There is an adage that goes like: “Fortune favours the bold.” And ‘bold’ is an adjective that clearly describes Caroline Barongo. She rose from being a mama fua (washerwoman) to being a top entrepreneur, owning her company, and offering employment to the jobless.
Caroline’s story is boldly entwined with the infinite opportunities that are offered under the KCB Foundation 2Jiajiri programme, an initiative mooted by the KCB Foundation.
In 2019, Caroline was another jobless Kenyan living deep inside the sprawling Mukuru Kayamba slums in Nairobi. She had little hope in life. Her days were spent loitering around South B estates such as Hazina looking for people she could wash clothes for.
“Life was hard. The people who would hire me to wash clothes paid a pittance. I hardly made enough to feed my family,” Caroline explains in an interview with The Standard.
“One day in 2019, while I was seated near the Bellevue Stage along Mombasa road, with nothing to eat and feeling totally hopeless, a friend came over and told me that she had heard about the KCB 2Jiajiri programme on TV, and if I applied, I could get help. I immediately started the application process.”
No sooner had Caroline applied than she was called up for an interview which she passed.
“Through the programme, I was enrolled at the Gear Box school in Nairobi’s Industrial Area where I studied welding for two years,” Caroline says.
She further explains that after the training, she was employed at the same school but things did not work out like she had planned.
“The school closed and I was left jobless. But through the programme, I was able to establish my own welding company which I named Carolon Fabricators. The company picked up and I started getting welding jobs – fixing windows, joining pipes,.. I was actually able to employ 10 people,” avers Caroline.
She relied on help from the programme to start the company – paperwork and other legal requirements.
“KCB Foundation 2Jiajiri programme even helped me to open the company’s bank account. The programme took me through financial literacy training and I gained invaluable skills on how to run the business,” she explains.
Beyond setting up her business, the programme again enrolled her at the Christian Industrial Training Centre (CITC) where she is currently studying Electrical Installation.
“With the skills that I acquire, I will be able to serve my clients better,” she stresses.
Besides her usual businesses, Caroline has entered the world of mentorship. She is a top mentor at Dream Girls, an institution that brings together 300 girls especially from low neighbourhoods.
“The girls need hope in life. They need to be mentored and impacted with the necessary skills. That is why I was chosen to be their mentor. The institution is based in Kayole and Utawala neighbourhoods,” Caroline explains.
Today, Caroline is the embodiment of how skills can raise an individual from the bottom rung of society to the very top. KCB Foundation 2Jiajiri gave her an opportunity that opened great doors for her. Now she is offering employment to others who would have otherwise been left toiling with nothing to hope for.
KCB 2Jiajiri is an enterprise development and wealth creation programme that aims to transform the youth of today into the employers of tomorrow. As its name suggests, KCB Foundation 2Jiajiri is all about liberating the youth from the expectation of selling their labour to the freedom of self-employment.
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