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Idaho Matters

How Idahoans are helping to support the future of women in Kenya

How does a new nonprofit measure success? How about saving lives? Connecting kids to education, food and healthcare? That's exactly what's happening with the Boda Girls program.

Broadcast on:
24 Jul 2023

Dr. Rhiana Menen has joined a team of caregivers and volunteers of the Tiba Foundation in multiple trips to Kenya.
Dr. Rhiana Menen has joined a team of caregivers and volunteers of the Tiba Foundation in multiple trips to Kenya.( Tiba Foundation, Dr. Rhiana Menen)

How does a new nonprofit measure success? How about saving lives? Connecting kids to education, food and healthcare? That's exactly what's happening with the Boda Girls program.

The program, shepherded by the Tiba Foundation, is led by a Boise-based surgeon and mostly funded by supporters in Boise and the Treasure Valley. It provides healthcare and sexual education to women living in near-poverty in rural Kenya. Most women, with an average of three to five children, work in farming and make about $1 a day.

But the Boda Girls program has also allowed many of the women to operate and own their own Boda Bike taxi service, providing safe, efficient transportation to other women.

Our Morning Edition host George Prentice wanted to give us an update on the program.