At Somo our goal is to support locally-driven change in under-resourced communities by empowering entrepreneurs. As we continue to adapt our practices in the midst of Covid, we also recognize the enormous upheaval that is taking place worldwide in reaction to state-sponsored violence against Black people. In a world in which white supremacy pollutes our political and social structures, it has never been more imperative to build systems that support Black enterprises. We are immensely grateful for your contributions in furthering the Somo mission as we all strive for a more equitable and just future.
Somo’s 100-plus innovators have been working to empower their communities to overcome the array of adversities facing our world right now.
Entrepreneur Highlight: Mwengenye Greens
Greg Kimani’s urban farming business, Mwengenye Greens, has started creating small home garden kits to help low-income families stay food secure. Mwengenye has provided these kits to 48 households in their home of Kayole, with Somo Duka handling safe and free delivery. Greg and Mwengenye Greens won our Inuka Pitch competition in May, winning an additional grant of KSH 100,000. They are now expanding their business outside of Kayole to provide portable urban gardens to families seeking food security. They also continue to provide urban agriculture training to women’s and youth groups, and employ eight youth from Kayole.
If you would like to order a garden kit or donate one to a low-income household, you can do so here.
Covid Driving Innovation
While Covid has created threats to health and safety and disrupted our economic activity, it has also given us an opportunity for innovation.
1. Carol of WeeCare and Johnstone of Ufanisi have partnered to help kids continue learning from home. WeeCare has created digital ECD learning material, while Ufanisi has created a portable desk that has a computer attached to a solar powered back-up. Families can rent these systems for only KSH 100 per day. You can donate to support a family’s continued learning here.
2. Ruth of Oshar has set up handwashing stations across Eastlands. She has been providing free soap at each of these stations, as well as over 2,000 liters of handwash and sanitizer over the last 3 months through Somo Care Packs.
3. Allan of Portable Voices has created a portable studio. This studio can be set up in your home to record a podcast or video. Somo is working with Portable Voices to create the next iteration of our digital training content.
4. Boniface of Elegance Bamboo has created a water filter out of bamboo and is now making cutlery and plates out of bamboo as well, an affordable and environmentally friendly alternative to plastic.
MyDuka
MyDuka is Somo’s SMS-based system, created for micro-enterprises by Somo entrepreneur Charles, that enables businesses to submit daily or weekly transactions and automatically generate cash flows and income statements. Entrepreneurs use the USSD code, a dial-in number accessible through basic feature phones, to submit sales, client info, expenses, and inventory information. The USSD service enables entrepreneurs from informal settlements to track financial performance using a basic feature phone. The system creates full profiles for entrepreneurs to monitor all the essential business data and Somo receives real-time data on business performance.
The technology has been tested by Somo entrepreneurs. Beth, the founder of Ahadi Pads, makes reusable sanitary towels to help girls stay in school. She struggled with tracking her customers’ information and getting them receipts. With MyDuka, she fills in the client’s information as she is making the sale, the client info is updated, and a receipt is automatically sent.
Care Packs
Thank you for supporting our Somo Care Packs initiative! Your donations have allowed us to reach over 2,000 families!
Our Somo Care Packs have brought together a community to support small businesses while providing vulnerable families with necessary food and sanitation. These collaborations have allowed us to grow our operations and reach more families in need.
1. Metis donated 1,000 learning guides to help kids continue to learn during Covid.
2. Maersk donated 2 shipping containers to help increase our space for packaging and distribution of Care Packs.
3. Lori Systems provided logistics support to get these donations into the communities where we work.
4. SafeBoda has provided us free transport to do direct-to-door distributions.
5. Octopizzo Foundation has collaborated with us to reach more families through their feed the streets initiative.
6. Safe Hands Kenya has been working with Somo to provide over 12,000 masks and 8,000 soaps to households across informal settlements in Nairobi.
Want to help us reach more vulnerable families? Each Care Pack provides essentials for a month, and costs just KES 2,500 or $25. You can donate here or through our Mpesa Till (Buy Goods and Services) 960634 or through PayPal at team@thesomoproject.org.
Digital Training Content
We have developed easy-to-comprehend and gamified interactive learning content to help our entrepreneurs understand our core training content. This training content is available through an SMS-based system, pre-recorded audio lessons through a dial-in (an audio system available through dialing a code into any basic phone), and video lessons. Our SMS content has been produced in partnership with Arifu, and Portable Voices is creating our video and audio content.
We have a class of 45 trainees going through our Buruka Program in Nairobi and Kisumu. Buruka is a 3-month training program that teaches business skills, storytelling, and financial literacy.
On August 8th, we will have a virtual pitch day for these entrepreneurs to share their business plans and to decide which entrepreneurs receive funding. Respond here or email us at contact@somoafrica.org if you would like to be part of it.
New shops!
If you are in Nairobi, stop by our new Somo Duka at Coffee & Bagels on Lenana Road. On June 13th, we did a virtual pop-up market through our FB and Instagram Live in partnership with Papshops, a Somo business. People from around Nairobi could tune in and order Somo products from the comfort of their homes.
And check out Somo’s shop on SafeBoda! Order through the app and get products delivered within an hour.
As I write this letter, I need to say how grateful I am. So grateful to the amazing team we have, who have worked tirelessly and made endless sacrifices during this chaotic time. To our community of entrepreneurs who have figured out ways to keep their teams employed and have found new solutions to support their communities. And to all of you who have pitched in with time and resources to help us. Thank you!
