BLOOM: Growing a Path to Self-Sustainability in Kisumu

At Blair in Kenya, our vision extends beyond meeting immediate needs. We want to help create opportunities that allow families and communities to become increasingly self-sustaining.

That vision is at the heart of an exciting new partnership between Blair in Kenya (BIK) and The Giving Exchange (TGE) through its BLOOM Program, a business training and economic empowerment initiative designed to help small-scale entrepreneurs and community leaders develop sustainable micro-enterprises.

This past summer, Blair in Kenya submitted an application to the BLOOM Program on behalf of 10 local entrepreneurs from the Kisumu community. Each applicant brought an idea, a willingness to work, and a commitment to building a business that could benefit both their family and their community.

We were thrilled to learn that all 10 applicants were accepted into the program.

From an Idea to a Sustainable Business

BLOOM follows a six-step process beginning with the application and continuing through business training, certification, project submission, launch, and ongoing mentoring.

Our entrepreneurs completed their initial training in August and are now moving through the next stages of the program. Those whose business plans qualify may receive funding to help launch their enterprises. Once their businesses are operating, participants will submit regular reports and receive professional business guidance for approximately one year.

The goal is not simply to provide funding. It is to give entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, mentorship, and opportunity needed to build businesses that can last.

Growing Food—and Opportunity

The economy surrounding our Blair Educational Centre in Kisumu is largely based on subsistence farming, while food insecurity remains a significant challenge for many families. It is therefore especially meaningful that all but one of the proposed BLOOM businesses focus on food production.

The entrepreneurs hope to produce items such as:

• Chicken and eggs

• Fish

• Milk

• Honey

• Fresh vegetables

Blair in Kenya plans to purchase many of these locally produced foods for our school meal programs.

That creates a powerful cycle of opportunity.

Local entrepreneurs gain a dependable customer and source of income, while our students gain greater access to fresh, nutritious food.

Instead of purchasing as much food from outside the community, dollars spent feeding our students can also help strengthen families and businesses within the community itself.

Creating a Marketplace

Blair in Kenya is taking the partnership one step further.

We have committed to building a storefront near the school and our future health clinic where BLOOM entrepreneurs will be able to market and sell their products. The location will have access to electricity and clean water and will provide a visible, accessible marketplace for the surrounding community.

During the businesses' start-up period, BIK plans to provide the space rent-free, allowing the entrepreneurs time to establish their customer base and become financially stable.

And then the cycle continues.

Once the businesses are sustainable and able to pay rent, the rental income will help support the Blair Educational Centre.

A Cycle of Opportunity

This is what self-sustainability can look like.

• An entrepreneur receives training and an opportunity to build a business.

• That business produces food and income for a family.

• The school purchases locally produced food to nourish its students.

• A community marketplace gives entrepreneurs access to more customers.

• Rental income from those businesses helps support the school that helped provide the opportunity in the first place.

Businesses grow. Families earn income. Students receive better nutrition. The local economy becomes stronger. And the school moves closer to becoming self-sustaining.

We are grateful for our new partnership with The Giving Exchange and excited to see what these 10 entrepreneurs will build.

BLOOM is about more than starting businesses. It is about planting the seeds of opportunity and creating a community where people have the tools and resources to build a more secure future for themselves, their families, and the next generation.

At Blair in Kenya, that is exactly the kind of future we hope to help grow.