Ekai Nabenyo, Founder and Team Leader, Article 43

My Story

The Turkana people of the Republic of Kenya occupy the drier northern part of the country that is often characterized by low rainfall, insecurity, droughts & famines. Born in 1992 and brought up in a village in Turkana County in North-Western Kenya, I began my primary school education in Lorengelup Primary School, a school in my community, established by the Government of Kenya in 1984 in a bid to improve the literacy levels in my pastoralist community.  My pursuit of education was a challenge as the available academic institutions were not well equipped with permanent and decent infrastructure or the teaching personnel.  As a result of this, I transferred to Kerio Primary School, a neighboring school that had better facilities, in the year 2004 as I approached the end of my primary school education. I proceeded to Lodwar High School for my secondary education in 2005 after successfully finishing my primary education. It was in Lodwar High School that my eyes were opened and I got exposed through classroom studies and interactions with students from the rest of Kenya. While in high school I read stories of people who saw their people suffer, went through the education system in order to fight for their rights and finally succeeded.

After my high school, I taught at a primary school in my village and later in a secondary school located in Kakuma Refugee Camp, the second largest refugee camp in the Republic of Kenya. For two months in 2009, I worked as a Community Health Worker in my village, educating the community about the need to observe hygiene and sanitation as well as carrying out tests on water samples to confirm the availability or otherwise of cholera-causing virus. This was after a cholera outbreak in my village swept away a considerable number of illiterate and poverty-stricken members of my community. I also worked for a company sub-contracted by Tullow Oil, an oil company that is currently carrying out oil and gas exploration in my community as a General Survey Worker. I witnessed the adverse effects the oil and gas exploration was having on my local community ranging from destruction of community forests and failure by government and private investors to make the local people part of the oil exploration process.

I joined Alphax College in Eldoret, Kenya in September 2010 to undertake studies in Information Technology as I was awaiting to join university and I finished my studies in 2011 and joined University of Nairobi Law School the same year.

With the experience of working in Turkana with young people and witnessing first-hand the challenges my pastoralist community goes through, I felt a challenge to no longer look at past injustices faced by the people but to step in and make a difference in the community in whichever small way I could. I felt that I had a heavy burden on my shoulders to be an advocate of change and development in my community. I wanted to study law in order to use my legal skills to make a positive impact and give back to the community that took me to school. Having come from a village where no one had studied law, legal studies was the extra stepping stone I needed to familiarize myself with the rest of Kenya and learn the rights of my people. Before joining university, I had an opportunity to interact with friends from other parts of Kenya who had studied Law and graduated and I learnt that they used their legal skills to assist their communities and the people they felt passionate about. One of my lawyer friends told me that he volunteered his legal services to an advocacy association in his home village. Another lawyer explained to me how he donated his legal expertise to advise minority youth on how to overcome difficulties. Collaborating with other lawyers gave me a better understanding of how my passion for law could interact with my interest in social justice issues.

The journey to develop my community and build their capacity to advocate for their rights began with the formation of Article 43, a youth-led group in Turkana that advocates for Community Development through Youth Empowerment and Environmental Conservation in 2012. The group comprised of thirty three members drawn from within my home village, both male and female. For three years now, we carry out Tree Planting in Primary and secondary schools, hospitals and in the community in addition to educating the community on climate change. We also carry out Environmental Conservation activities in our schools and organize community cleaning exercises. We have also carried out a number of Youth Empowerment Summits to enlighten the youth and the community on their rights as a community, on the concept of Devolution and on the role of youth in community development generally. We also educate the community on the need to conserve the environment and to focus on alternative source of livelihoods other than the destructive charcoal burning that is a major source of finance in my home village. These community summits have enabled us to build the capacity of the local community to advocate for a clean environment especially with the ongoing oil and gas exploration. There is a massive influx of people from the rest of Kenya to our community with land grabbing as a priority and the cultural identity of the local community is facing erosion. Our group also educates the local population on their rights as a community in the face of oil and gas exploration as provided by Kenyan and International law.

In 2014, our group wrote proposals and partnered with Safaricom Foundation, a Kenya-based Charity to implement a Kshs 8.4 Million Classrooms, Ablution Block and Reading Desks project in Lorengelup Primary School, where I studied. The school initially used trees and semi-permanent structures as classrooms, despite having been established in 1984. This project has transformed education in this community and now the school population has tripled with pupils coming to undertake their studies in this school from all over Turkana County. This year, the Ministry of Energy of the Government of Kenya implemented a Solar Power Electrification Project in the school and the school is now rated as one of the best equipped primary schools in Turkana County despite being among the most pathetic just two years ago. Because of this infrastructural developments  that our group helped put up, Lorengelup Primary School was identified as an Examination Centre during 2014 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) national examination, for the first time in 30 years. Our group intends to implement more such projects in the near future.

As the Founder and Team Leader of Lorengelup Community Development Initiative, my experience so far has opened my eyes up to a variety of challenges in Turkana society and the need to develop the community. The more I look at my surroundings with a critical eye, the more I realize that our people are suffering because of their ignorance of their rights. My passion for equality and social justice has grown because I am determined to use my legal skills and observations to the benefit of my marginalized community.

Contact Article 43

Thanks for expressing interest in Article 43 and getting to contact us. You can email us at any time and we will get back to you in the shortest time possible. We look forward to hearing from you and to the opportunities you may bring in support of our work in Northern Kenya

Name	Position	Why to contact them.
Joram Kioko	Director of Communications	Joram is our Communications Director and you can email us about anything and we will get back to you, we promise!
Ekai Nabenyo	Director	Best person to contact for any general queries on supporting and mentoring Article 43.
Donald Esinyen	Director	Best person to contact to discuss funding Article 43 Events as well as corporate engagement generally.
Kablit Samuel	Director of Programs	Best person to contact for questions on implementation and impact of projects , and how Article 43 delivers long-term value to vulnerable community members in Northern Kenya
Facebook	Get in Touch from anywhere in the world. www.facebook.com/article43	Why can’t we be friends? Seriously. Let’s be friends
Twitter	@article43NGO	Sometimes to lead you have to follow. Follow Article 43 on Twitter.
Old school mail	Send us mail and presents. Presents preferred.	Article 43 P.O BOX 306-30500 Lodwar-Kenya.

Article 43: Our Approach

FACTS ABOUT TURKANA COUNTY

8 in 10 people in Turkana County cannot afford basic needs on their own.

Turkana is one of the poorest parts of the world

A majority of community members rely on relief food supplies for survival.

Reliance on donations and food aid has been happening for the last 50 years

NGOs that have been working in Turkana County have always adopted a short sighted and unreliable approach and focus on short term solutions.

Just like the government, the organizations major on distributing corn maize and beans whenever there is hunger and famine in the community

WHY AT ARTICLE 43, WE FEEL THAT IS NOT THE BEST WAY TO TACKLE THE PROBLEM

The community has always been placed at the receiving end. Nairobi based NGOs which do not understand the problems facing the community well have been focusing on UNRELIABLE and SHORT TERM initiatives such as Food Distribution during Droughts.

Communities can best fight poverty if they are empowered and capacity-built to engage in sustainable initiatives such as Agribusiness, Bee keeping, Bead Work, Canal Irrigation, Entrepreneurship etc

Grassroots Organizations, which operate in the target communities will easily emancipate community members from poverty as they are run by community members who understand the most innovative ways to empower the community to be self reliant

Article 43 is a Turkana-based Community Trust that exists to fight poverty in Turkana County, Northern Kenya which is undoubtedly one of the poverty-stricken parts in the entire world.

We place special emphasis on working alongside the youth and poor women because previous data has shown that, supported with the proper resources, women and the youth have the ability to help entire families and communities out of poverty

WHAT WE DO TO FACILITATE SUSTAINABILITY AND LASTING CHANGE

Strengthening capacity for self-help among community members

Making community members the drivers of the Poverty Eradication Agenda

Providing business training and capital to Community Members in a bid to emancipate them from dependence on foreign aid

We do Community Capacity Building Trainings, Workshops and Public Meetings in Turkana County

We run a micro-finance initiative that is now supporting 15 Vulnerable Community Members

OUR TARGET

In the next 5 years, we intend to expand our impact to 10,000 vulnerable community members. As of today, that number stands at 15. We invite you to join and support us as we endeavor to make a positive impact to the rural communities in Kenya that look up to us with hope.

HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT US

Support us to provide hope, dignity and economic opportunity to the forgotten communities in Northern Kenya.

With your support we can:

Help poor families in the rural parts of Kenya to put food on their table on their own and send their children to school.’

Grow our impact to over 10,000 Community Members in the next 5 years.

Build the Capacity of Vulnerable Community Members through business training to start and sustain their own Income Generating Activities

Help helpless women build a better life for themselves, their families, their communities and their country.

Bring an end to the shame of the community’s reliance on relief food donations and make them self-reliant

THE LORD BLESSETH THE HAND THAT GIVETH

At Article 43, we believe that there is no Reason why in the 21st Century, some people in our midst are going hungry for days because they cannot afford food on their own. Please join us in fighting the root causes of hunger and poverty - by supporting our work today. YOU CAN HELP PAINT TURKANA COUNTY “SELF-RELIANT” BY JOINING HANDS WITH US TODAY.

Article 43 Community Empowerment Meetings

Turkana County is rated one of the poorest counties that make up the Republic of Kenya. Recurring failures of the leadership at different levels of the political bureaucracy have set expectations in Turkana County several steps back despite the county hosting a variety of mineral and gas deposits. The majorities of the youth in Turkana County lacks the requisite capacities to pursue a common position on the problems bedeviling them and do not know the role they have to play for the community to develop. Lack of access to adequate information has paralyzed the contribution of the youth to the development of the community and a few positive results are realized. A majority of the youth is also not exposed to the opportunities available to the youth in the national and county governments and this has serious implications to youth and their future. The recent experience of the food insecurity that led to the intervention of Kenyans for Kenya and in which Kerio was among the worst affected is not a unique or an isolated case.

In response to these challenges, Article 43 organized a youth forum that brought together over 500 residents of Kerio division to listen to youth leaders invited from across the Turkana County as they delivered keynote addresses on a number of topics relating to the youth. Mr. Kablit Ewoton Samuel, the chairperson of The National Youth Council-Turkana enlightened the youth of Kerio on the opportunities available to them in both the national and county governments. He expounded on the concept of Uwezo Fund, Youth Enterprise Development Fund and Youth Entrepreneurship in general and went ahead to challenge the youth to wake up and fight for their rights. Mr. Kablit pointed out the need to develop a Kerio Development Agenda and a clearly outlined role of the youth in achieving the set objectives. The lively address that saw the youth glued to their seats for close to one hour had a huge impact on what the youth initially knew about the said topics.

Mr. Timothy Achodangiro Ewoi, The Chairman of AKUS-Turkan addressed the youth on their role in keeping the leaders on toes as well as directly making their contributions in whichever way they can. Mr. Ewoi touched on a number of issues while citing examples of how the youth have made bigger impact to communities in other parties of Kenya and the world. Mr. Etiir Fredrick, the chairman for the Turkana County Medical Students expounded on the role of the youth in community development and went ahead to challenge them to wake up and determine their own destiny. He also reminded the medical students present to be part of the larger medical student fraternity for the sake of prosperity. Mr. Mike Kaissa asked the youth to think about all they had heard from the speakers and to be serious when dealing with matters affecting their lives.

The idea behind the youth forum was to bring together the best of youthful members of the Kerio community to discuss the challenges facing the youth in Kerio and Turkana generally, and to fashion out the best way forward towards a sustainable and inclusive future. The summit was a platform for the discussion and reflection on what the region had done to improve youth development and sustainable development. It culminated into formulation of key recommendations for various implementation agencies and stakeholders working in the region, which once adhered to, would result into a better region for the future generation of Kenyans . 

Article 43 is A Proud Member of the Spark Family

2014 Spark Accelerator Program held in Karen, Nairobi.

Our Amazing Article 43 Change Makers

 

SELFLESS INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE CHOSEN TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY IN THEIR SMALL WAYS.







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GENTLEMEN

Africa’s top three young entrepreneurs share their secrets to success

Almost one-fifth of Africa’s 1bn strong population is estimated to be between the ages of 15 and 24. This age group is entering the working space where unemployment is high, and many are turning to entrepreneurship as a solution





Best Ayiorwoth

Every year the Anzisha Prize, Africa’s premier award for its youngest entrepreneurs, selects 12 of the continent’s top entrepreneurs between the ages of 15 and 22 to gain access to Anzisha’s community of mentors, business contacts, investors and other young business owners.

To find out what it takes to be young and successful, How we made it in Africa spoke to the top three award winners from last year’s Anzisha Prize.



Best Ayiorwoth (22), founder of GIPOMO, Uganda

When Best Ayiorwoth lost her parents at a young age, she had to cut short her high school education because her older siblings struggled to pay her tuition in the Nebbi District in northern Uganda.

Having always wanted to take her education further, this was a massive disappointment and inspired her to start an award-winning microcredit business at the age of 19, that would go on to help hundreds of women and young girls in Uganda.

Ayiorwoth realised that if she could empower mothers financially, they would support the education of their children, particularly young girls. “I have seen that when families can’t maintain all their children at school and have to make a choice, they would often choose a boy over a girl,” she told How we made it in Africa.

At 17 she moved to Kampala and joined S7 Project, a skills empowerment centre, where she started to form her business idea for Girls Power Micro-Lending Organisation (GIPOMO). Using her savings earned while working in a restaurant, Ayiorwoth returned to her home community in early 2011 and started giving monthly micro loans to women with small businesses, on the condition that they kept their children, especially young girls, in school.

GIPOMO has helped 64 women start their own businesses, 111 women expand their existing businesses and kept 168 girls in school by supporting their mothers. Last year Ayiorwoth won USh. 1m (US$400) at the FINA Africa Enterprise Business Challenge and first place and $25,000 at the Anzisha Prize.

Ayiorwoth credits much of GIPOMO’s success to the good mentor she had at S7 Project and advises other young entrepreneurs to look for mentors.

She also believes her success comes from using the challenges she has faced as inspiration to make a difference in both her life and the lives of others.

“[Aspiring entrepreneurs] have to actually do something that they feel strongly passionate about, and in most cases they should seek inspiration from their own experience… If you had a terrible experience, you should despise the experience to the extent that you are continuously seeking a solution for it,” she advises others.



Titus Mawano (23), founder of Ffene, Uganda

Ugandan Titus Mawano is the entrepreneur behind Ffene, an award-winning business management platform for African small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that assists with accounting, customer and inventory management.

After studying computer science in the US for three years, Mawano decided to cut short his university education in 2012 and return to Uganda to pursue his passion of creating a business management tool that would assist SMEs. He told How we made it in Africa that one of the main challenges facing small businesses in his country is keeping adequate financial records.

In less than a year after launching his app, Mawano was awarded a $10,000 prize at the Apps4Africa 2012 challenge and last year won second place and $15,000 in the Anzisha Prize. Today close to 600 SMEs use Ffene’s software, which runs on both desktop and mobile devices.


According to Mawano, it is a myth that a person simply needs money and connections in order to be a successful entrepreneur. “It’s all about good strategy and it’s all about improvising with what you have. Really, the best tool is creativity. If you are a creative person, then you are going to figure it out.

“If you are not a very creative person – and have your own distinct set of skills – then get someone who is creative on your team. If you have a very creative team around you then pretty much anything that comes your way you are going to be able to knock down.”

Mawano believes his success comes from his tenacity, dedication and passion for what he is doing, adding that these traits keep entrepreneurs going through the long working hours that are typically needed to start a business.

He advises aspiring entrepreneurs to begin early. “And that doesn’t mean starting your own business early. It means thinking about the kind of industry you want to work in, analysing that market and just amassing information. Information is power and if you have a dream of starting a certain enterprise, it’s time to start researching that now.

“I feel that Africa is kicking into its golden age. There is so much opportunity that there is enough for everyone… So I suggest they get started.”



Domitila Silayo (21), founder of Jatropha Soap Production, Tanzania

The idea of producing Jatropha’s handmade soaps with medicinal uses came to Domitila Silayo when she attended an agricultural festival with her brother in 2012 and was introduced to some of the medicinal and cosmetic uses of the Jatropha plant. The plant extract, for example, has healing properties for a number of skin problems, such as ringworm and dandruff.

“We have Jatropha plants in our country but people are not using it,” Silayo explained to How we made it in Africa. “So I thought that was an opportunity and started making the soap.”

After doing research and raising finance from family to buy the oil and equipment, Silayo and her brother went into producing Jatropha soap from a room they rented. Today she produces around 1,000 bars of soap a month and has one other full-time employee. Last year she won third place in the Anzisha Prize.

Although Silayo’s business is still young, she believes her entrepreneurial success comes from looking to solve a problem in her community, and suggests others do the same.

“[Young entrepreneurs] should try to look at the problems their society is facing and try to think of what can be the solution to the problem. That is how I came up with my idea of making soap with Jatropha oil… My society has a lot of people who are suffering from different skin diseases and the Jatropha soap is one of the soaps that help in curing [them].” She has also learnt that business success does not come without hard work, humility, determination and focus. “I have learnt that you also don’t need to do everything yourself. Entrepreneurs should learn to delegate to other people. You need to have people who can help and advise you. You don’t have to leave all the baggage to yourself.”
Furthermore, she advises young entrepreneurs to be brave enough to try new ideas and think differently.
“You should know that entrepreneurs who are successful right now also faced many problems when they first started out. Entrepreneurship is a process. It’s a process that someone faces and has to go through – from a small stage to a higher stage – without losing hope. Always try to pull up your socks and open yourself up to new ideas. And have the courage to know that you can do it, because all entrepreneurs face the same problems. You are not alone,” she emphasised.