{"id":73008,"date":"2022-11-08T13:06:10","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T21:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepollinationproject.org\/?page_id=73008"},"modified":"2024-01-17T04:14:18","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T09:14:18","slug":"economic-empowerment","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thepollinationproject.org\/economic-empowerment\/","title":{"rendered":"Economic Empowerment"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Our Work in
Economic Empowerment<\/h1>\n

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Charlot Magayi<\/p>\n

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Charlot Magayi was orphaned at 10 in the Mukuru Kwa Njenga slums, one of the biggest slums in Nairobi. By sixteen she was a teenage mom and her journey got even harder from there. She had to drop out of school to figure out a way to fend for herself and her daughter. Her first job was selling charcoal within the slum community and it was the only fuel she could afford. Charlot and her daughter kept suffering from respiratory tract infections and when her daughter turned two she suffered a severe burn injury from a traditional stove.<\/p>\n

After a two year break from school, she was finally able to save enough for tuition and enrolled in an adult school \u2013 which opened her eyes to the health hazards caused by charcoal and other harmful solid fuels. An enthusiast of science and social studies, she wanted to inspire fellow women to lead the fight against household air pollution in Africa!<\/p>\n

She founded Mukuru Clean Stoves<\/strong><\/a>; a social enterprise that produces clean, affordable and reliable cook stoves targeting under-served markets to help mothers keep their children safe, save on fuel consumption and reduce household air pollution. The Pollination Project was honored to provide seed funding for this work.<\/p>\n

Since 2017, they have sold over 400,000 clean cookstoves<\/strong> in Kenya, enabling families to make savings of over $50 Million in fuel costs<\/strong> while impacting the lives of over 2,000,000 people<\/strong> who now benefit from cleaner air within their homes while avoiding over 800,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Chimwemwe Chitambala<\/strong><\/p>\n

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While studying at the University of Zambia, Chimwemwe Chitambala learned about the struggles of a young female fruit and vegetable seller. Realizing many Zambian women faced similar challenges in the informal sector, Chimwemwe was inspired to help. She developed a project, “Embrace Her<\/strong>,” funded by The Pollination Project in 2017, which provided microloans, financial literacy, and business support to a group of 12 young women. The project focused on teaching skills like record-keeping, using mobile money services, and identifying profitable business strategies.<\/p>\n

The impact of “Embrace Her<\/a>” was profound. Beneficiaries, like Emelia, testified to the positive change in their personal finance and business operations.<\/p>\n

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In its first year, the project saw 100% loan repayment from the initial women’s cohort before the pandemic. The accumulated savings proved vital during COVID-19, allowing the women to reinvest in their businesses and cover basic needs.<\/p>\n

With a second TPP grant, Chimwemwe’s team transitioned to virtual programs, developing online financial literacy modules<\/strong>, recruiting volunteers<\/strong> from four Southern African countries for online facilitation, and enrolling 250 youths<\/strong> in a six-month, six-cohort virtual masterclass.<\/p>\n

So far, Chimwemwe has been able to:<\/p>\n