Community Waste Collection

This weekend the Bangladesh Business Network, the more than 180 people who trade their goods and services with Bangla-Pesa, came together to start a regular community cleanup. They swept and collected community waste to a municipal waste collection area. Youth participating in the event were rewarded with Bangla-Pesa from the community fund to which each member contributes. Equipment, like rakes and wheelbarrows, were also rented using Bangla-Pesa.

After the cleanup, the community celebrated with a volleyball match and much laughter during light afternoon rains.

Study

A major study is nearly completed with interviews of each of the businesses using Bangla-Pesa. In a recent interview with several female business owners, participants reported that each time they used Bangla-Pesa for a purchase, they saved their Kenyan Shillings increasing the funds available to pay their children's school fees. These and other indicators suggest a steady improvement in this large, but marginalized community though the simple, cost effective tool of community currencies.

Nairobi's Bangla-Pesa

About 8 hours away by bus, three communities from separate sub-locations in the Kangemi and Kawangware slums of Nairobi started their first community discussions on creating their own Bangla-Pesa program. These communities will create business networks similar to the Bangla Business Network in Mombasa County, issue their own community vouchers, and use increased revenue to support tuition costs of children in surrounding schools.

Alfred Sigo and Will Ruddick did three workshops in Nairobi over the last week and are excited to see the community there taking the program into their own hands.

Fundraising

We ended our yearly crowd fundraising, raising nearly $3,000 USD. While this was only a fraction of our goal, we are extremely grateful for the chance to keep going even on a shoe string budget. If you didn't get a chance to donate please visit http://koru.or.ke/donate