Growing up in the Lake region in Kisumu, my parents and five siblings lived in a single-roomed house, dependent on kerosene cooking and lighting. My parents were very enterprising, and during school breaks, I would assist in selling fish to the nearby open markets in Kisumu. As a teenage girl growing up in a slum area, I was exposed to different risks such as early pregnancy, and drugs just to mention a few.
I lost dad in early 2000, and by then fish started diminishing in Lake Victoria while I could helplessly watch my mum struggling to put food on the table. As part of the Luo culture, my mum had to be inherited by someone within the fishing value chain and as fate would have it, she tested HIV positive.
From this experience, I decided to study Business Management, and during my voluntary stints, I observed many women depending on natural resources to provide for their families. Moreover, most women – like my mum, lack the capacity and know-how in alternative livelihoods and sustainability. As a result, many women have been subjected to the preceding sexual exploitation by the fishermen, commonly referred to as ‘Sex for fish’ or Jaboya in the local vernacular.
This is how WISE was born. I wanted to offer my professional training to help women and girls in my community to diversify in alternative livelihoods, gain personal confidence and restore hope regardless of their struggles.
Caroline holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (Human Resource Management option) and a Master’s in the Strategic Management University of Nairobi. She is an alumnus of the Mandela Washington Fellowship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative under the Business & Entrepreneurship track at Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey-USA. Also, Alumni of the Kenyan Women Entrepreneurs Leadership program at Babson College- USA.
Her work has received recognitions and awards, including; Kenya National Diversity and Inclusion Gender Equality Champion 2nd Runners Up 2019. She is also among the Top40under40 women in Kenya 2018 by Business Daily and named among the top 100 most positively inspiring youths in Africa by Positive Youths Africa in 2017.