Sense International wins prestigious Zero Project award for its work with entrepreneurs with disabilities
Sense International’s work with micro-entrepreneurs in Kenya represents a milestone for people with deafblindness and other complex disabilities, who are often socially and financially excluded from public life
Through offering business and self-advocacy training, mentorship, links to market opportunities and growth kits, Sense International is helping individuals to grow successful businesses and develop sustainable livelihoods.
This work has earned Sense International and Inclusive Futures a Zero Project award in 2025. The Zero Project awards recognise innovative and scalable solutions to disability inclusion from around the world, and are presented at the Zero Conference, to be held in Vienna from 5-7 March 2025.
With funding from UK aid under Inclusive Futures, Sense International has adapted existing training methods for micro-entrepreneurs used by our other consortium partners to suit the complex needs of people with deafblindness and their caregivers. This includes providing language adaptation, simplified record-keeping tools and tailored training for business development support providers so they can better understand the micro-entrepreneurs’ needs.
Beryl and Regina are two people who have received this support, and have gone on to develop thriving businesses. Through its work with Inclusive Futures, Sense International is helping to break the cycle of poverty and exclusion that people with complex disabilities and their families too often face.
Beryl’s story
“I am totally blind, and I also have a problem with my hearing: I can only hear from one side. I am a tailor and greengrocer,” Beryl shares as she recounts her life journey. “My life used to be hard. In our home, we were four blind children. When my father died, life got very difficult, and we had no means to support ourselves.”
Things began to change when she met George Bonyo, a business development support adviser from Sense International.
“At the time I was at a school for the deaf and blind, learning my tailoring skills. When he connected me to Sense International, they began supporting me and were even paying some of my fees,” says Beryl.
Beryl’s business making doormats and tablemats began with a small investment. “When they [Sense International] took me in, they gave me some money and I started my business. I started small, even in the stall, we began by selling just about four items. But right now, the stall is fully stocked.”
Beryl has developed essential skills through the training and mentorship she has received through the programme: “I learned about money management and how to separate my money from the business money. They also taught me on customer persona and how to manage my relationship with them. This has helped me a lot because I now have many customers, which means I get good money as well. They also taught me about record-keeping, which I can now do off-head [off the top of my head].”
Beryl supports her family with the money she earns. “At home I am the one who supports my mum because my siblings also have disabilities and have not gotten good jobs. From this business, we get our daily needs. The mats also bring in good money.”
Beyond her business, Beryl has made other investments. “Through this business, I have bought my own cow worth KES 14,000. I call her Sense because they [Sense International] are the ones that helped me start a business, where I made good money and invested in the cow.”
Beryl remains hopeful for the future: “My hope for the future is to expand this business so it grows. I would want to start a wholesale business selling yarn and tapestry, as there is only one other shop doing that.”
Regina’s story
Regina’s story is one of resilience, driven by love for her family She is a mother of four children, a grandmother to another four children, and a caregiver for her youngest son Dennis.
“My last born is called Dennis. I had him with a condition: he is deaf, he does not speak and neither does he walk.” But Dennis is full of life. “He loves big and nice things. When he prays, we see the results.”
As a mother and caregiver, Regina has faced numerous challenges, especially in finding a stable income. “Before I joined this programme, I used to hawk bras and panties and sometimes tops. I used to be very tired.”
The stress of running her small business without much support took its toll. “We would sell to students, but when they closed school, we would remain with so much stock and be forced to live on money meant for stock.”
Regina received new hope when Sense International reached out. “One day Salome from Sense International called to inform me about this programme and referred me for the interview. I was lucky and I thank God.”
The training she received made a significant impact. “We were taught some things I didn’t know, like saving, record keeping. I used to make sales but use it to buy household needs such as flour, vegetables. But when they taught us to separate business money from personal money, everything changed.”
Regina’s business made real progress when Inclusive Futures helped her secure stock. “At the beginning of 2024, they bought me a bale for dresses, dummies and children’s clothes. I made many sales and saw that things were changing.”
Though there were obstacles, including a difficult rental situation and her battle with breast cancer, Regina adapted. “We sat down with my children. We saw it would be good to go back to the house. We started to do things online. I found it was okay. I used to pay for the shop. Now I do not pay for the house. I do things online and my work is progressing well.”
Her son Dennis also finds purpose in the work. “Dennis makes mats for a while now and he loves art. He loves to draw cartoons.” With help from Sense International, Dennis learned how to make these mats and even sold them.
Regina has big plans for the future, hoping to expand her business even further. “I want to open other shops. I want to employ people. Employing people is a very important thing so that others are blessed too.”
Since growing her business, Regina and her family feel more positive about the future. “Without them [Sense International], I wouldn’t be able to buy medicines, and Dennis wouldn’t have all his necessities.”
For Sense International, this is what inclusion looks like, helping to connect individuals with opportunities to be a part of public life.
Through Inclusive Futures, Sense International builds on the strengths of individuals, helping them to gain confidence in running successful businesses. By providing growth kits as donations rather than loans, they allow individuals to concentrate entirely on growing successful businesses rather than the stress of making loan repayments.
The results speak for themselves. Between 2021 and 2024, Sense International Kenya supported 36 micro-entrepreneurs and connected them to 32 public and private institutions. 60 per cent of the first cohort have doubled their sales. With this initiative, 28 of the 36 micro-entrepreneurs can lead more independent lives, without depending on family members and others for support.
With micro-entrepreneurs like Beryl, Dennis and Regina, discovering their potential and building better futures for themselves and their families, the Inclusive Futures project demonstrates what Sense International have always known: that with the right support, everyone can live independent and fulfilling lives.
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