Our story is one growth and rebuilding. We have faced many challenges along the way, but despite the obstacles life has thrown at us, Imara Community Growth Network will persevere and continue to have a positive impact on the local community.
In 2015, couple Eunice and Nixon founded the Good Samaritan CBO. This would later become Imara Community Growth Network. Their mission was clear: to create and promote opportunities for women and girls who have faced the harshest of circumstances to become independent and build a brighter future for themselves and their families.
Our first initiative was the tailoring project, which proved to be an empowering and successful income-generating opportunity for these women. Through participation in the tailoring project, the women were able to earn a stable income and provide for themselves and their children. A portion of the income from this project was also directed to support local orphans and vulnerable children served under the Good Samaritan CBO. Additionally, the tailors would sew school uniforms for the children who could not afford to purchase them.
At its greatest, Good Samaritan was able to use the profitable nature of the tailoring project to take the lead on essential community projects. These projects would see positive impacts across all areas of society, and could be adjusted to the specific needs of their target group. From sponsoring school fees for the gifted youth to distributing sanitary products to local girls. From waste management programmes encouraging sustainable development to feeding programmes which motivated poorer children to remain in school. From providing school uniforms to planting trees, the community projects carried out by Nixon, Eunice and their team were making a real impact.
Then one night in 2019, disaster struck.
A building fire tore through the centre of downtown Homabay, destroying the town market, stores, and shops, including the site of the tailoring project. All was lost.
Fortunately, no one was injured, but the impact was devastating. All the tailoring equipment, which had taken years of saving to purchase, was destroyed. Along with the sewing machines and equipment, fabrics, materials and clothing was also lost. With no facility or equipment, the women who participated in the tailoring project became unemployed again and were left in a desperate situation.
(http://www.kenyanews.go.ke/fire-guts-down-business-premises-in-homabay-town)
Out of the ashes of the Good Samaritan project emerges our new organisation: Imara Community Growth Network.
ICGN strongly seeks to revive the tailoring project but struggles to obtain sufficient funding to purchase the necessary equipment. Money is needed for four sewing machines, cutting tables, needles, thread, chairs, material, three months’ rent, and a one-year renewal license fee.
Once the tailoring project returns to its former greatness, we will be able to expand into even more creative and impactful community projects. The local community in Homa Bay is filled with passionate individuals willing to go the extra mile to support our mission. But to maximise our impact across education, financial emancipation, and ecological activism, we will need funding to get us back on our feet.
We humbly request that you make a donation and share our story with your family and friends to support this vital initiative. Let us come together and join hands to empower these women to make an honest living to support their families and move away from the sad cycle of poverty! Together we can make a difference.