Innocent | Jesuit Worldwide Learning

Job Creation and Community Impact During COVID-19

For Innocent and his staff at GLAP Enterprises, there aren’t enough hours in a day. They are stepping up production and distributing soaps throughout Kakuma Refugee Camp and Turkana West. Originally from Burundi, where he studied chemistry, Innocent had to flee the country due to insecurity. He reached Kakuma, Kenya, where he has been living for the past seven years. He began his business project in 2015 and made his first batch of natural soaps as Christmas gifts in 2016. JWL’s Diploma in Liberal Studies and its concentration in Business drew Innocent’s attention as an opportunity to use business to create jobs and address needs in his community.

“The Diploma programme took out of me the fear of continuing my studies and extending my business.”

He also told us that the course improved his communication and business skills and the tremendous impact JWL staff, colleagues, and community leaders made on him. As a result, Innocent was inspired to further his studies and is now completing a BA in Business Administration through Southern New Hampshire University’s (SNHU) Global Education Movement (GEM).

Innocent hopes to extend his business to the international level, realizing that capital, digital marketing, and supply are obstacles to address. However, right now, the onus is on producing and distributing sufficient amounts of quality handwashing soap to the community at an affordable cost – even for the poorest. GLAP now employs 45 staff members – up from 18 before the pandemic. Innocent’s business has the double advantage of addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and creating work opportunities at a time of increased unemployment.

To read other stories from the 2020 CLCC Yearbook, click here