Our Business Skills Development Mentor, Loitanit, recently arranged for a group of four alumni — Nancy, Benta, Lydia, and Jentrix — to attend the Kitenge Festival in the nearby town of Eldoret. There, they interacted with fashion designers and saw the products created by them. 

One of the things that surprised our alumni was the prices of the items: they were the same items that each of them can make, just done with a little twist, and sold at much higher prices. This was eye opening for our alumni as it taught them that people are willing to pay a higher price for items when they are made really well.

This professional “field trip” (and others like it) is just one of the things Neema does to support its alumni after they leave Neema. Loitanit works with alumni because starting a business can be a daunting task. It can be isolating and sometimes disheartening, and as a new business owner, it can be difficult balancing when to reinvest in the business and when to keep the funds for your family.

Aside from field trips, Neema also offers support by visiting alumni at their shops, organizing workshops, inviting them to participate in the Neema Fashion Show, and providing them with counseling. Alumni are also encouraged to come to Neema to share their experiences with the current students. Our hope is that by fostering this network of alumni, Neema students, past and present, will have peers to rely on to avoid entrepreneurial loneliness and to grow their businesses successfully.

To see the timeline of our alumni, click here. To see the students while they are still at Neema, click on these links or see below: Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3.