As the saying among the Garri community goes, 'One finger can not kill a louse'. The Garri are a nomadic community found on the North Eastern Part of Kenya. The Garri use this saying to encourage teamwork in a community. Fatuma Abdirahman Issack, the 65-year-old chairperson of Tokuma Women Group in Burduras in Mandera West district, North Eastern Province, Kenya.

Fatuma describes her group as blind or like someone surrounded by deep forest without a way. In her view, the only way would be for the group to obtain Group Dynamics, management, Business development, Presrvation and Value addition of livestock product skills It is through efforts or organizations like CARE International in Kenya [CIK] that one can acquire these skills.

Recently, after CIK led capacity-building exercise, Fatuma came to the realization that in development starts, big achievements start with simple ideas. According to her, 'the best gift that her group has received to date has capacity building and in particular the training on value addition'.

To group members fortunate enough to have participated in the capacity building exercise, she is quick to recognize that their success lies on their ability to transform skills acquired into action. Considering that the group has not participated in any previous capacity building exercises, she anticipates that the training received from CIK is sufficient to yield meaningful results for the group. Key among these results is the recognition that the training has motivated group members to strive towards achieving their goal in enhancing their Income Generating Activities [IGAs]. Fatuma foresees a situation where group members, through IGAs, will be able to invest in enterprises that will ultimately result in growth of the group's businesses.

To other women in her community, Fatuma advices that, 'Join groups in order to advocate for their [women] rights in the community. Remember, we have been marginalized from the time we were born and if we were united we can make it, but if we were not, we are doomed to remain in the cycle of abject poverty and unable to break the bondage from men'.