The final night of Acumen’s Portfolio Gathering highlighted the hard work of eight employees from Acumen portfolio companies, who were recognized with Frontline Awards.  Leah Okullo, an associate in our East Africa office, emceed the event, providing short stories about the  commitment and determination of each honoree.  The awards program was modeled on a similar event at the Pakistan Community Gathering last year and was a highlight of the Portfolio Gathering for many participants.

Congratulations to our honorees:

• Hannah Mwangi, UHEAL
• Sally Aluoch, Ecotact
• Josephine Mburu, Sustainable Healthcare Foundation’s CFW Shops
• Jack Njiru, Botanical Extracts EPZ
• Abel Kuley, Botanical Extracts EPZ
• Kennedy Nyamwaya Bundi, Insta Products
• Janet Bett, Jamii Bora
• Felix Bunyasi, Western Seed

The following is Leah’s speech from the event:

Leah Okullo, Master of Ceremonies

Welcome to a very special part of our program this evening. When we speak of the impressive achievements in the social sector, often times it is the pioneering philanthropist, ideologist, or more recently, the social entrepreneurs who come to mind.

However, there is also a second group of people who need to be acknowledged here, our ‘unsung heroes’ – the front lines of these social organizations.

These are the people who are the backbone of the companies they work for, and especially given today’s challenging political and economic climate, they really have their work cut out for them.

They are the ones who go door-to-door in the heat. They are the ones who galvanize communities to empower themselves. They’re the ones who deal with the hostilities of skeptics and grapple with the bureaucrats on a daily basis.

Most of the front line staff being honored today do come from the communities which their organizations are serving – and this is really capacity building, self-sustenance and dignity at its best.

Today we would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the dedication of the frontline staff of some of our investee companies and thank this group of people upon whose shoulders Acumen Fund’s entire ecosystem is dependent.

I am sure each and every one of us as a team has learnt a lot from spending time in the field with them.

Please join us in thanking these exemplary individuals.

Jacqueline, would you please join me on stage to present the plaques to our honorees tonight.

First, we would like to Hannah Mwangi from UHEAL.  Hannah, please join us on stage.

As we heard from Patrick Quarcoo yesterday, customers buy friendship and love.

Hannah is an ophthalmic assistant working with UHEAL. Her job is to attend to the patients, which includes counseling and passing on  information on various medical conditions related to the eye: testing vision, checking eye pressure and dilating patient eyes, and maintaining the specialized equipment to ensure that it is good order, clean and stored well at all times.

But Hannah has also gone above and beyond her call of duty. She was the first employee of UHEAL and was asked to run the administration and patient support work for the doctor with no training in any of these things.

She soon learned all the ropes and made the place what it is today . Her background is in tailoring but you would not know it unless somebody told you that.

In the client feedback survey UHEAL conducted in December, a majority of the clients mentioned that they came to the place because of Hannah because she is patient, caring and makes them feel loved and valued.  She takes times with each client making sure their experience at the clinic is delightful.

Hannah, please accept this plaque as a token of our gratitude.

Next, we would like to honor Sally Aluoch from Ecotact.  Sally, please join us on stage.

If cash is king , then Sally is Queen to Ecotact. Sally was among the first employees of Ecotact.  She started as a cleaner, and was then promoted to a cashier shortly thereafter.

Today, Sally supervises the Iko-toilets facilities throughout Nairobi .  Her responsibilities have grown to include supervising cleanliness in the Iko-toilets, as well as depositing cash collected from the facilities.

Despite the high volume of cash transactions done every day, there have never been any irregularities.  She is also keen on checking on cash collected by cashiers, who trust her because she was once a cashier just like them.

She is also trusted by Ecotact management, as she reports back on employee issues with empathy but also in a spirit of accountability.

Sally does demonstrations for new employees on how best to clean the Iko-toilets, building trust throughout the organization.  She even steps in as a cashier or a cleaner whenever necessary.  She has energy to visit all of the Iko-toilets, checking cleanliness on her own, without supervision.

Sally has proved to be dedicated and committed to her work,  and a team leader to the Ecotact team.

Sally, please accept this plaque as a token of our gratitude.

Next, we would like to honor Josephine Mburu from the Sustainable Healthcare Foundation’s CFW Shops.

Josephine Mburu is the Field Services Manager at the Sustainable Healthcare Foundation’s CFW Shops.  Josephine trained as a nurse in Germany and chose to forgo highly-paid positions in Europe and the US to come back to Kenya.

With her deep insight into healthcare and also a strong grasp of the business essentials of running a franchised healthcare business, Josephine is a driving force at CFW Shops.  As one of the longest-serving employees, she is also a treasure trove of knowledge and has supported the organization through periods of transition.  She’s  an extremely committed individual who is driven by a strong need to make a difference in the community that she is a part of.

Her boss and CFW’s Country Manager, Spencer Ochieng, has this to say about her: “Josephine possesses a positive, can-do attitude which is infectious to those around her. Her efforts have greatly contributed to the success of SHF as an organization and, in turn, the realization of our mission. She easily mixes with all ranks, works long hours and is absolutely committed to her work; in short she is a great asset to me as the Country Manager and to the organization in general!”

Josephine please accept this plaque as a token of our gratitude.

Next, would Jack Njiru from Botanical Extracts EPZ please join us on stage.

In the words of Winston Churchill, as we heard from Bruce Robertson this week, “Never give up, never give up, never never never never.”

Jack is the Production Manager at the BEEPZ processing plant and is responsible for managing all production activities in the factory. He is also very involved in assisting the technical team to improve recovery rates in the factory and  works closely with the Technical Director, factory manager and the development lab staff.

We would like to honor Jack because in recent months, Jack has maintained a very positive attitude and has been able to assist management in working with the production team.

We very much appreciate Jack’s approach to his work and look forward to his input in the future and his assistance to build up the production team.

Jack, please accept this plaque as a token of our gratitude.

We have a second awardee from Botanical Extracts EPZ, but he is unable to join us this evening.  Patrick, would you please come up to accept Abel Kuley’s award on his behalf.

Abel Kuley manages all BE’s activities in Tanzania, particularly relating to raw material production but also in dealing with local authorities and financial management.

Abel has played a truly amazing role to keep production activities going in the face of challenging financial circumstances. He has interacted with farmers and creditors and kept his team motivated. He holds one of the hardest roles within BE, particularly given the distance from the main BE operations in Kenya.

Raw material is absolutely the lifeblood of the company and BE will depend heavily on Tanzanian production, so we are very appreciative of Abel’s efforts to keep this production going and to keep his team intact in such an independent and competent way.

Patrick, please accept this award on Abel’s behalf.  We are sorry he can’t join us here tonight.

Kennedy Nyamwaya Bundi, is the honoree from Insta Products.  Ken, please join us on stage.

They say perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.

Kennedy (“Ken”) Nyamwaya Bundi joined Insta way back in 2004, starting as a shipping clerk.  Of his own volition, he studied for and passed exams to earn his Certificate, and then a Diploma, in East African Customs Freight Forwarding & Shipping Management.

He has subsequently taken additional exams, and is conversant with tax import and export regulations, all of which changed recently with the introduction of the New East African Customs Union.

Ken works tirelessly in his position to expedite  Insta products shipments throughout East Africa often overcoming immensely complex customs issues.  For importing ingredients, he similarly works with Kenya government offices to cope with difficult regulatory systems that breaks down, and the many unexpected events that prevent customs clearance in a timely fashion.

You will find Ken even working Sundays, holidays, and evenings, driving between Insta’s offices in Athi River (EPZ) and downtown Nairobi, to ensure Insta’s business is successful.

Ken, please accept this plaque as a token of our gratitude.

Next, we are pleased to ask Janet Bett from Jamii Bora to join us on stage.

Truly, when the world says, “Give up, hope whispers, ‘Try it one more time.’”

Anyone seeing  Janet’s  elegance and good looks today would never have imagined this lady, Janet Bett, was once looking rugged and dirty as she begged in the streets of Nairobi.  A trained teacher, Janet left a marital home when her husband threw her and  her six children out.

He made sure that she lost her teaching job with the TSC and went to the extent of burning all her certificates. Her younger brothers would not allow her and her kids to stay home because that meant competition for the little milk from their mother’s cows.

Janet traveled to Nairobi with the hope of being reinstated.  Months passed b and nothing was happening.  She slowly drifted to the streets where her friends were begging.

For 10 years, the streets were Janet’s  home until she met Ingrid Munro, the founder of Jamii Bora who unfortunately could not be with us tonight.  Janet would gather together with her friends around Mama Ingrid whenever she brought her adopted children to play with their friends.

Janet soon became Mama Ingrid’s translator.  Soon after, she joined Ingrid as Ingrid created Jamii Bora.

At Jamii Bora, she became Head of the Tumaini project that reaches out to the very destitute with a word of hope.  A typical day in Janet’s life involves going out to the street; she sits down on the verandas to chat and listen to the street families.

Some share their problems and others even give excuses why they can’t save. But Janet is very firm and assertive and the beggars have learnt that there is no easy way out of poverty except through climbing up the ladder by saving, taking loans and servicing them.

It is through her that Jamii Bora adapted the saying that “not even the sky is the limit.”  She has helped mobilize over 40,000 members either from street families or the very destitute families from the slums.

In the streets, Janet is a heroine.  People call out her name; the street boys carry her hand bag and protect her wherever she goes.  While walking in the streets of Nairobi, she is safer than the Police Commissioner because all the street families are her friends.

Janet, please accept this plaque as a token of our appreciation.

Finally, we would like to recognize a member of Western Seed’s staff, in absentia.  Saleem please join us on stage.

Franklin Roosevelt once said “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”

We  would like to recognize Felix Bunyasi who hails from Kebwefwe in the Trans Nzoia district just outside Kitale. Felix started as a field assistant with the Grasslands Research Station in Kitale in 1964. He worked under Steve Eberhart, Penny, Larry Darrah, Peters and Crompton until he retired in 1997 when he joined Western Seed as Saleem’s Breeding Technician.

Felix has since worked tirelessly under challenging conditions, planting and managing experimental trials all over western Kenya and at the Breeding Station.

Felix was officially retired in 2007 at age 65 but continues to work on an annual contract. At 7 am every morning he is up and about and supervises the nursery and field staff until sundown. Felix broke his leg in a motorcycle accident in 2003 and, although was incapacitated for 10 months, returned back at the station and has not missed a day since.

Saleem please accept this plaque on behalf of Felix, as a token of our gratitude.

I’d like to end with an African proverb that I feel really captures the essence of our work as Acumen Fund, and the types of environments that our entrepreneurs are working in. And it goes like this:

“When a needle falls into a deep well, many people will look into the well, but few will be ready to go down after it.”

So I would like to thank our honorees from making the extra effort to make sure that we–our entrepreneurs, Acumen Fund, and our community–are in the well looking for the needle, which is part of what we have been doing this past week.

Shukrani  for making this happen.

Brian Trelstad is Chief Investment Officer at Acumen Fund. He attended the 2010 Frontline Awards program in Kenya.

Leah Okullo is a Program Associate at Acumen Fund East Africa. She served as emcee for the Awards ceremony.