Meet our Extraordinary Entrepreneurs

Milcah is a successful business woman in West Pokot, Kenya—but she’s overcome many challenges to get to where she is today.

West Pokot is a patriarchal society. Milcah was forced to drop out of school at a young age to get married, and the dowry was used to pay for her brothers to continue their studies all the way to college.

“When we first opened our business, people didn’t trust us. They had never seen women run a posho mill before,” says Milcah.

“But now they see us as positive role models within the community. And even women who were not a part of Village Enterprise are wanting to join and start their own business.”

Not only did this business reduce hunger in her community by making food more accessible, it also helped Milcah put her family on a pathway out of poverty and allowed her to pay school fees for all of her children, including her daughters.

“My dream for my girls is that they are educated up to university level, and that they are role models in our community,” says Milcah.

As Milcah’s business grew, so did her confidence and self-esteem. Her husband also attended gender equity training led by Village Enterprise.

“Some traditions are not really helping us. Because we used to not allow women to work,” says her husband. “As it turns out, we were restricting people from reaching their potential.”

As Milcah thinks about where she is today, she says, “Life is good now, it is peaceful.”

Watch this video to learn more about Milcah’s story:

Salome and her five children came to Uganda as refugees, fleeing the war in South Sudan with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

When they arrived in the Bidi Bidi Refugee Camp after walking for two months, they were given a bag of rice, a bottle of oil, and a small jug for water. And that was it.

Her hopes of a better life were reignited when she was introduced to Village Enterprise. Instead of simply giving short-term handouts, Village Enterprise provided an opportunity for Salome to rebuild her life through entrepreneurship.

After learning essential business skills from her Village Enterprise business mentor, Salome was provided startup cash to launch her very own business.

Salome began cultivating peanuts—locally known as groundnuts—to sell in local markets. Using her profits, she decided to diversify by purchasing a goat.

“I bought a female goat for 80,000 shillings, and it soon blessed me with two adorable kids,” says Salome.

She kept one of those goats for her business, and sold the other to pay for school materials and clothes for her children, including books and shoes.

As her entrepreneurial spirit continued to grow, Salome found herself diversifying her business yet again to also farm cassava.

With an impressive yield, she sold some in the markets and kept the rest for her family.

By partnering with Mercy Corps, Village Enterprise also ensured Salome and other refugee entrepreneurs had access to outside suppliers and buyers, enhancing local markets for their businesses to thrive.

While she may have arrived as a refugee, Salome is now a successful entrepreneur, running multiple businesses and employing others in her community to assist with farming tasks. During the busy season, Salome employs as many as 15 refugees.

“I pay them for their hard work and also provide them with meals as a token of appreciation. This practice has not only allowed me to act as a role model within my family but also within my community,” says Salome.

Since coming to Uganda, Salome has had two more children, and she looks after five other children who lost their parents. Through the power of entrepreneurship, she has been able to rebuild a life for herself and her twelve children.

Her dreams are to grow her businesses even further, buy more land, and ensure that her children always receive an education.

“I am now seen as a creative woman who can plan for an uncertain future.”

Learn more about how Village Enterprise is partnering with Mercy Corps to build refugee self-reliance through DREAMS.

At 17, Florence was forced to drop out of secondary school because her parents could no longer afford her school fees.

Living in a rural community in remote northern Rwanda, Florence’s story is not uncommon in an area struggling with the effects of climate change and global inflation.

“When I had to drop out of school because of poverty, I completely lost the hope of life,” says Florence.

“But when I saw this opportunity through Village Enterprise, I thought to myself, ‘Maybe I will rise again.’”

At 18, Florence enrolled in Village Enterprise’s poverty graduation program and partnered with two women from her community to launch a bakery.

They started small with a few bags of ingredients and a liter of oil, and traveled by foot or taxi to sell donuts, beignets, chapati, mandazi, and samosas.

Their baked goods were an instant hit.

Realizing they could tap into additional markets but wanting to cut down on transportation costs, they came up with an innovative solution: pooling their savings together to buy a bike.

And just like that, they created a mobile bakery.

Up and down Rwanda’s hills, Florence and her business partners took turns riding their bike and selling baked goods in the area’s markets and villages.

At 19, Florence used her business profits and re-enrolled herself in school—she even bought a brand new school uniform.

“I am proud of myself knowing that the future is in my own hands,” says Florence.

Nowadays, she studies in school during the day, and in the afternoons and on weekends she helps Francine and Veneranda with their shared business duties.

With just two years left in school, Florence is more determined than ever to graduate.

And once she does, she’s already got her sights on climbing her next big hill—university. She hopes to study project management to continue growing their businesses and profits. She dreams that one day, when she has children, they will always have access to education and will never have to worry about school fees.

“Thank you for giving me a second chance to secure my future. This business has changed my entire life.”