Visiting the loan programs WMI collaborates on with Lewa Wildlife Conservancy on the Laikepia Plateau in northern Kenya is a great opportunity to see an innovative approach to involving local populations in the management of scarce resources.  Lewa is a pioneer in the concept of community conservation.  They believe that the welfare of local people is key to a thriving wildlife heritage and have invested extensively in the livelihood of their neighbors with programs that focus on education, healthcare, water, microfinance and youth empowerment.  Of particular importance are programs that focus on women's groups.

WMI partners with Lewa to bring business loans and skills training to the women who live in villages surrounding the conservancy.  Wildlife tourism is a significant economic base and WMI is working with Lewa to help ensure rural women and their families participate in the revenue generated by this sector.  The women have become sensitized to the benefits of preserving and protecting their wildlife heritage.    

There are currently 1,800 women in the loan program operating small businesses that include: retail

shops, butcheries, flour mills, hair dressing and tailoring, poultry rearing, buying and selling cereals and livestock keeping. These businesses not only allow rural women to develop their own business potential but as the enterprises grow they create jobs for other women.   The Kenyan population is becoming more urbanized and there is tremendous demand for food in cities and towns.  Many women in the loan program have focused their business on this sector and are generating profits from it. 

In 2018, WMI fu nded the addition of new loan groups in each of the 4 sectors surrounding the conservancy.  Women leaders have emerged to chair the groups and supervise loans.   Owning a business has given the women the tools and incentive to be proactive about their family's economic well-being.   For a rural woman, operating a successful rural business is not a one dimensional undertaking.  Access to affordable health care, a reliable water source and educational opportunities for their children impact the ability of these women to focus on their business operations.

This year WMI funded counseling services for rural women who felt stressed by the myriad responsibilities they faced.  The women told us the counseling sessions were enormously helpful. Some were having issues with priorities set by their husbands and the counseling sessions helped them learn how to have a fruitful discussion instead of simply arguing.  Others were overwrought by the educational and career choices their children wanted to make and the sessions helped them learn how to listen and respond constructively to their children's concerns.  Our team was struck by the universality of the women's concerns.  We could relate to the anxiety created by family arguments and their relief in finding constructive ways to handle the stress.