Jemimah’s Story
In 2021, Jemimah felt broken and alone. She had just named her newborn daughter Hope, though hope seemed impossible. Thankfully, a friend connected Jemimah to Jimani, Flint’s Kenya program for women.
Before I went to that class, I was planning to end it all," Jemimah admits. "I didn't want to be seen."
The Jimani team surrounded her with the holistic support Jemimah needed. They taught her to build something of her own, to focus on what she could control:
her business, her future, her potential.
Eunice, Flint Global’s Jimani director, refused to let Jemimah give up. "Eunice helped me realize: I deserve to live. I still have a tomorrow. There is hope."
Jemimah embraced our motto displayed prominently on the wall: "If you study at Jimani, you must believe in yourself."
She learned about entrepreneurship as a textbook subject while in technical college. But at Jimani, she discovered something different: entrepreneurship as a lifeline, and mentorship as a reason to live.
During her training, Jemimah started selling soap, walking door-to-door, using her gift of communication to win customers.
After later surveying the market, as she learned in class, Jemimah opened a small grocery store, kept meticulous records, and watched her new business grow to eventually sell 20 times more than when she started.
Jemimah then began waking up earlier each morning to add an additional income stream: selling fish in her already profitable shop.
Through her businesses, Jemimah is now able to support her daughter Hope, as well as her two orphaned nieces—paying rent, school fees, and all household expenses.
Four years later, Jemimah isn't just running multiple successful businesses; she's back at Jimani as an entrepreneurship teacher.
Since last year, Jemimah has taught two cohorts and is now preparing to begin another. Her class covers entrepreneurship essentials: market research, record-keeping, financial management, and practical business planning. Her students learn from someone who has lived every lesson she teaches.
From student to entrepreneur to teacher, Jemimah now empowers other women escaping despair. She shows them the pathway from hopelessness to self-sufficiency, from dependence to empowerment. She models what it means to be empowered to create your own economic future.
She demonstrates that even when you're at your breaking point, wondering if you deserve to live, there is a bright tomorrow.
