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Our Annual Review 2015 is out! You can read it here: Team Kenya – Annual Review.

Below is a message from our Founder and Chair of Trustees, Valerie Wilson, on how 2015 was a year of exciting growth and change for Team Kenya.

It has been an exciting and important year for Team Kenya. After an extensive period of refection, including consultations in both the UK and Kenya, Team Kenya and NCEDP both launched new ambitious five year strategic plans for 2015-2020. 

Our strategy draws on our learning and experience, we have set ourselves five main goals to enable us to rigorously measure our impact ensure long term sustainability and accountability. Our work with girls is crucial in supporting the fight against poverty.

There were some breakthrough moments in 2015, with the launch of our women’s micro- finance and agribusiness projects in Ndhiwa and our decision to register Team Kenya as Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) to enable us to employ staff here in the UK.

Team Kenya is an organisation that has an empowerment approach to development, there is no quick fix, it takes time to build capacity and bring lasting change. Our loyal supporters have continued to stick with us through this long journey with patience and understanding; the impact of our work is seen and recognised throughout the community in Ndhiwa and beyond.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our funders, partners and incredible supporters. Without you, we could not have achieved any of the impact we are celebrating today. I must also thank our implementation partner in Kenya, Ndhiwa Community Empowerment and Development Project (NCEDP), particularly those leading our work on the ground, for showing commitment and dedication to our life changing work.

2015 was a year of great success, and we continue to aim high in 2016 and beyond. We want to continue to grow and to work alongside the community, helping to achieve rural prosperity and gender equality in Ndhiwa.

Recently I spent time with Gertrude, a Board member of NCEDP, a widow and mother who joined our table banking project and received agribusiness training and a loan in 2015. She proudly announced she now has money to pay her daughters’ school fees and feed her family and for the rst time in her life she is happy and sees a stable future for her family. Her con dence and pride in her self-reliance were very evident by her big smile as she shared the good news with fellow NCEDP board members.

During 2015 we had much to celebrate. However, there are still many challenges for us to meet, collectively with our partners in the community. We can build on our strengths and learn from our weaknesses to enable the community in Ndhiwa to be self reliant and sustain their own livelihoods and futures for their families. Team Kenya has some big ambitions!

Valerie Wilson

Founder and Chair of Trustees