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Nuru International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending extreme poverty in remote, rural areas. Learn all about our work in Kenya and Ethiopia here on our blog.
We are off to a great start for Nuru Ethiopia here in Gamo Highlands. The team has been on the ground with me now for three weeks, and I can already tell that this is going to be a really cohesive and effective team. During this first phase of the project, we will focus on …Continue Reading
On 24 February 2013, a new chapter in Nuru’s mission began: Nuru started a second country project in Ethiopia. This expansion is the culmination of years of work and is a crucial step in the Nuru model reaching proof of concept—which is our precursor to scaling the organization to more and more countries. The importance …Continue Reading
Nuru R&D Team Impacts Hygiene Through Clean Drinking Water Containers and Latrines
Matt Lee
We have sold almost 1,000 handwashing stations in our community to date. This means that we have impacted the hygiene of around 5,000 community members. Community members have seen the value of its low cost, rugged design, and health benefits. With this success, the next problem we wanted to tackle is to prevent re-contamination of …Continue Reading
A Ki-Swahili expression one gets used to after a little while on the ground here is tuko pumoja (are we together?). Often used to check for understanding and agreement in conversation or a staff meeting, these words steadily creep more and more into my English usage as well. That’s the question we always need to …Continue Reading
Looking back and reflecting is something I have never been that good at. The pace of my life over the past five years and the aggressiveness of what we are trying to achieve at Nuru keeps me running so fast that I seldom feel like I can pause, take a breath and take stock of …Continue Reading
*For an explanation of Nuru’s Proof of Concept, see below. I’m very excited about the launch of our new country project in Ethiopia. I just spent the last three months in Arba Minch, Ethiopia laying the foundation for the project – developing required administrative infrastructure, building a solid logistics and support base, conducting early M&E …Continue Reading
I had a great opportunity to visit Proximity Designs and see the work that they’ve been doing in Myanmar. I got to spend time with the design group, led by David Klaus, which is now busy producing a new plastic pump and water basket for farmers there. This group performs needs finding in the community, …Continue Reading
Research and Development Program Strives for Efficient Design and Production
Matt Lee
The Research and Development (R&D) Program has been hard at work developing the different teams of the program: Product Design, Production/Servicing, and Logistics. Here’s a quick overview of what each team has been up to. Product Design: We’ve decided to focus our skills in finding and selecting products that have proven impact. There are many great ideas …Continue Reading
During the recent teachers’ strike in Kenya that left children out of school for three weeks, our education team took advantage of the down time in our programming to provide intensive training for the new Education Coordinators and conduct strategic planning sessions. Our team has a lot to tackle in the near future. We will …Continue Reading
Nuru Foundation Team Leader Update: Building Sustainability in Kuria
Scott Rumpsa
Local revenue growth + expense management = sustainability A big part of what we’re working on here is staying ‘scrappy’ while growing in size. We aspire to continually find ways to reduce expenses while maximizing impact. Additionally, we’re focused on increasing the amount of revenue we generate from our Income Generating Activities (IGA) program, so …Continue Reading