Wednesday, February 25, 2015

This is our office

This is where I work from, my bed is the desk and the stool I usually keep my books on is my seat. What can I say? You have to start somewhere ;) right?


Clearly, I cannot call for a meeting with my volunteers team in my room so I have to get creative. If I need to meet them, it will either be at their office or at ihub, which is not so far from where I live. That's free space with free Wi-Fi. If it's in town, it will probably be at Cafe Deli but luckily, they usually pay for the water for me and coffee for them. By the way, I prefer sparkling water to coffee or tea any day. Have you tried it?

This is Mdada 2015, hopefully we'll move into some kind of office one day. I think I'll have an office warming party ;)

Y'all be good.

Blessings,

L

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

We're Giving Back To You!

We're Giving Back to You!

As a token of our appreciation, you will receive something to remember our girls by.
We will send all our supporters thank you notes from the girl supported as well as her picture. Any amount you give is highly appreciated.


You will receive a customized bracelet with your name on it for any contribution between Ksh 250-1,999 ($3-$20)

For a contribution of between Ksh 2000-9,999 ($21-$100) you will receive this T-shirt. Not to worry gentlemen, because we do have a Men's version of this t-shirt :)

Thursday, February 19, 2015

The Challenges in Mdada


We all have ups and downs in life in both our personal and professional lives. Mdada has definitely had its share. As a start up trying to build a sustainable business as well as have an impact in the society, it has not been an easy task. There are times I question if I'm actually doing the right thing in terms of my business model. Most people working to solve the problem of lack of school fees are either NGOs or Foundations which makes sense because it would take a lot of sales to happen to pay school fees for one girl for just one term, particularly if the product is costing Ksh 1000 or less. Whereas NGOs and Foundations can collect donations of any amount which allows them to impact more girls.  For Mdada we chose not to be an NGO because we believe that businesses are more sustainable than donations. We also wanted to give individuals an opportunity to be a part of this beautiful cause through purchase of products. Perhaps T-shirts may not be the product to get us to where we want to be as far as impact is concerned, but we're working on that and great things are coming soon.

Other challenges we've had like most startups include:

  1. Lack of capital- I've been selling stickers and scarves from office to office just to generate capital to start my T-shirt line and also contribute something to the girls' school fees.
  2. Lack of transparent systems in the schools we partner with- it's difficult to get accurate information about a girls' school fees because the schools are lacking in a proper accounting system and sometimes it could be that there's a shortfall in integrity. We are looking at implementing better systems to avoid such problems.
  3. Finding business partners- we have tried to partner with businesses who can either sell our products or help us fundraise but that has been quite challenging. 
  4. Sustaining the entrepreneur- as a young person trying to build a business, it's quite tough with a tight budget. It's so hard to do what you want when you're trying to figure out how your bills will get paid. 
The good thing is that Mdada has a great support team. The people who encourage me to keep going and give me ideas and support when needed. I guess, this is what keeps Mdada going together with prayers. I really believe that this is my calling and it we will prosper. I just hope this changes sooner rather than later!



Bless,
L

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

This is the Mdada Team


I'm so grateful to have a supportive team behind me.

I got so much love for this group of smart,talented and beautiful people. A team is a necessity, not a luxury. God bless each one of them!


Love,
L

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Thank You!

Thank You!
This is just to thank you for your support towards our girls. Whether you bought a sticker, a scarf or a t-shirt, you made a contribution and helped them stay in school. We really appreciate your generosity. We thought it would be great for you to see  the thank you note written by one of our girls (Mitchell). All the girls are now in school and focused on their studies. Maureen and Faith are in their final years of school, Maureen in her 4th year of secondary school and Faith in class 8. Mitchell is in Form 3 and Janet, our youngest is in class 7.

You can continue supporting us if you like. We have lovely custom made gifts for Valentine's Day going for Ksh 250 for a customized e-card to Ksh 1200 for a customized mug. Check out our images below. Simply tell us how you met that special person in your life and send us your pictures via whatsapp (+254717832311) or email lila@mdadaforgirls.com and we'll do the rest :)

Thank you so much.
Have a lovely day!
Mdada