Transformationsl Ventures-Jibu Clean Water Business Project

11/19/2015 (Permalink)

Servpro of West Littleton/Sheridan is honored to be a part of the Transformational Ventures Clean Water project.

Transformational Ventures is thrilled to announce the grand opening of Jibu-Uzima in Embakasi, Nairobi, Kenya! This water franchise initiative started with a phone call just one year ago, but is the culmination of ten years of relationship building and strategic partnerships among Northside Christian Church in Houston, TX, Redeemed Gospel Church in Nairobi, and The 1010 Project in Denver, CO (which became a part of T-Ventures in 2013).

Jibu-Uzima is a community focused business solution for the people living in Embakasi, the third largest informal settlement in Nairobi (after Kibera and Mathare), who have limited access to clean, affordable water. The water depot -- the hub where the water is purified, bottled, and sold -- is in a retrofitted shipping container built by Chombox.

The phone call one year ago was from a generous donor who challenged T-Ventures with a $10,000 matching gift opportunity and a desire to see something innovative and impactful in the Redeemed community. After praying through options, Melissa Schaap (T-Ventures) reached out to Josephine Chavaseki (Redeemed) and it's sister church, Northside, and discussed the idea of pursuing a water business. Melissa also contacted Jibu, a company that trains and finances African entrepreneurs to solve the drinking water crisis. At that point, Jibu had successfully launched water franchises in three other East African countries; we inquired about the timing and possibility of opening up their Kenya market.

Jibu franchise owner, Josephine Chavaseki, has been facilitating business training for both business and social entrepreneurs at Redeemed and in their community for the past five years. Through T-Ventures, she had also connected with business and leadership coach, Jacquie Fedo, of Coaching 410 in Boulder, CO, and together, they have been learning and growing through regular coaching sessions via phone and Skype over the past two years. As a result of all of this training and mentoring, Josephine was well prepared for the Jibu franchisee selection process and has been working diligently for many months to open the first Jibu franchise in Kenya. 
  Josephine has hired three employees to carry out the daily operations and they have set goals to sell 1000 liters of water/day in the initial months, and more than 2500 liters/day by March 2016.

Josephine named her franchise "Uzima" meaning "life," based on John 10:10 and her history with The 1010 Project. All of us join her in praying that the water they sell in their community will point people to Jesus as their Living Water, the One who gives us abundant life.

Special thanks to our many financial partners who have invested in the start-up capital to launch Jibu-Uzima, including: Patricia L. Kimball Endowment of the Shasta Regional Community Foundation, Northside Christian Church, SERVPRO of West Littleton/Sheridan, Graland Country Day School (through the Penny Harvest program),5 Star SWD, and more than fifty individuals who have given generously to make this business possible! To God be the Glory!

To learn more about this business endeavor or to make a donation and receive a high quality water bottle (just a few left!), please contact Melissa Schaap.