Speech

Dedication of the LifeWorks Factory in Mariakani

Speech by U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael E. Ranneberger

Mariakani, Kenya  | Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Distinguished guests, LifeWorks factory employees, Mariakani residents:

Thank you for your warm welcome and for inviting me to this dedication ceremony, which inaugurates a sterling example of public-private partnership at work benefiting the less fortunate in Kenyan society.  I am especially pleased that General Motors East Africa and Unilever are involved in this important endeavor.

I am honored to join you today to dedicate what I know will be a very successful enterprise: the “LifeWorks Shukrani Home and Fashion Accessories Production Facility” in the Mabati Rolling Mills Technical Institute.

As you are aware, shukrani means “we give thanks.”   Mabati Rolling Mills employees themselves chose the name for this new, empowering enterprise.  Shukrani currently provides direct employment for 32 women and older orphans, as well as an estimated 100 additional jobs that have been created to provide services to Shukrani employees such as house help and lunch services.  As such, it has already had a powerful impact on the community of Mariakani by generating employment, helping to prevent HIV transmission, and improving quality of life.

Shukrani employees, who are with us today, testify to this.  As Rose Kalu, an orphan who began training at the facility in March 2007, told us, “the money from this job has changed my life.  I am able to buy clothes for myself and other things at home like utilities. It helps reduce the spread of HIV because we are busy.” Evelyne Oluoch, a widow and mother of three, agrees. “In my view, Shukrani has given us hope.  Instead of chasing truck drivers for money, we are able to make our own money here.”

My understanding of LifeWorks, which established Shukrani in partnership with Mabati Rolling Mills, is that it is a partnership on many different levels.  First, it is a unique partnership of Kenyan and regional business people to create jobs for at-risk groups along East and Central Africa’s transport corridors in a way that goes far beyond HIV/AIDS work place programs.   Previously, workplace programs have been the primary response to HIV and health issues by the business community.  Now, LifeWorks is joining the Kenyan and regional business sectors to create sustainable, well-paying jobs in agriculture, light manufacturing, and the production of home and fashion accessories.

LifeWorks is managed by a Board of Directors representing leading regional companies, co-chaired by Bill Lay, managing director of General Motors East Africa,  and David Mureithi, manager of Unilever Kenya Limited.  Working with the board, regional business partners are donating their expertise to create jobs as an HIV and AIDS prevention and care strategy.  It is my understanding that LifeWorks is the first initiative of its kind anywhere.

I am particularly excited to learn that Shukrani, like the other initiatives to be developed by LifeWorks, is a private sector company, not a development project.  It is following a business model that quickly will allow the company to stand on its own feet and increase the number of employees in the coming year as sales increase.  It will announce its first offering of shares in the near future.  

On a second level, LifeWorks’ Kenyan and regional business leaders partner with health professionals through a USAID-financed project called “Regional Outreach for Addressing AIDS through Development Strategies Project” or ROADS Project.  ROADS is implemented by an experienced HIV/AIDS program team led by Family Health International.  The ROADS Project carries out HIV prevention and AIDS care and support services in 24 transport corridor communities called “Safe-T-Stops” across eight countries in East and Central Africa. 

On another level, LifeWorks and the ROADS Project also partner with U.S. Government programs funded by the President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief, more commonly known as PEPFAR, including Kenya’s own PEPFAR programs.  In Kenya, there are two Safe-T-Stops communities with LifeWorks partnerships: Busia, where an initial 220 women and older orphans will be employed in a mushroom production enterprise, and here in Mariakani.  Over this coming year, LifeWorks will be exploring new business opportunities in Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanzania in collaboration with PEPFAR programming in those countries.

Equally important is the LifeWorks partnerships with transport corridor communities such as Mariakani.  LifeWorks could not operate effectively without the full cooperation and dedication of community members including administrative, political and religious leaders as well as ordinary citizens.  The Shukrani Board of Directors to be established will be drawn from this community. 

As has taken place in Mariakani, the Safe-T-Stop communities come together in partnerships called “cluster groups” to address HIV/AIDS with their own priorities and human resources.  Several cluster groups in Mariakani came together to support the successful launch of LifeWorks Shukrani, including the Orphans and Vulnerable Children cluster, the youth cluster, and the community’s inter-faith groups.  The vulnerable women’s cluster group called “Luganya,” which appropriately means “to knit together,” provides the critical energy and momentum necessary to move this initiative forward. 

I congratulate LifeWorks, its leaders, and its many partners in this innovative contribution to HIV and AIDS prevention efforts.  LifeWorks is the first initiative of its kind internationally.  Kenya and the region’s business leaders are thus leading the way for businesses to contribute to the defeat of AIDS and the good health of their workforces.  With its proven effectiveness in Kenya, LifeWorks will soon be introduced in other countries in the region.

Today’s dedication is a perfect example of this new LifeWorks style partnership.  As outstanding LifeWorks partners, Mabati Rolling Mills and its Technical Institute have donated the physical space for this production unit and have also generously supplied technical assistance in the design of the factory.  It is my distinct pleasure to announce that Shukrani’s products are already being sold in the Serena Hotel and Resort chain in Kenya and that export orders for sales in the U.S. have already been received.

This is all possible due to the generosity of Mabati Rolling Mills and, in particular, its founder Manu Chandaria.  I also wish to recognize members of Mr. Chandaria’s senior staff involved in this unique endeavor: Kaushik Shah, Chief Executive of Mabati Rolling Mills; Surya Narayania, Manager of Mabati Rolling Mills (Mariakani) and Simon Mulangan, Principal of Mabati Technical School.  This is corporate responsibility in action, and we applaud your efforts and contributions.

Again, congratulations to LifeWorks, Mabati Rolling Mills and its staff, and the Mariakani community for the innovative, groundbreaking formation of LifeWorks Shukrani.