Students help Kenyan women build businesses

Give a Kenyan woman dried fruit, and she'll have food for a day. Teach a Kenyan woman to make and sell dried fruit, and she'll have food for a lifetime.

That's the goal of a group of 27 Utah students who are in Kenya offering business and marketing classes along with training to the women of the community of Nkubu. This year marks YouthLINC's first attempt to produce a microenterprise.

"Everybody pitches in to bring the community together, " said Judy Zone, director of YouthLINC (Youth serving the Local and International Needs Community). "What we're about is empowering people and giving them this intense service experience at a young age with the hope that its something they can carry throughout the rest of their lives."

YouthLINC began in 1999 when Zone traveled to Africa with her daughter and witnessed firsthand the needs of the people. Upon returning she started the nonprofit, beginning with 20 students from Murray High School. Approximately 150 students currently work year-round with YouthLINC, which is dedicated to instilling a lifetime service ethic in young people. Many applicants are turned down due to the high demand. The students currently work annually in Mexico, Kenya and, as of next year, Thailand, which will allow 40 more students to be involved.

"The program just really took off because the concept is so unique," Zone said. "People see that there's a wisdom in it."

Three years ago, while in Kenya, Zone hurried to a meeting of a group of women seeking to improve their lives. Many women in the area have lost their husbands to AIDS, or left their husbands due to abuse. Zone arrived with a bag of trail mix for her breakfast. The women saw it and caught the vision.

"They were so amazed," said Zone. "(Later) they came up with these spicy, salty, dried fruit mixes. It's hard to believe they're made of fruit."

While the women have learned to make their own version of dried fruit, they have struggled in the business and marketing arena of the process. Right now the women travel half an hour to a small food mill where they dry the fruit in an oven. They then package the fruit in flimsy bags and label them with the use of old typewriters.

"They don't really have a way to transport the goods," said Zone. "We're going to buy them some marketing supplies. Some sturdier, prettier packaging."

Thanks to donations from Rotary International, this year the women will receive fruit dryers and a food mill to assist them in their work.