Celebrating Our Diversity

➢Your Excellency, the First Lady of the Republic of

Kenya, Margaret Kenyatta,
➢Your Excellency, the Deputy President of the
Republic of Kenya, Hon. William Ruto,
➢All our partners,
➢Friends,
➢The lovely women of JoyWo,
➢Distinguished guests
➢Ladies and Gentlemen

Goodmorning!
Joyful women organization celebrates 9 years today.
An organization that began in a small village in Uasin
Gishu County has now spread to 45 counties of our
republic. The story of Joywo was inspired by the
woman without shoes, who despite her circumstances
had a broad smile and had a lot of Joy- thus the name
Joyful Women.
JoyWo currently have 7,843 groups and are revolving
2.6 billion Shillings. This year’s theme is
“celebrating our diversity”. We are glad to say that
diversity is inside this room.

H.E speech : Joywo Thanksgiving 1

Your Excellencies, when the Jubilee government
unveiled the big 4 agenda, as women, we are the
greatest beneficiaries.
The universal health care has lifted a load from
women, who bear the greatest brunt in issues health.
The women enjoy free maternity and hospitals are
now well equipped, so families don’t have to travel
far for medical services. Every Joywo member has
been encouraged to have NHIF cover.
Manufacturing is an answer to every woman’s
prayer, because it creates jobs. when our children get
employment, we are able to concentrate on our
businesses and we have a peace of mind.
Many of these women Your Excellencies have taken
their children through Collage Education using table
Banking loans. We have an interesting product called
the Education Booster that has assisted many here to
pay school fees. Creation of Employment through
Manufacturing is indeed a blessing.

H.E speech : Joywo Thanksgiving 2

Virginia Woolf once said “One cannot think well,
love well, sleep well, work well, if one has not eaten
well”. I agree with her.
That is why food security is the heart beat of every
woman. We thank God for everything you are doing
to make our country food secure. The women of this
great country are working hand in hand to support this
noble endeavor. Most of the women sitting here are
farmers in their own rights and are therefore making
a contribution towards food security.
Joywo is currently working with the Australian
Embassy on a pumpkin project to harness food
security and health benefits in four counties,
Machakos, Taita Taveta, West Pokot and Baringo. So
far, three thousand and fifty women (3050) have
benefited from this project.
The JoyWo women are also receiving various
trainings on modern agricultural techniques and I
would like to acknowledge Trade Mark East Africa
(TMEA) who have supported the women on
horticulture and cross boarder trade.

H.E speech : Joywo Thanksgiving 3

We have also encouraged every woman to have a
kitchen garden and make sure there is a balanced diet
on the table for her family.
Your Excellencies, you know that in our African
culture, cows belong to men, and chicken belong to
women.
Barb Darrow on 8th June 2016 wrote: If Bill Gates
lost 76 Billion dollars which would make him close
to being penniless, what would he do? Raise
chickens, that’s what! Bill Gates in 2016 on his blog
post said, that chicken farming is probably the easiest
and cheapest way to eradicate poverty as well as
ensure food security. Our women are big on chicken
farming.
Your Excellencies, the desire of every woman is to
have a good home. In 2010, the women approached
us and asked if they could get loans to build houses.
We tried different ways to make this happen and even
had sample houses. The mortgage financing was
impossible for the women to get, for obvious reasons.
Most women do not have collaterals and the land that
they were building on was not in their name.

H.E speech : Joywo Thanksgiving 4

The few that qualified, the mortgages and the cost of
houses was too expensive making it out of reach.
How profound Your Excellencies! that now, in the
big 4 agenda, affordable housing is available to these
women. We are looking forward to the women of
Kenya owning homes. Thank you for all the support
that your government is giving to them.
Your Excellencies, leading to the 2017 General
Elections, many of these women vied for elective
political positions in their various counties. This was
very encouraging.
Margaret Thatcher said: If you want something said,
ask a man, if you want something done, ask a
woman. We applaud the Jubilee Government for the
support you are giving to the (two third) 2/3 gender
rule. This will ensure that more women are
represented in leadership roles and more things will
get done.
Today is a day of celebration and thanksgiving. I want
to thank the women for taking time to come. Ladies,
that is a sign of your commitment and we thank God
for the way He has lifted each and every one of you.

H.E speech : Joywo Thanksgiving 5

I am proud of all of you who are here this morning
and even those who did not make it. I know that you
were here very early and most of you travelled over
night. This has been the culture every year and no one
has ever been paid or facilitated to come. So thank
you very much. Asanteni sana wamama wetu.
This day would not have been a success without the
support of our sponsors who have walked this journey
with us. I would like to thank and acknowledge Kenya
Commercial Bank and Cooperative bank of Kenya for
sponsoring our event today. Thank you, Mr. Oigara,
Group CEO KCB for always being there for us and
thank you Dr. Miriuki, CEO Co-op bank for walking
with us.
Allow me to also thank my husband, His Excellency
the Deputy President, for his continued love, prayers,
support and encouragement in this journey. He has
been with us from the very beginning and has been
our biggest cheerleader.

H.E speech : Joywo Thanksgiving 6

Your Excellency, your famous quote “It is better to
die paying a loan than die of poverty” has
demystified the myth that loans are not good and
therefore encouraged many women to take loans.
Thank you.
Your Excellency our First Lady, allow me to thank
you for being a friend and a mentor. I continue to
learn a lot from you and I thank you for leading by
example. Your Beyond Zero campaign continues to
ensure that no woman should die while giving life.
When you started your Half Marathon in 2014, the
world was at owe. This was a first!. No first lady has
done anything like this, and for such a great course.
We are very proud of you. Many women in Kenya
and all over the world admire you. The half marathon
is part of us now, we continue to support you and
cheer you on. Thank you for coming to celebrate with
us every time. Asante sana.
Your Excellencies, these women are prayer warriors.
We pray for our President. We thank God for him and
his leadership.

H.E speech : Joywo Thanksgiving 7

Finally, I know that there is much more ahead for all
of us as individuals, as families and as groups. Ours
is to continue to pray that our dreams will come to
pass and that God’s purposes will be fulfilled in all
our lives. The Bible says in Proverbs 4:18 that; the
path of the righteous man is like the light of dawn
which shines brighter and brighter until the full
light of day. This is our faith; that we will continue
to shine brighter and brighter every year.

Thank you and God Bless you.

H.E speech : Joywo Thanksgiving 8