There is an African proverb which says when you educate a woman, you educate a nation. Their enthusiasm is contagious, as is their knowledge.
Magreth Omari makes batiks, stools, embroidery and soap. She participated in an ECHO training program called “Creative Capacity Building”. She was challenged in her soap-making to cut straight, attractive bars; as a result, her product was seen as low quality and the price reflected it. During the training, participants were tasked with developing solutions to the challenges they faced. Magreth’s group created a soap cutter. She received a micro-grant to continue improving it.
She recently wrote to us: “The attractiveness of my soap bars drastically changed, and I am seeing increased prices and sales.” She has a vision for the future, that her children will “attain entrepreneurship skills and do better than what I’m doing now. I have also a passion to help my fellow women, especially those abandoned by their husbands and widows.” She has taken what she learned from ECHO, developed her business, and now trains other women, both individually and in groups.
