Women’s Day 2025: Angeline’s journey to financial independence

For women's day 2025 we share the story of a resilent woman we met in Kenya: Angeline. She is a 27-year-old mother who lives with her husband and three children in Kware Slums, Ongata Rongai, on the outskirts of Nairobi. In 2020, Angeline and her husband moved to Nairobi for job opportunities. She secured a job as a nanny, while her husband took casual work at construction sites. After a year, Angeline’s employers relocated to another country, forcing her to take on casual jobs. However, the unpredictability of these jobs made life difficult. Some days, the family would go without meals, paying rent became a struggle, their children could not attend school regularly, and accessing healthcare was challenging. 

Angeline’s life changed when she met Fides, an educator working with the Evangelizing Sisters of Mary, one of AVSI’s implementing partners in Kenya. Angeline shared her struggles - her inability to provide for her children and the emotional toll of their hardships. Fides introduced her to the programs run by the Evangelizing Sisters of Mary, which focus on family empowerment. These programs provide child support, access to income-generating opportunities, psychosocial support, and skills training for sustainable livelihoods. Women are also encouraged to form savings groups, enabling them to save and lend money to one another. 

AVSI subgrants the Evangelizing Sisters of Mary to facilitate these initiatives, ensuring they have the resources to support vulnerable families. Through this partnership, educators like Fides can guide women in financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and community support structures. 

In January 2023, Angeline joined a Village Savings and Loaning Association (VSLA) group called Flavor. The group operates on the principles of collective savings, where members pool their resources and access small loans at low interest rates to invest in businesses. The structured financial discipline of the group enables members to build creditworthiness and financial independence. 

Here, Angeline connected with other women, exchanged ideas, and discussed life challenges. She also took an interest in baking, one of the skills-training opportunities offered by the Evangelizing Sisters of Mary. 

After learning how to bake different types of bread, Angeline identified a gap in her neighbourhood - the lack of fresh, homemade doughnuts. To start her business, she took her first loan of Ksh. 1,000 from the Flavor group. She used the funds to buy 5 kg of wheat flour, cooking oil, and other ingredients. With this, she started a small home-based bakery, selling her products within her community. 

Today, Angeline has expanded her production. She wakes up at 4.30 a.m. to bake the doughnuts, pack the doughnuts and distribute them to the shops by 7 am. She then gets back home to prepare and accompany her children to school. With guidance from Fides, she has gained the confidence to approach local shops, securing daily supply agreements with 4 shops. As a result, her daily earnings have increased from Ksh. 500 to Ksh. 1000, allowing her to boost her savings from Ksh. 20 to Ksh. 100 and later to Ksh. 300. 

Beyond her own success, Angeline has become a role model for other women in the Flavor group. She works closely with Fides as an on-call trainer. She has recently trained 2 groups of 50 women on baking skills and guiding them on how to take small loans from their newly formulated groups. She also encourages them to invest in income-generating activities, emphasizing the power of financial discipline and savings. 

Her increased income has eased the burden of schooling her three children, one of whom is supported through AVSI’s Distance Support Program. The program helps cover school fees, ensuring her child receives uninterrupted education. Additionally, the program offers psychosocial support, providing emotional and social well-being assistance to children from vulnerable families. 

She now dreams of opening a fully equipped bakery and expanding her business further. 

AVSI Foundation’s Distance Support Program strengthens vulnerable families by ensuring children have access to education, healthcare, nutrition, and psychosocial care. The program covers school fees, reducing the financial strain on parents, and offers psychosocial support to address emotional and mental well-being challenges. By providing both financial relief and social services, the program empowers families to become more self-sufficient. 

Angeline’s journey exemplifies the theme of International Women’s Day 2025: 'For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.' This global day, commemorated every March 8th, calls for actions that unlock equal rights, opportunities, and economic empowerment for all. By equipping women like Angeline with skills and financial literacy, AVSI and its partners are fostering a future where women are independent, resilient, and agents of change in their communities. 

Angeline’s story is a testament to the power of small beginnings and the impact of collective support in transforming lives. With determination and access to the right opportunities, women can break barriers and create lasting change for themselves and future generations.