 My name is Ram Aguka and of course this is a Woman Crush Wednesday on this fine Wednesday morning the 6th of July 2022. We are coming to you live from the broadcasting house here in Nairobi, Kenya. We are also streaming live through our website and that is www.kbco.co.ke4-y254. It is a pleasure if you are just joining us, you are just in time for the next conversation of the day and this is a strength of a woman. Let's talk about how women are doing, what women are doing to break that glass ceiling and how they are standing out in this era and this age and time and of course to help us in this conversation I am with a very interesting person joining us today. This is none other than Christine Mussoli. Now Christine is a CEO of Kapu Africa joining us today. How are you feeling today? Doing well. Thank you so much for coming. I appreciate your presence and of course I also invite you all to join us in this particular conversation from wherever you are. The hashtag as always is why in the morning take me at Ram Aguka and the official station handle which is at Y254. My colleague at Valentine One Boy and of course let's kickstart this conversation and of course let me start with Kapu Africa. What is Kapu Africa all about Christine and even as you tell us more about that, tell us a bit more about what you do. So Kapu Africa is an NGO here in Kenya, it's a registered NGO and our mission is to alleviate hunger and malnutrition. Malnutrition being a very big issue in this country. We say statistics show that over 25%, around 25% of young children are affected by malnutrition and stunting. So us as an organization we want to be able to come in and partner with other organizations to see how we can alleviate malnutrition but also hunger in many parts of this country. Yes. So your target is mostly the drought prone areas? Our target is the drought prone areas but on top of that in terms of malnutrition we target areas that are impoverished. So we even work in Nairobi, we work in areas in Kibira, in Madari because and we partner as an organization what we do we partner with other organizations so we partner with a school in the informal settlements, informal settlements of Kenya and then we see how those children can be able to get nutritious food because other than just hunger in some informal settlements when the children go to school the reason why some of those schools were started because sometimes that is the only meal they get that day so it's an enticement for them to come to school because they are able to get food and when they get food they stay in school. We say without good nutrition children are not able to learn well. So in terms of there is something called stunting, stunting means it affects your physical development so a child is much smaller than they are supposed to be but it also before even you see the physical development it affects their brain development. So it's so sad because sometimes some children you know it's not because they're not smart you know we talk about in places like the lake areas you know where they have fish you know they eat fish, fish is very good for the brain omega 3 and all that and so when children don't have good nutrition it's not because they're not smart it's because they reach a ceiling. It's just the food. Yes it's just the food. The brain does not get the nutrition it needs and the body does not get the nutrition it needs then it affects their brain development so then the child doesn't perform well in school so yes. And it's sad that at this age and time would you say that we ought to have crossed the border we ought to have done away with some of these challenges that you're facing in terms of malnutrition in the country? It would be wonderful if we had but we say we haven't gotten there yet and so us as an NGO then we are saying what can we do to help out so we haven't gotten there yet. It would be wonderful if we have us being a lower middle income country it would be wonderful if we have but nutrition even education about nutrition is very important people to realize the importance of good food healthy nutritious food protein you know iron you know vitamin A vitamin D all those things that are important so it's if we should have gotten there but there's a long way to go but there are many organizations that are trying to see what they can do to help. Now what inspired you to be at the forefront at this kind of a job from the beginning? So what inspired me is first just the encouragement that women can do it men can do it and women can do it you know when we say we can do it not we also we also want the boy child to do well but also the girl child to do well and just then confidence that I can do it the men can do it too but I can do it too and seeing how actually what motivated me the most is because I care. You know you see the need that's out there the need is great and you know when you're asked to step up and you're told can you do it can we as an organization be able to do start something in Kenya with our partners to be able to help the needy in Kenya those who need it the most in terms of food and malnutrition alleviating hunger and then just to say you know what I can do it I've been given the skills that are needed to be able to work in the position that I am in but you know we say women sometimes they have this thing where they when men a position is available the men are more confident to go and the women say can I really do it but you know just as a child I was raised up to be told you can do it the men can do it but you can do it too the boys can do it but you're able to. And I'm glad that you can say you can do it because you are raised to you know be a go-getter. You have a master's from Texas? Yes I have a master's from University of Texas at Darlington so my master's actually was in biology and I studied viruses and this is real virus. Real virus yes I studied viruses this did stuff on microbiology but you know when I came back here came back to Kenya I think for me education and I think for many people education is about getting the skills then you're able to apply them in different ways you know so I'm getting the skills and then education is about then you're able to apply them and I was able to apply that and even the work that we do you know it will it deals a lot with nutrition and the sciences so so you're able to balance between the knowledge acquired yes over time and and and brought it to to Kapu yes now the name Kapu sounds I was looking at your logo is it connected to a basket yes so Kikapu is a small basket so Kapu is a big basket okay so our vision is to be the big basket of Africa of course we start with Kenya being the chosen country but we say it's a big basket our vision is to be the big basket of Africa so what we do as an organization is we do we have two terms of how we do things one of the ways we do things is we go to companies we go to manufacturers we go to producers and we ask them can they give us things to help the people in need can they give us food I'll tell you a story when in a real story but sometimes when things are about to expire manufacturers things are about to expire and maybe a supermarket says we cannot take them not I'm not saying it to expire the next day but I'm saying maybe it has six months to expire it's still good food edible food and allowed by the government to be used but maybe the supermarket will say we want something in the store for a longer time we as an organization we go and say give us give it to us so we can help those in need registered organizations we work with registers organizations we go on the ground to check and see what they're doing and so we can we say please do not waste it sometimes companies manufacturers they incinerate products just because you know they'll be like well maybe we have too much product and so they incinerate meaning they burn it up you know in a you know incineration so us as an organization even to say let's say they have short expiry something short expiry that is still good for human consumption and allowed by the government and we say please do not dispose of it we'll come and get it at no cost to the donor but on top of that we tell the manufacturer your come see where it's going you know so they are able to but at no cost to them that we say that there be no waste as a country but mostly they the incineration is is very common that they do it happens it happens yes it happens it happens it happens yes and and and how do you manage to convince them you know so so that it doesn't appear to be like yet another business venture because someone may say you know what how can you trust that it will reach the target that you are talking about you know because yes money has been spent it is something that has been acquired through a particular procurement procedure so first of all the terms of donation that are signed but on top of that the company it's an open door policy proceed so that they're able to come see where the food is going we don't us as an organization when we work with a donor we tell them they are it's very open for them to see whether where the food is going come see you know not the you give it to us then we say okay bye they are welcome to come see at any time you move you move around with them yes yes we move around with them but also on top of that their terms of donation that are signed even with the donor recipient that says the food cannot be sold the food cannot be traded it cannot be battered you know that the food will be used the right way so we as an organization we investigate even how the food is being used but we also invite the company to investigate how the food is it's very very open door policy so there are no secrets no hidden things and so for how is the reception on the ground I know you've managed to reach out to the needy I know those who are suffering in one way or the other you know tell us the feel on the ground once you get there the reception you get the mood you you're quiet and of course it must have some effect on the other person doesn't it absolutely you know when you go to a children's home you know maybe we're giving me Siri or we're giving milk by a company yeah you know or tender muscle when we take the food to a children's home and you have a five-year-old come and tell you it is such a blessing so to me the best part of my job is actually on the ground to be able to be there you interact with the people who are in need and actually to be able for the recipients to be able to get the donations and see the impact because a lot of times you know it's not just only receiving food we say as much as we focus on food we focus on other things that can be used for their livelihood so if a company would give us my body we'll take it to a children's home that needs my body to for their shelter but on top of that just the impact that it has because you know someone would say with food we gave you food today the next day you're hungry you know someone will say what's the impact of food I gave you food today you're hungry the next day right the food of course will help your body on that day but on top of that the organizations that we partner with are doing great jobs so if if the children are receiving an education and we are able to help an organization get that organization get food you see and education will change the child's life because at the end of the day you are also looking at both short-term and the long-term effect on these children yes yes yes so we're looking at the long-term and the the short-term and the long-term because education will change a child's life you know so that at the end of the day there'll be a productive citizen of this country yeah and and what are some of the most touching moments you've had while going to the ground and and of course this could be either before you do the donation or after or during the donation process or are some of those touching moments that you remember that I've made you know have that aha moment you know yeah you know like we've gone to give a donation like in Kilipe area Kilipe County and when the residents we first of all do this old old old grandmother you know old and you know we gave her food and it was in Agunia it was a tender tendermasis bail which we'll talk about later we gave her the bail and we're like how you gonna carry it she said we're way I'm doing it one and John you look one and just sat here to cool and keep out of quibbe back when she done that after and yeah you know just it's so touching that's in Kilipe yes in Kilipe County that someone receives food and they're like you don't worry we are happy we got food and how we'll be able to carry it you don't worry we will be able to carry it but just the difference that it makes you know we've had comments where people have said each a kule lili saidi amwili because of good nutrition how someone can say a kule lili saidi amwili sana you know so I'm just to talk about this our food there's a company called soyafric limited yeah that makes unimix porridge and many other products so soyafric also helps we partner with them actually even as part of the CSR to be able to make some food called tendermasis what is what is tendermasis all about so tendermasis I have something here a packet so tendermasis is a prepackaged food because as much as sometimes we ask for maize we ask for beans and we have to source for that it's a prepackaged food let me let me see that so all right I'm seeing distributed by Kapoor Africa yes tendermasis all right so is it something that's already cooked or how is it in terms of the food so tendermasis when you are working with you know for things called disaster relief disaster relief is where you go and these droughts these hunger we wanted a prepackaged food that could just cook where you don't go sourcing for maize then you go source for beans so it has rice it's a raw product it has rice it has lentils it has fractured cowpeas it has vitamins and minerals and it has salt so it's 34% protein per serving wow can see that 34% protein per serving so if when we take this this is what we take for disaster for disaster relief it's also used in the children's homes so when it's a prepackaged meal that already has all the nutrients because again our organization doesn't focus on your food but also malnutrition so we wanted a product we formulated a product that was we packed in as much nutrients as possible so that now if for this now this food that I was talking about these are these are someone else a man a non-man who said he chakula imeni saidi asana and they said nika madawas you're down it's just but then it's good nutrition you know how good nutrition really helps you there's a way it it it brings some some relief yes in somebody to eat this kind of food absolutely so like organizations like symbol of hope cancer organizations use this a lot today they've used this product and they say it has really helped in terms of someone was down I hate cancer patient was really down and then when they had good nutrition as again I said just good nutrition they were able to come back up of course with also the cancer treatments and I'm glad that you've managed also to look at the governmental procedures this I'm seeing the cabs mark of quality absolutely lazima so so Africa wouldn't make sure they wouldn't produce a product that is not kept approved it had to be kept approved but even the product is used by HIV patients you know the product you know it really helps again good nutrition if a HIV patient is able to feed well then they able to it really helps their their body on top of the other medication that they take you know so just nutrition along with all those other things that I needed if it's a patient with all with their treatment it helps with just nutrition or just palliative care and but it's very important so we just talk about how it makes a difference we had during our in events that we had you know to hear a cancer patient who's a cancer patient but also a HIV patient talking about how the food has really helped and they say look at me I'm healthy I'm strong I know that must be very inspiring yes yes something else there is it still from a tender can this this yes this is for or this is a different thing yes yes also in this is in terms of finances so yes yeah because doing all these things doesn't come cheaply yes it does not come cheaply that's what you say that's where we're here KBC and we're so thankful that you invited us to come thank you for coming thank you for coming so so you receive donations yes I'm looking at sponsorship which has reminded me you had an event on 3rd of July 3rd of June 3rd of June yes 3rd of June and and you are trying to get resources from people yes that's a bit more about what that event was all about so Kapua Africa had a fundraising event to raise funds to purchase this food Kapua this food tender masses because we actually have to purchase the food even though so I Africa really helps us a lot in terms of partnership and seeing how in their CSR they can put in as much as possible but we were raising funds to purchase the food so this food like this amount of this bag sorry that is this bag feeds six people this one bag this one bag feed six people and people will be surprised because in a food it swells up you know it swells up with the amount of water that's needed to cook it it swells up because if we use is almost 1.9 liters of water to cook you know initially I thought you had said that it was already cooked and its package is there so no no it's raw it's raw food so once you start cooking this is the way it can feed six people so if you had ten of those yes yes so then we say we just we we did on the 3rd of June we did a fundraiser but actually the fundraising is just continuing you know to raise awareness that even as we reach out to our people you know we say let our people we want our people to participate in it in reaching out to our people they need is great and we say they can donate to us we asked that they can donate to us but the wonderful thing about our organization other than just donating you know some organizations you donate and then we say donate but also come and see where the food is going yes we say come and see where the food is going how is the reception on that day the turnout and the number of people that that came up was it as expected it we wanted it to be more I can say we wanted it to be more but it was it was a good amount it was a good amount we had a fundraiser for about a hundred and maybe 80 people 70 people showed up but we say we want to raise awareness because as much as we're an organization sometimes you have to ask people say who are you again you know so when we come here we say um this is who we are this is what we do and we say we ask we're asking for support support and of course guys check them out Kapu Africa are you found online and on social media yes so that we people know who and Kapu Africa is all about because they have something called Operation Jazz a Kapu fundraising dinner yes that took place on 3rd of June yes so how come people find you and locate you on social media online so on social media our sponsor organization the people that really help us at Midwest Food Bank is an organization in the US that helps us yeah so if on the website it will be www.kapuafrica.midwestfoodbank.org they will post it on the on the on social media but also we can be reached at 0798 6899 59 one more time 0798 6899 59 and if someone is able to send a donation they can send to the M.P.S.A. pay bill 4089 759 touch a soul man touch a soul touch a soul touch somebody's heart you know because people are dying of hunger here say that pay bill again the pay bill number is 4089 759 one more time 4089 759 4089 759 and of course the account number is your name yes Kapu yes the account number is our for its Kapu Africa okay yes yes all right and of course this this is a good thing I love the fact that you came up with this and you managed to do something so far but now Christine let me get from you what are some of the challenges you faced in this project ever since you you you know you started venturing in this particular area with Kapu Africa and going out to the needy no touching lives there some of the challenges you faced even on the ground one of the challenges we faced is that people don't know who we are so then maybe when you go and you take to try to tell who you are and you're asking for donations part of the challenge as Kenya is that resources sometimes people don't use resources well you know we are these people are given a donation we had a story of a donor who at first when went to the donor they received a donation so they don't give a donation and some a man was said he was helping a children's home and at the corner they found him selling what they had given him and just at the corner of the street they found him selling what they had given them so those are the challenges we face and that is why we say for us it's challenging but yes so I so you went gave the donation to person X no not us not us our donor was telling us a story not us or not you yes so I don't know was telling a story so they said why should we trust you and we built a relationship with them since 2015 they have been donating to us since 2015 okay yes so but then at first you know they didn't know who we are so you know when you're trying to introduce yourself they're like how can I trust you but the good thing we say it's an open door thing come and see where it goes you know come and see not even when we go with you you can even even after we've given you can go back and see where did they go and take the food it's very open and even with the people we donate to it's a very strict way that it's done with terms of donation if if an organization would be found that they were selling something that an organization maybe a children's home that we partner with we would cut the relationship off yeah it's very strict and since 2015 we have not had an incident of anybody saying that you or even a report or even even when we investigate the food has not been sold oh so you're saying that we have such kind of possibilities where you you can receive something from Madonna only for they don't have to come and find that you know the person was received these things is not selling yes for other organizations but not for us not cap we think that's a challenge because people need to know more about what you do yes once you've created that awareness and people know about you you know that perception and suspicion is eradicated yes so it's not a closed door policy when it's open it's very good and then just challenges of yeah awareness who are you you know that's why we're here just saying who are you what you do never had a view so then when they know about us and they've seen us you know we would love to engage more with them but we say just as an organization even seeing us as Kenyans being able to help our people you know not waiting for the people in the West to be able to help these their resources here that's the amazing thing their resources here it's just that we hope the resources can be channeled in the right way but their resources here to help and we say please don't destroy your product you know the challenges of please don't destroy your product let's have a conversation find out more about what we do can we come and meet you if it's a manufacturer an exporter a donor you know can we be able but we need support so can we be able to engage and see how we can help our people any upcoming projects that we will need to look out for from couple right now we just have the fundraiser we will look we will update KBC when we have the next so since we just had it last month but the fundraising for this is ongoing it did not end on third no it did not end on still continues because the need is great the children's homes are still there you know so the need is still there and the need is great right now you hear this drought in Kenya these drought in some parts some parts some parts it's raining but some parts you know you hear where they'll say maybe we haven't had rain in maybe they have rain once or twice a year you know as much as there are parts that are green in Kenya there are parts where you'll hear someone will say you know maybe train twice at that year have you ever been discriminated in terms of gender yes I have yes I have because you interact with people you meet people you know you try to pitch in your idea and of course there must be those instances where there have been some form of biasness and discrimination towards you or couple I have I have experienced it and maybe it's not outright let me put it that way something it's not outright someone who just feel maybe that's why is a woman doing this you know you know maybe someone may feel this is a man's job or the challenges you may face where maybe you see there's more pushback if it's in a project or something but you just push on so yeah so sometimes they say discrimination may not be outright you know sometimes it's more covert it's just like they say tribalism it may not be outright but it just somehow it's pipping yes it's but then you just you just continue to push on and be confident and yeah sometimes maybe yeah just you push on I love I love what you're doing Christine thank you thank you so much for coming keep doing what you're doing and I would like to give you time to have a final word and talk to Kenyans or watching you today what was your parting shot and you can look at that camera there as we finish this conversation and wrap it up with a very nice knot and a cherry at the top okay I say we can make a difference you can make a difference no matter how small it is whether you have no money someone can come and volunteer with us come and see come and be a part of it with no money we still need volunteers to be able to come as we go to these organizations so we say come but for those who are able to I'm talking to manufacturers producers exporters we say please be able to help us please support us we would we really need your help we would love to engage with you again I said our number is 0798689959 0798689959 our impassability is 4089759 4089759 engage with us but let's make a difference in our society and the beauty about us if someone gives a donation we don't tell them now move away you don't need to know what happened to it we say come come be a part of it like for companies manufacturers produces CSR for companies you know for even you know they can come with us be let the employees be a part of it you know create a program where the employees can be a part of the CSR as we go out to the children's home you see where the company the money that was given what the difference is being that's being made so we say let's see how we can engage and please support us support is what we need and we can do together thank you that is Christine Christine Mutsoli CEO of Kapu Africa Christian thank you so much for coming thank you keep doing what you're doing and and I know at the end of the day their lives being changed and people will remember the the mark that you've left in their lives thank you thank you God bless you so much thank you and of course it's a good thing you know it's all about being human be human caring and loving somebody loving your neighbor just as you love yourself and of course it has been the strength of a woman conversation right on why in the morning powerful woman there are you inspired are you touched what are you doing as a woman to bring change to the society and to change this world to break that glass ceiling and to live a mark what is your strength my name is Ram Maguko it has been a pleasure being with you with that business to the end of this conversation but remember we still have more coming up your way right on why in the morning