honey from the very real threat of brave thieves both animal and human.

PURITY'S FLOOR MATS

Purity sells floor mats she makes with a needlepoint technique, expertly crafted with yarn from tattered sweaters she buys for a song from used-clothing vendors. And instead of a machine-made hook, she still prefers to use a ballpoint pen stem that she modified and mastered many years ago.

Seated next to Purity is her cobbler husband Frederick - of beekeeping fame - as he mends a shoe for a client.

MARTHA'S ROADSIDE GREEN GROCERY

Dry maize for sale by the kilogram is the fastest moving product in western Kenya. After earning some money for the day, people buy a tin of dry maize and carry it next door to a local grinding mill.

Then, they go home and make the flour into ugali for dinner, alongside greens like the kale and cabbage Martha also sells.

Packages of factory-sifted maize flour are available in local shops, but most people prefer healthier and more affordable, freshly-ground whole maize flour.

CHRISTOPHER'S CLAY POTS

Christopher explains his next steps to UKR Social Worker Nancy the day after firing a batch of traditional clay water pots.

Alongside pottery, he also earns from his farm raising chickens, pigs, and cows.

TABITHA & GILBERT'S FAMILY GROCERY

The family's stock of goods for sale to neighbors includes bar soap, sugar, rice, and matches. They buy from a wholesaler in town, and divide the goods into small quantities that neighbors can afford. There's a few cents profit on every item and it slowly but steadily adds up.

KEN'S BANANAS

UKR grandfather Ken works to add a support pole for a tall banana stem that threatens to topple.

An avid farmer who grows both food and income, this is among many activities in Ken's life of tending crops and raising animals. When sold, this single bunch of bananas can fetch from $5 to $7, equal to several days of casual labor wages.

Abundant rainfall means that growing bananas is a very common way to supplement income for UKR families who embrace the 'multiple livelihoods' mantra. At two bunches annually, five or ten healthy banana trees can bring in enough each year to pay for one child's middle school tuition.

NANCY'S ALPINE DAIRY GOATS

With experience raising hardy local goats, Nancy is thrilled to have acquired two British Alpine dairy goats. The high-producing breed is well-adjusted to Kakamega's tropical highlands, and when their future kids grow up Nancy will have a serious operation.

Dairy goats of any type are rather exotic in the area, where hardier local breeds raised for meat are most common. With fresh goat milk supply very scarce, Nancy's new animals can become lucrative.

Doctors are often suggesting goat's milk instead of cow's milk, yet in small villages it's hard to acquire and only found easily at supermarkets in towns. Not to mention, most people don't have a fridge at home and they're already accustomed to buying and boiling fresh cow's milk.

In dairy goats, Nancy feels she's discovered a fantastic business opportunity.

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All of the businesses above help whole families thrive.