Our 2013 teams are off this week to work around the world over their spring break.  Multidisciplinary groups of business (Owen Graduate School of Management), divinity (Vanderbilt Divinity School), education (Peabody College of Education and Human Development), and development (Vanderbilt Graduate Program of Economic Development) are going out to work with organizations in Guatemala, Nepal, and South Africa. The objectives of each team, though quite diverse in implementation, are largely intent upon fulfilling two to three months of work with [...]

After spending some more time with current Juhudi clients and the field staff, we headed back toward Nairobi to meet with Nat Robinson, current CEO of Juhudi Kilimo.  We spent the afternoon talking with Nat about current challenges, future strategy, and how the new political system in Kenya could impact the organization. While the organization currently serves 15,000 farmers around Kenya, Juhudi is in a unique market to expand rapidly over the coming years.  A few key aspects to reaching [...]

After leaving Lwala, our team traveled through the incredibly scenic tea country of western Kenya to Kericho to meet with Juhudi Kilimo, a microfinance organization focused on agricultural, asset-backed loans.  Juhudi Kilimo was started in 2009 and is now led by Nat Robinson, one of Project Pyramid’s founding members.  Under his leadership, the company has grown to serve over 15,000 farmers around Kenya. We started our day with Juhudi by riding along with field staff as they met with a [...]

Well, we’re finally back in Nairobi after a refreshing week without network access – time to catch up everything that’s been going on the last few days! Our team left Nairobi last Thursday to head west for a visit with the Lwala Community Alliance (LCA), an organization that focuses on multi-dimensional aspects of community development and empowerment.  Our team’s connection to LCA is James Nardella, current Executive Director of Lwala and Project Pyramid alumnus.  After driving a occasionally cooperative transmission [...]