Day 13 - Another Coincidence in a Long Line of Coincidences

This trip has been full of “coincidences”. The most recent one started with Dawn surfing the internet back in the States and coming across an organization that does something called “tabletop banking”. It is similar to micro-loans but is done through a group of women who pool their savings rather than through a bank. They loan the money to other women who need help providing for their families and the money is paid back at a very low interest rate. So Dawn finds this organization called “Maono Initiative” which is supposed to be located in Nairobi near the guest house at which we stay. But we looked for it and couldn’t find it. Then we asked people who knew the area and they didn’t know where it was. We had all but given up on finding someone to be a resource on this when Pastor Titus Kibet invited us to a women’s group meeting today. We were introduced to Edith, the head of local group called “Visionary Women’s Organization” which does table top banking! The group started with 20 and within one year has grown to 80 women. The group has been so successful that they have purchased a large tent and about 100 plastic chairs which they rent out on a regular basis. They receive 3,000 shillings (about $37) per day for the tent and each chair rents for 10 shillings (about 12 cents). This is a VERY popular business so the women continue to earn more money to put into their account to invest in other women. The beauty of this kind of “banking” is that it improves individuals, families, and communities. How awesome is that!


The next step for us is to introduce the friends we made today to some of our lady friends in Sibanga so they can start their own similar group. This will be another key resource for the work which RUN hopes to do for Kenya in the coming years.