A Bungalow housing brilliant but humble beginnings

Posted by Paul

September 24, 2009

First stop today was Undugu, which is in the Westlands area of Nairobi. We went to meet with Aloys and Kepher who are the Executive Director and Assistant Director of the Undugu Society.

They showed us photographs of the small bungalow that was the original home of Undugu. Thanks to their success, they have been able to demolish the original building and construct a five storey office block in its place.

Apart from the shop that they have on the ground floor, the bustling fifth floor is Undugu’s hub, controlling the various arms of the business.

The building is named Arnold Plaza, in honour of Father Arnold who recognised a need for schooling for street children in the slums, focusing more on the practical skills than just purely academic qualifications.

From their brilliant but humble beginnings thirty years ago, Undugu now has four separate schools throughout Nairobi which still exist for this very aim, and thanks to their many charitable donors, they have even been able to provide a University education for some of these children.

The Fairtrade arm of the business was set up initially as an outlet for the creative endeavours of the children, and to provide them with an opportunity to make some money other than support from Undugu.

Having been brought up to date with their latest plans, it was time to take some photos to commemorate our visit, thank them for their kind welcome and time and then head off to our second visit of the day.