our-mission

Our Mission

Karimu recognizes that poverty can only be overcome by tackling the biggest challenges facing the poor

Karimu envisions a world without poverty. Our mission is to partner with communities to build pathways out of poverty that enable independent and thriving rural communities in the developing world. We engage deeply with local communities and government officials to set priorities for precise projects that address these challenges. 

Interconnected Problems

Lack of clean water and inadequate sanitation affect the health of a community while generating other serious problems. Time spent fetching water from muddy rivers—work performed largely by children—is time lost for education. Poor education means fewer opportunities later to earn a decent income. Meager income forces a family into painful choices regarding which child’s basic school costs—say, for uniforms—shall be paid. No access to financial services leaves the family without a safety net when an emergency strikes. If a family member gets sick or drought reduces its crop yield, the family may need to sell a portion of its meager assets, sinking them even deeper into poverty. Thus, the problems of the poor are interconnected.

These key challenges can be addressed in many different ways. 

For example, health issues might be addressed by

• Increasing access to clean water

• Educating the community in better health and hygiene practices

• Building and supporting accessible and affordable clinics

• Extending the reach and effectiveness of government or World Health Organization health protocols

Sanitation issues might be addressed by

• Increasing access to clean water

• Providing clean toilets in public facilities (e.g. schools and clinics)

• Educating the community on the importance of hygiene

• Providing handwashing facilities  

Education challenges may be overcome by

• Building schools with lighting and legible blackboard 

• Increasing the number of classrooms to increase the teacher/student ratio

• Building school bathrooms that enable menstruating girls to attend classes

• Providing teachers with better education to serve their students

Income challenges may be overcome by

• Providing better infrastructure for commerce, such as bridges, to enable the flow of products from producers to markets

• Providing training to increase the productivity and profitability of farms

• Linking producers with broader markets

• Providing training in basic business skills

Improving access to financial services may include 

• Forming and training savings groups to encourage savings,  offer micro-loans, and provide a safety net for families

• Providing seed funding or low interest loans without the requirement for collateral

• Forming cooperatives to leverage group savings in scaling production 

Karimu recognizes that poverty is a complex problem that requires an active and integrated approach that directly involves the community in dialogue and participation, requiring their investment alongside local communities and local governments to play an active role in sustainable solutions. Integrated problems require integrated solutions and fundamental infrastructure. Crucial assessments in health and sanitation must include access to clean water, access to sanitary latrines at home, school, and work, proper hygiene practices, access to basic health care within walking distance, funding of health clinics, and understanding of and access to proper nutrition to name a few. While all of these projects may benefit struggling communities, it is the communities themselves who understand their most urgent needs. It is this fundamental belief that drives our approach.