Who we are:
Since 2012, YOD follows an autonomous, earth-friendly poverty reduction model that works for slum dwellers in two of Nairobi’s informal settlements. We focus on AGRICULTURE, ART, & ENTREPRENEURSHIP that further create value-chain jobs. Through produce cooperatives and community artistic expression, it is our mission to help informal settlements create a micro-economy that is self-reliant. In essence, we create opportunities for the poor to earn income, eat healthy food and start small businesses.
Poverty Reduction requires being in tune with politics, economics, foreign relations, trade, and the humanitarian goals of the United Nations (the Sustainable Development Goals - SDG's). Direct engagement with people in abject poverty is a must for solving problems. It calls for trust and critical thinking relative to cultural issues.
When my team and I walk through the Informal Settlements (slums), we see urgent needs and develop programs for what we call "The New Frontier"…programs that are autonomous, community-centered, and based on building authentic sustainability within the slums.
We also provide research, translation, and assistance to large organizations interested in reaching the informal settlement communities of Nairobi.
Angela R. Pashayan, CEO and Dir. of Development - YOD International
COVID-19 has affected the communities we serve. Please donate. Type "pandemic relief" on your donation or contact us to donate in the name of someone you have lost.
We train slum dwellers in entrepreneurship ventures that serve their community. The goal is to shift from inconsistent income from outside-community gigs to steady income from within the community.
We create PROPSPERITY.
Urban farming in small spaces using vertical techniques is what works in the slums. The coop in LuckySummer Informal Settlement offers vegetables, eggs, and foul for consumption - or training to start your own small farm. The goals is to "green up" the informal settlements
We create FOOD SECURITY.
We foster common values through Community Mosaics created from recycled materials. The mosaics instill prided the goal is to create them throughout the informal settlements.
We create DIGNITY.
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal:
It is the courage to continue that counts.”