WEDI, MAKING A DIFFERENCE THE ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE
WEDI grew out of an idea in the mind of Mr. Mugo. Mugo worked for a foreign-based development organisation during a number of years. During these years he had time to observe the workings of this as well as of other NGOs. He noticed that the lofty ideals that NGOs started out with did not always translate into actual assistance, neither to their intended target groups, nor necessarily to those most in need. Mugo also started to question the whole notion of donor money from abroad as an aid to development; he realised that having easy access to donor funds did not encourage self-reliance but that it created dependency instead. His ideas actually grew out of certain frustrations he was facing after his appointment with the NGO as the manager responsible for Nyeri district. Up till then the organisation had concentrated its operations in one particular area of the country and most of its activities (which involved setting up revolving credit funds for small business enterprises run by women) were carried out there. When it was decided to expand the operations to Nyeri district, it was assumed that there were not many needy women in that area. Therefore, the money allocated for the region was little in comparison to that given out elsewhere. Having to cope with a shortage of funds for the work in his region, Mugo started to explore the idea of generating funds locally. Since in order to qualify for funds women had to be part of a group, he discussed his ideas with the women's groups for which he was responsible, that is six groups, each of which had an average membership of 30 women. He asked them whether it would be possible for each woman to contribute 100 shillings a month. This would be used as a loan to one or more of the women but at a rate of 10 percent interest, thus going beyond the idea of a merry-go-round or the method used in general by the NGO elsewhere which required no collateral for loans. (This was in the early 1980s at which time even Kshs 1,000 was considered quite a good sum to start or expand a business). The interest charged would be used to build up the fund, thus doing away (eventually) with the need for funds from elsewhere. The women agreed to his proposal. The idea worked out very well and the fund started growing. However, there was still something else bothering Mugo. His salary was still being paid by the donor agency and therefore the project was not completely sustainable. In order to make it so, he discussed another idea with the women. Why not introduce a service charge, which could be used to pay the facilitator? The women accepted this idea as reasonable. A service charge of one percent was therefore added. However, the sum of Kshs 250,000 was set as the limit for determining the amount of the service charge. Again, this idea worked well. So well in fact, that the service charge (which was regularly submitted to Mugo's employer, together with his periodic reports) soon covered Mugo's salary. His employers were so pleased by this turn of events that they promoted Mugo to training manager for Kenya! By 1995 Mugo felt in need of a change. By now he had gained a fair amount of experience in the area of enterprise development and he was confident that he could make it on his own. He resigned from the organisation and established WEDI. This left him free to work out his own ideas and to try and achieve the objectives he set for himself as well as for WEDI.
What were these objectives? Six years down the line, WEDI is grateful that they have been able to realise these objectives. He can point to the fact that the six groups he started out with in 1995 in the Mt. Kenya region have to date grown to 450, with a total membership of some 15,000 women. The groups are located in the following districts: Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Embu, Nyandarua and Laikipia. The organisation employs 25 people and has a spacious head office in Karatina. In addition, a branch office has recently been opened in Nyahururu. In his personal capacity Mugo is able not only to fulfill his family obligations (he has a wife and three children) but is also in a position to help others who are in need. Mugo explains that his main concern is to keep the needs of the various actors in the WEDI operation in balance. He sees these actors as the parts in a triangle, each playing their specific role, although the individual member remains the pivot (see figure 1). Member Implementing Agency Women's Group Figure 1 So is everything rosy as far as the future of WEDI is concerned? The answer is "no". For WEDI is also affected by the downward trend of the economy in Kenya. Coffee earnings used to be the chief income generator in the region. Everyone is feeling the repercussions of the near collapse of that industry and the small trader class to which most women belong is no exception. WEDI's answer to this problem is that coffee farmers should diversify. However, they have enough realism to be aware of the fact that this diversification will not happen overnight. The question people occasionally ask about WEDI is: why are only women members of the groups? Mugo's answer to this is emphatic. Although a man himself, he is firmly convinced that on the whole women are better at managing money than men. The reason? Women do not just think of themselves when they are given a sum of money. They have their family to consider: the children need clothes and there are school fees to be taken care of. WEDI's experience has been that men are less rational in their use of money: give them an unexpected sum of money and the first thing they think of is the bar or the place of nyama choma (roast meat). WEDI is happy that the organisation has proved that women can function well in places other than the kitchen: they can be responsible business managers. Through WEDI many women have gained in self-confidence and have become greater assets to the community. Together, therefore, they are making a difference!
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