A Little Goes a Long Way
by Hannah Jang, Chief Blogger
"Helping people improve their health is what I love to do," said Betty Kyazike, the Branch Manager for Living Goods. This is a simple statement coming from an extraordinary woman. Kyazike manages over 60 female entrepreneurs who go door-to-door selling products that are improving the health of the urban poor in Kampala, Uganda. As one of Living Goods' first agents, Kyazike was invited by President Clinton to speak at this year's Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) and share about the Avon-like model that provides affordable health and personal care items to hundreds of people in Uganda.
Given her midwifery background, Kyazike chose a profession that would be a natural fit for her. In 2009, Kyazike joined Living Goods, a San Francisco based social enterprise, as a Community Health Promoter and quickly became a top-performer and was promoted to branch manager a year later. However, this is only one of many success stories tied to the tireless efforts of The Adventure Project, a non-profit organization investing in entrepreneurs in developing countries.
Recently celebrating its one year anniversary, The Adventure Project rallies behind high-impact social enterprises to raise awareness and add "venture" to organizations that provide a solution to alleviating extreme poverty. After meeting through a charity: water fundraising event, Co-founders Becky Straw and Jody Landers decided to leverage their entrepreneurial skills and launch The Adventure Project by focusing on four key areas - water, environment, health and hunger. Their goal is to not only hire more "Betty's" in Uganda but also "mobilize ordinary Americans to get involved and create effective solutions to escape poverty forever."
People can get involved by creating their own fundraising page, donating directly to the organization or even sponsoring a health care worker. Since launching field operations in early 2009, Living Goods now serves over 35,000 families across Uganda but is not yet entirely self sustaining. Significant progress has been made, but much more needs to be done!
Join the tribe. Fundraise. Give. Sponsor.
To view the year-end investment portfolio results, please visit:
http://theadventureproject.org/results
Photo Credit: Esther Havens (www.estherhavens.com)
(Left: Becky Straw; Right: Jody Landers)
We could definitely use more people who have compassion like her.
Posted by: hearing centre | April 25, 2012 at 11:22 AM
"Helping people improve their health is what I love to do," This is how we should start our day.
Posted by: dentist Sydney city wisdom teeth | March 25, 2012 at 10:52 PM