Dara Lipton

Dara Lipton (Vital Voices- Kenyan Association of Women Business Owners - KAWBO): Before her fellowship, Dara served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Uzbekistan and Suriname. In Uzbekistan she worked at a community health clinic. In Suriname she worked with a women’s group. Dara then returned to Suriname to train Peace Corps Volunteers. At the time of her fellowship Dara was pursuing her MA in International Relations with a concentration in sustainable development in Africa at Yale University. After her fellowship, Dara wrote: "This fellowship has helped me to understand many of the academic and theoretical concepts that I learned in school in a more realistic and practical setting. This has given me increased confidence and a level of comfort in development discussions that I didn’t previously have."



Seraphine Ruligirwa-Kamara: From the Village Market to the International Market

09 Aug

Over the past 8 years Eniphares Gneicho has grown from a relatively small family business to a successful corporation providing promotional materials to multinational companies throughout East Africa.  The founder and Chief Executive Officer of Eniphares Gneicho is Seraphine Ruligirwa-Kamara, a powerful woman and mother of three who emerged from humble beginnings in a rural village in Western Kenya to become a model for successful women in business.   Eniphares Gneicho (EG) stands out amidst a sea of competitors in the promotional materials market thanks to Seraphine’s unfailing commitment to quality, professionalism and exceptional service.

As a young girl Seraphine spent her summers assisting her mother to transport and sell grains at the local market.  It was there that she first established her work ethic and her understanding of best practices in business.  The influence of her mother is maintained in the name of the company itself, as Eniphares Gneicho reversed reveals the names of Seraphine and her mother and mentor Ochieng.

Although Seraphine acknowledges the challenges associated with doing business as a woman in Kenya, she is unwilling and uninterested in seeing her gender as a limitation.  She contends that the obstacles that women face are everywhere, but it is the woman who must choose how to view them; “they can be obstacles that you can (overcome) or they can be obstacles that bar you from getting to the peeks of success that are possible for you.”  Seraphine has chosen to reject the “glass ceiling” which she dismisses as a self-fulfilling prophecy, and that, as Robert Frost would say, has made all the difference.

Watch a video profile of Seraphine here:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6PGKZ6SQUM

These are some of the promotional items that Eniphares Gneicho has produced.Seraphine and her husband Samson, co-owner of Eniphares Gneicho

Posted By Dara Lipton

Posted Aug 9th, 2010

182 Comments

  • Stanley Kimbio

    October 12, 2010

     

    I admire Seraphines energy, organiszation skills and humour in the way she conducts herself and her business.Kudos dada! The sky is the limit for EG.

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