Nuru International
Implementing Lasting Solutions to Poverty in Central Africa
Location: Kenya and Ethiopia
Nuru International: Grantee in 2009
Nuru International was begun in 2008 by a recently graduated alumnus of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Jake Harriman. Harriman, who is also a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, observed and experienced the connection between poverty and terrorism in his seven years of active duty with the Marines; he committed himself to
Nuru International helps impoverished communities achieve self-sufficiency by working with them in five key areas: agriculture, healthcare, education, water and sanitation, and small business development. This integrated approach was launched in the West Kuria district of Kenya with the hope of creating sustainable programs, and then exiting within five years.
When Nuru International first arrived in Kenya, the Kuria West District suffered from poor crop yields, in spite of good growing conditions, and rampant incidence of disease, particularly typhoid, malaria, tuberculosis, and upper respiratory tract infections. Children read far below grade level. Business education and access to capital were non-existent; the extreme poverty that communities had experienced for decades seemed hopelessly entrenched.
The first months of the Nuru International project were devoted to research, meeting with local officials and village elders, farmers, mothers, teachers, and local business owners. A baseline to measure and evaluate progress was established and specific plans were formed. In the years since, Nuru has worked with locals to significantly increase crop yields, sustain a high-repayment-rate microloan program, reduce the incidence of sanitation-related disease, provide health education, and improve child literacy. Through 2012, Nuru estimated that the Kuria West programs were 60% sustainable. In 2013, Nuru began a similar integrated program in Ethiopia.
In 2009, Project Redwood funded a program to provide loans to 450 families to finance the construction of household water catchment systems. Many girls and women in Kuria West spent inordinate amounts of time fetching water, walking 30 minutes and longer several times a day to water collection points. And, testing showed that most of the sources were contaminated. Nuru hoped to design an effective way for farmers to catch rainwater during the ten-month annual rainy season and, with Project Redwood loans, provide materials to families to build the systems. Families were expected to repay the loans with profits from subsequent harvests.
Unfortunately, after the construction of six prototypes, the water catchment system was determined to be economically infeasible. Project Redwood funds had not been spent and were redirected to development of two deep wells.
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GRANT SUMMARY AND PURPOSE
2009: $25,000 for loans for household rain catchment devices to provide clean water to 450 families at Nuru’s pilot project in Kuria, Kenya. Prototyping demonstrated that the systems were economically unsustainable and the project was discontinued. Project Redwood funds were redirected to drilling two deep wells.
IMPACT
Clean water access for 1,755 people