KIPEPEO- Community-Based Initiatives.

KIPEPEO in Kiswahili means butterfly. The Karurumo Aqua Farm (KAF) recognizes
the Butterfly Effect that seemingly small actions can have on communities. There are generations yet unborn whose lives will be shaped and shifted by the moves we make and the actions we take today, tomorrow and the next day.

The project initiatives aim to support marginalized poor single mothers and their school-going children to enhance their standard of living through various entwined
Kipepeo initiatives. These initiatives are designed to create the desired butterfly effect that will break the poverty cycle so prevalent in rural Kenya.

The KIPEPEO PROJECT, through its various initiatives, is dedicated to empowering single mothers and their children to create brighter futures. We envision a world where every single mother has the tools and support needed to provide a stable and prosperous life for her family.

Our multi-faceted approach includes:

1. 1. Academic Scholarships: We will provide scholarships to single mothers' children, enabling them to pursue an education. Education is the cornerstone of empowerment, and these scholarships open doors to better career opportunities.

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3. 2. Solar Lanterns: We will distribute solar lanterns to single mothers and their children. Access to clean and reliable energy not only improves their quality of life but also facilitates studying and working during the evenings.

3. Community-Based Farming: We will support community-based farming initiatives, teaching sustainable agricultural practices. This not only ensures a steady source of nutritious food for families but also generates income through surplus produce.

1. 4. Training Centre: Our training centre will serve as a hub for skill development. Single mothers can acquire vocational skills that make them more employable or even start their own businesses.

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3. Goals and Objectives

The goals of the KIPEPEO Project are to offer support to break the cycle of poverty among single mothers in their quest for economic advancement. 

The objectives are that within one year 100 hundred single mothers’ families will have been adopted into the various Kipepeo project initiatives within the Karurumo Village community i.e.
a. Twenty-five (25) single mothers will be employed providing them with a steady
income.
b. Twenty-five (25) KIPEPEO Scholarships will be offered to underprivileged,
students.
c. Two hundred Kipepeo Solar Lanterns will have been distributed.
d. Fifty (50) single mothers will be active members of the Kipepeo Single Mothers’
Community-Based Farming Initiative.
e. The Kipepeo Training Center will have been developed to facilitate training for
the various target groups within the community.

Grand Strategic Plan.
Statement of the problem or description of need
Kenya has a large number of single mothers living in abject poverty with their children with little to no resources to help themselves. Most of these children are often academic underperformers due to their poor living environment. This situation has created a cycle of poverty from one generation to the next.

There is a need for intervention to break this cycle of poverty. The Kipepeo Project
initiatives aim to do this through the economic advancement of single mothers and through support and encouragement of academic excellence among their children in the community.

Currently, deserving cases are supported by providing financial assistance in exchange for productive labour whereby a mother gets monetary assistance with the understanding that she will pay it back by working at the Karurumo Aqua Farm.
This is however not enough and also not sustainable hence the desire to provide much-needed economic advancement. 

The opportunities availed through the Kipepeo Project initiatives will enable single mothers to take better care of their children, save their money and eventually acquire their own land and replicate the initiatives independently.

Over the next five years, the Karurumo Aqua Farm (KAF) plans to transform lives in
Kenya by meeting the practical needs of single mothers families through
productive labour, education, training, and self-help projects.

 It is envisioned that each year a group of a hundred single mothers will be adopted into the Kipepeo Project initiatives.
The Kipepeo Project will run the following Kipepeo initiatives;

a. KIPEPEO - Scholarship Initiative

Giving scholarships to a small number of underprivileged students will create a
powerful butterfly effect within the community. This initiative will enable a number of underprivileged students within the community to attend school with their peers by paying all school-related costs. This will encourage academic excellence and provide a support system on which they can rely for responsible adult guidance and assistance.
 

The scholarship program will only sponsor one child in the poor single mother’s home and where possible those in classes six, seven and eight. This will
reduce the number of school dropouts. It will also offer them an opportunity to advance to high school which would normally be impossible for the single mothers to manage due to the high costs associated with this transition.

Upon acceptance into the KIPEPEO Scholarship initiative, students will receive
continuous funding for four years assuming acceptable grades are maintained. The
students will receive full tuition support as well as school uniforms, class materials and specific needs that arise.

The period of four years is seen as an adequate time within which the single mothers supported by the various Kipepeo initiatives will be self-sustaining and therefore able to pay the fees for their children.

b. KIPEPEO - Solar Lanterns
Enhancing the academic standards of a large number of students through a small catalyst like the Kipepeo Solar Lantern will mean a well-educated youth in the community.
Karurumo Aqua Farm (KAF) recognizes that most of the poor single mothers cannot
afford to buy fuel for lighting purposes. This in turn impedes the child’s academic
progress in school as they cannot study after sunset and before sunrise. Studying
before sunset and after sunrise creates conflict with their daily household chores
and responsibilities.
This initiative aims to provide solar lanterns to students in poor single mothers’ homes within the community. This is in support of encouraging academic excellence and consequently alleviating poverty in the community.

c. KIPEPEO - Single Mothers’ Community Based Farming.
A major goal of the KIPEPEO Project is to positively impact the community and enrich the lives of poor single mothers. The KIPEPEO Project is especially committed to supporting single mothers in their quest for economic advancement.
In communities where poverty is rampant, young single mothers crave a better
future. The Kipepeo Project recognizes this desire to break from the past and
has created the KIPEPEO Single Mothers Community-Based Farming self-help initiative for individuals to realize their potential even in an impoverished environment.

This initiative will place assets into our impoverished neighbours' hands enabling them to break the grasp of poverty and generate significant family income. The program will produce partnerships that will not only benefit the members but also function as a model for how agribusiness in the region may serve as a catalyst for entrepreneurial expansion for the mutual benefit of all. 

Each member of this initiative will be able to make money and consequently be able to feed and educate their children.
The single mothers will organize themselves into groups of ten (10) in order to qualify to join this initiative. This approach serves to instil discipline and accountability towards each other as well as increase productivity.

Karurumo Aqua Farm (KAF) will provide the start-up inputs such as communal land,
seed, fingerlings, hybrid dairy goats, hybrid rabbits and poultry depending on individual choice and circumstances.
Karurumo Aqua Farm (KAF) will work alongside this program by providing training
facilities, materials and staff to prepare the selected members for the vocation of farming alongside the life skill courses that will be offered by the training centre.

This initiative will be modelled on the Karurumo Aqua Farm which integrates
Aquaculture with other modern agriculture practices e.g greenhouses, hydroponics and drip irrigation systems. This essentially means that the single mothers will grow high-quality horticultural crops and also keep quality livestock.

The members of the community-based farming group will be required to open bank accounts and be active savers for a period of one year. After one year the members will be expected to replicate the initiative at their own homes using what they have learnt.
 

At the lapse of a three-month grace period, the member will cease to be part of the community-based farming group allowing Karurumo Aqua Farm (KAF) to reach out to other needy cases.
Karurumo Aqua Farm (KAF) will however continue to monitor and check how the home projects are doing and also provide expert assistance where required.
 

d. KIPEPEO - Training Centre
 The Kipepeo Project will develop a vocational centre to train single mothers, in modern farming and aquaculture practices. The Training Centre will apply the Train the Trainers approach wherever possible in order to make the programs sustainable.
During an intensive training experience, they will also receive supplemental instructions on life skills needed to enter their communities with confidence and vision. 

The Training Centre will use the existing Karurumo Aqua Farm as a training venue and then operationalize the training at the communal facility in such ‘majors’ as poultry keeping, small-scale Aquaculture, hydroponics, dairy goat farming and rabbit keeping.

Evening classes will offer such vital subjects as: - sex education, nutrition, sanitation and rainwater harvesting/storage.
The centre will be built, equipped and staffed to nurture the future economic base of Kenya enabling young Kenyans to bring their communities out of poverty through technology and the discipline associated with long-term goals.

9. Action Plan
i. Staff
Currently, KAF has seven staff who are used interchangeably to enhance teamwork within the integrated farm’s functions, with expansion, there will be a need for
specialization with teamwork being a key component. The seven staff will form the core team and they will be responsible for training the new staff as we bring them on board.

We believe in shared leadership and each member of the team is a team leader in a
particular function or farm activity.
The KIPEPEO Project will also put in place a five-member board which will offer strategic direction and oversee the project's operations.

The KIPEPEO Project will also have an appointed Auditor to ensure that the necessary controls are in place and are effective as well as ensure compliance with the laid down systems and procedures.

ii. Budget
The Community Based Single Mothers’ and their Children - KIPEPEO PROJECT INITIATIVES is seeking funding amounting to USD 1,298,542.23 to enable the implementation of the initiatives as detailed hereunder.

Aquaculture                            $ 128,212.00

Equipment                              $   58,462.07

Total Operating Costs             $ 296,793.51

Academic Scholarships           $ 237,562.55

Solar Lighting Kits                   $   67,460.00

Community-Based Farming    $ 233,357.63

Training Centre                       $ 276,694.47

TOTAL                                $ 1,298,542.23

Systems will be put in place to ensure that the Kipepeo Project exits from one
group of beneficiaries to the next within the stipulated timelines.

iii. Monitoring Plan
Monitoring will be carried out on a continuous basis with the following information being gathered;
a. Project expenditure to date
b. Project activities and progress toward objectives
c. Schedule realism and changes
d. Resource availability and utilization
e. Administrative issues

iv. Evaluation Plan
The project will be periodically evaluated through surveys or questionnaires geared
toward assessing overall results against the original plan i.e.
a. Did the expected level of change occur? If not, why not?
b. Were the activities suitable to accomplish the objectives?
c. Did the necessary resources actually materialize? Were They sufficient?
d. Will the community be able to maintain the project?

With your grant support, we can expand these initiatives, reach more single mothers, and transform more lives. By investing in the KIPEPEO PROJECT, you are not only empowering single mothers but also sowing the seeds of a brighter future for their children and communities.

Join us in this journey of empowerment, where we believe that with the right support, single mothers can overcome challenges, build resilience, and create better lives for themselves and their children. Together, we can make a lasting impact on the lives of these strong and determined individuals.

We sincerely thank you for your support.

A Brief introduction about myself;

Catherine Mimano is a Single Mother to one son and two adopted nephews and I understand the plight of single mothers first-hand.

I was very fortunate to build a successful career for myself even as I raised my boys (Now aged 38 to 41 years old). Today they are successful in their careers and they continue to be my greatest cheerleaders as I seek ways of impacting the society around us. 

I bring over 35 years of experience from the Corporate world into the rural community-based space.

I am seeking to make an impact in the lives of others through professionalism, commitment and ambition while putting to use my strong leadership, troubleshooting, communication, impactful delivery and decision-making skills.

Education

Limuru Girls High School- A Levels

1. 1974

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

1. Certified Information Systems Auditor - CISA

2. Certified Franklin Covey Delivery Consultant

TRAINING/ COURSES

• Action Centered Leadership

• Computer Security

• Prevention and Detection of Frauds and Forgeries

• Effective Mentoring Programme

• Auditing Skills for Bank Internal Auditors

• Effective Leadership 

• Microsoft Office

• Total Quality Management

• Introduction to Data Analysis Using Audit Command Language (ACL)

• Computers and Information Technology Management Training

• Assessment Centers Assessor

• Job Evaluator

• Dale Carnegie's Effective  Presentation Skills

• HIV/AIDS Training

• Best Pond Management Practices

I would be happy to provide a detailed Resume upon request.

Once again thank you for your time and generosity as we change lives one single mother at a time.