Josephat always felt like his ambition never aligned with his life circumstances.
He loved to be in school, but his parents could not afford the fees. There were often gaps in his enrollment, dropping out to work for several weeks or months at a time. Then, inevitably, through sheer will and determination, he would scrape enough Kenyan shillings together to go back.
When he graduated high school, he dreamed of going to college, but the expense was too great. His mother, who worked piece jobs in the field earning no more than a dollar a day, offered to throw Josephat a fundraising event. Not a single person showed up.
“People are viewed by their contribution to the community,” Josephat explained. “So, because my family couldn’t contribute, we were viewed as worthless.”
Discouraged by the lack of support, Josephat shelved the idea of going to college. Instead, he opted to leave his hometown to find a better job and life in another village. With hopeful smiles and farewell hugs, Josephat promised his father, who had been ill and bed-ridden for all of Josephat’s life, that he would secure a fine-paying job in the new city, and when he did, he would send money back to take care of both of his parents and his three younger siblings.
Contrary to his expectations, life became worse for Josephat in the new city. He searched and searched and searched, but he couldn’t find a stable job. As a result, he wound up homeless, hungry, and drained of the little resources he had saved in the first place.
Josephat returned home to his family, filled with shame and doubt. Eventually, he was allowed to sell supplies at a relative’s shop. The business was failing, but the work was steady and paid Josephat enough to eat about one meal a day.
In early 2016, Josephat joined the Zoe Empowers Kenya program. Six months later, after receiving many in-depth training sessions on entrepreneurship, he began to notice ways he could improve his relative’s supply shop.
With a small loan from his empowerment group, Josephat invested in groceries and other essential household goods in demand but unavailable in the community. Josephat also developed a network with other shop owners, so when a customer asked for an item he did not sell, he bought it from another shop owner, then marked it up at his store.
Josephat’s relative was observant of Josephat’s rapidly increasing business acumen, and before the end of the first year in Zoe Empowers, he turned over ownership of his store to Josephat. The gesture instilled confidence and for the first time in his life, Josephat felt in control of his destiny.
Outside of the group projects, Josephat dedicated his days to analyzing every aspect of the supply store. Nothing was overlooked, from the quality of products to how he displayed the items on the shelves. As the notoriety of his shop grew, so did his customer base and community relationships.
“God elevated me to a new level [by bringing Zoe Empowers into his life]. People wanted to be a part of my life as they saw me rising up to success,” he said. He explained that the community began to view him differently than before Zoe because of his new ability to sell something of value or quality.
The store’s profits were not only enough for all of Josephat’s siblings to attend school, but he was also able to pursue his dream of enrolling in college. He studied mass media with the intention to work as a journalist one day.
Josephat believes that countless young, bright minds like him are waiting for the same opportunity. “In Africa, we have young minds [who want] to succeed but lack the resources to make it happen. Zoe makes a bridge for sound minds to cross to success.”
You can help more orphans and vulnerable children across the bridge from extreme poverty to lifelong self-sufficiency by becoming a Zoe Empowers Partner or other ways to give.
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