Frequently asked questions
Get support to support inhabitants of Kibera
pictures: courtesy of Re-Afric
In line with its commitment to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, the Perspectivist partners up with Re-Afric, a circular economy business and social enterprise, located in Kibera, Kenya. Re-Afric’s Covid-19 programme provides slum inhabitants with food and sanitation to prevent the disease from spreading. It goes like this: you get services on the Perspectivist Platform, you give back to Re-Afric and Perspectivist either through donation or on the regular prices.
Julius and I came across online through common friends. We discovered that we're both pioneering ways of improving the health and well-being of our communities, as well as the one of our planet as a global ecosystem. Many things unite us, but I have to admit I speak from a priviledged European perspective. A perspective, I find, that also long time contributed to global poverty. Not only with EU export subsidies, but also with waste exports. I am sure what we do can make a change, even if only small. I am grateful to see how Julius concretely shows that change is possible. Perspectivist will support the project as much as possible.
Jean-Philippe
Founder of Perspectivist
Kibera is my community. After my college studies, I came back to Kibera to create Re-Afric. My driving force was always this dedicated passion to create significant social impact in the slum communities I grew up in. Today as Re-Afric, we don't only produce circular products, but also support the prevention against Covid-19. Reafric simply means redoing it in Africa. Bringing back the original natural state of Africa as a continent. This we do through mobilizing groups of young people in Kibera to collect waste and turning them into new products.
I am glad to see Jean-Philippe and I can connect through our shared passion.
Julius O. Otieno
Founder of Re-Afric
We are in this together, everywhere
With around one million inhabitants, Kibera, which is located in Kenya's capital city Nairobi, is the largest urban slum in Africa. The slum is characterised by a dense population, poor sanitation and poor waste management. These environmental hazards and sanitary risks have translated in a poor health status of slum residents. As regards infrastructure, Kibera's only hospital, with only 20 care beds, is not able to deal with a Coronavirus outbeak, left aside the already high prevalence of other diseases.
Against this background, Re-Afric creates awareness and supportive measures to support the local population. As a social venture, Re-Afric has decided to put a spirited fight against Covid-19 thereto facing Kibera residents in various aspects including:
1. Disruption to their source of daily bread thus not able to put a meal on the table
2. Lack of access to personal protective equipment such as facemasks, handwashing liquid soap and hand sanitizers
3. Lack of handwashing stations of neighbourhoods without running water
4. Lack of access to sanitary pads by girls in the slum of Kibera affected by the pandemic outbreak
Covid-19 programme by Re-Afric
The food and personal protective equipment distribution programme by Re-Afric is aimed at supporting the vulnerable in Kibera’s community, with its major short-term goals being:
1. Distributing food stuffs and personal protective equipments to atleast 5000 needy families segmented into households, 25 children homes, 15, 000 needy single young mothers and 10, 000 elderly persons
2. Distributing sanitary pads to at least 50, 000 girls in dire need within the informal settlement of Kibera
3. Setting up 500 handwashing stations to neighbourhoods with no access to running water
The Perspectivist directly supports this initiative through the donations collected via its #CoronaCoaching and Blossom Walk Talks. The Perspectivist also contributes with a share on its paying offers. Lastly Re-Afric and Perspectivist partner up on Social Evolution via the Perspectivist Platform. Concretely, both organisations will offer webinars on the project, as well as concrete online action-learning settings.
If you are interested in contributing to the project, sign-up to our newsletter and drop us an email at info@perspectivist.net for the Perspectivist and at info@re-afric.com for Re-Afric.
More about Re-Afric
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp2BgfK-04k
Reafric is a social enterprise that cuts across several issues in areas including environment, education, gender, youth and talent empowerment. Our environmental target is to utilize fifty percent of waste materials to produce quality and durable shoes as we distribute what we don’t use to other recycling companies. These shoes are produced in partnership with skilled artisans and women’s groups located in the informal settlements of Kibera. Twenty percent of the revenue generated is reinvested into the community through educational scholarships and behavior change campaigns aimed at encouraging youth to make healthy life choices, especially around social issues like sexual and reproductive health, drug and alcohol abuse, and life skills - keeping off from peer pressure and activities pertaining crime, division amongst ethnic communities, riots and destruction of public and private properties.
In due process of behaviour change in line with life skills, we nurture talents in schools and link the best ones across the globe to the opportunities in various companies. Our enterprise incubator is a 2-months program that provides training, mentorship and access to jobs from our already confirmed skilled artisans who get direct employment in our shoes company. This creates employment to the rendered jobless passionate youths in the slum communities and at the same time help in nurturing talents and career dreams through scholarships we offer.
Further links about Re-Afric
Impacthub Media: http://impacthubmedia.com/?s=Reafric+Social+enterprise
Social Enterprise Society of Kenya: http://www.socialenterprise.or.ke/Current_Members.html
Impact Summit in Paris: youtube.com/watch?v=YuIM1vyq_Ho
Social Impact Award: https://kenya.socialimpactaward.net/project/reafric-social-enterprise/
