The Unknown Voice behind Kenya's Movement to Sustainability

The capital city of Nairobi is crushed beneath a deleterious 60% of its citizens living in slums. Solely around 50% women have access to bank accounts with a crushing 60% probability of these Kenyan woman to end up as single mothers before the age of 45. With the overpowering fear of defying social expectations, the Kenyan culture subconsciously succumbs to a predominant patriarchal framework.

“Turn Africa’s waste into wealth.” The empowering ecopreneur emphasizes on the blot of plastic waste created within the landscapes of the East African country. With an inducing vision to create an Africa free of poverty, the entrepreneur aims to successfully create sustainable jobs targeting marginalised communities.

Being a part of the 60% population living in slums, Lorna Rutto faced her share of poverty in her early years in the Kapetembwa slums. Overflowing sewages, garbage and rotting waste amongst many others. Her drive and overriding passion made Kenyan notions stereotyping female entrepreneurs infinitesimal. EcoPost not only uses tonnes of plastic waves to produce environmentally sustainable products, but creates mass employment opportunities to assist people, especially woman, to overcome the struggle she faced belonging to the slums of the nation.

As a rising female entrepreneur in an extremely generalized society, Lorna faced substantial amounts of systematic discrimination. Apart from being discouraged through societal construct, Lorna, amongst many others, was deprived of the resources to grow her business. Atypically indeed, Lorna proved to be fearless in pursuing her passion, but many other Kenyan woman are discouraged through these commanding dynamics of society. Inspired by a lack of a network at her disposal, the award winning change maker promotes the idea of encouragement through various networks and emphasizes the importance of social development.

The eco warrior gives life to a green environment, but most importantly, gives rise to socioeconomic development by empowering her female workers. The entrepreneur encourages proportionate participation in social, political and educational aspects of society while advocating for a sustainable habitat. Her key lies in empowering the idea of personal choices. Providing opportunities for betterment. Opportunities to chase one’s drive. A drive that encourages emotional wellbeing in alliance with a progressive economy.