Defying the Cultural Norm, Kenya
Roseline is an LEI Alumnae from Fanaka Secondary School, Kenya. She lives with both parents and her four siblings (two sisters and two brothers).
Her desire to know more about business encouraged her to participate in her school’s leadership clubs. She also attended the cross border LEI Annual summit at Mto wa Mbu Arusha, Tanzania in December 2018. The skills and knowledge acquired at the annual summit helped her evaluate business ideas within her local village.
Roseline is determined to defy the expected cultural norms within the Maasai community that believes that women occupy an inferior social position. She says, “I come from a community where women are branded weak creatures, with their defined roles; giving birth and taking care of the children at home. They are not expected to earn, always dependent on their husbands.”
Roseline is determined to prove that women can venture into business and earn a living from it. Currently, she owns four businesses – Dairy, retail shop, poultry keeping, and onion farming.
Her goal is to improve the living standard of her family and set a good example for other girls in her village, showing them that they can undertake business ventures and become successful entrepreneurs.
She started the retail shop with an initial stock of 20,000 Ksh, which has now grown to a stock of 30,000 Ksh.
She started the dairy with the initial stock of 5 liters. Now, she sells 40 liters of milk daily, making a profit of 400 Ksh.
Starting out with 3 chickens, she has grown her poultry stock to 15 chickens.
With the onion crop growing on 2 acres, she makes a profit of 8000 Ksh after the harvest.