Inclusive entrepreneurship for persons with disabilities

Kadiwaku Family Foundation realized an expansive number of under-educated, unskilled, immobile, excluded and disabled people that require these crucial abilities to ably survive and compete in the fast-paced world we currently live in. Their inability to move along with other impairments affects their accessibility to good education, health services, and other necessities thus signifying a need for more than just basic access. Due to these facts, KFF is committed to bridging this gap that exists between the disabled people and available and needed services or products. It’s also upon the same belief that economic & entrepreneurial enrichment play a significant role in indicating various sources of wealth but also provision of social support to reduce stigma.

The Democratic republic of Congo with an approximated population of 94 million people is mired by war and conflict that began in 1994 to 2003. The war captured 5 million lives and left 15% of the population disabled according to Handicap international. 

With rebel groups continuing to devour the regions and maintain war and conflict, DRC has maintained one of the highest incidences of poverty at 89% living below a $1 a day in the world even compared to neighboring African countries. 

The country has no official data about poverty of people with disabilities. However, available data indicate that persons with disabilities are at high risk of poverty than their counterparts without disabilities. The recent report from East Eagle Foundation says that over 80% of persons with disabilities (aged from 18 to 35 years old) are unemployed and depend on their families and/or social services.

 Unfortunately, no such measures have been taken to help them maintain a sustainable level of income and prevent them from sliding into poverty, given the numerous crises affecting the country.

The main beneficiaries are the disabled in the targeted 26 provinces, but with the central and eastern regions as the pilot points to make this a nation-wide project. Also, the government, private sector and other citizenry benefit because a new class of professional develops from the disabled and later render their services for the benefit of the country.

We currently run 7 training centers throughout the country and reached 650 persons so far. We plan to expand it in 12 provinces and reach 230.000 in 5 years after from today.

7 disabled-entrepreneurs clubs were created and they help identify new programs beneficiaries and organizations with whom we can collaborate.

We believe that technology can help someone to be a successful entrepreneur or participate in the workplace and market regardless of his/her ability to walk. For example, Fabien Ntambi, our current fellow and a wheelchair user, has been coached on how to run and manage a small business. He’s now running an e-business that focuses on helping students who want to study abroad to connect with some schools/universities in USA, Canada and Europe-He helps them with the registration process as well.

Kadiwaku Family Foundation aims to support these marginalized youth facilitating them with knowledge and skills of various and alternative sources of generating personal income and also being able to create and support their startups.

In a largely expansive informal foot print, engaging the disabled to join the already able Congolese places them at the same level of competition. however their incapacitation needs through comprehension to understand how things work and support to access some of the basic services and most especially employment that Kadiwaku aims to fulfill.

With these facts under way, it’s significant to realize that such a program will facilitate their livelihoods directly by improving their standards of living and also augment the existing efforts focused on education, healthcare and hunger. Also, such efforts will be significant in leading the fast phase of disabled people into financial independence and later role out to the others indirectly through ripple effect or directly by taking part in the program. Kadiwaku strongly believes that enabling the disabled join the informal sector as the country transitions and struggles for economic stability positions them squarely with other sects of the population while reading them for this new paradigm shift expected with the passage of time. The new political environment that is hoped to bring a new approach to modes or work, inclusiveness, and stability that Kadiwaku is to benchmark from to undertake its work.

In the light of the relevant economic, social and environmental factors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kadiwaku Family Foundation will work towards helping to address accessibility in all spheres of life and will empower persons with disabilities through the application of entrepreneurial approach in order to enhance their quality of life and living standards. 

Working together with organizations for persons with disabilities, companies and other partners involved in championing and promoting the rights of persons with disabilities, Kadiwaku Family Foundation is enabling persons with disabilities to participate in the market/workplace either as an employee or a small business-owner by providing them with information, tools, training, business support and networking opportunities. 

- KFF offers online platform that provides self-placed training to disabled entrepreneurs and helps them to access information and tools, and connect with buyers, suppliers, traders, business experts;

- We committed to making our website accessible to all users and we have to include several features designed to improve accessibility for users with disabilities; 

- KFF is using the internet as a major communication tool. Every staff has e-mail ID and all computers are connected with LAN to share files/printers, and all of our fellows/alumni are 

There are very many initiatives supporting the various vulnerable people in the community with education, health and hunger as the key focus area. With more than 300 Community based organization, 40 International Development Agencies and projects by various people. However, Due to the magnitude of the problem affecting a magnanimous proportion of the population the disabled people are engaged in a few instances.

With initiatives that have provided economic empowerment, health benefits, education opportunities and research, Kadiwaku is ready to augment these efforts through its “Inclusive entrepreneurship for people with disabilities (IEPD)” program. This is aimed at enabling persons with disability to participate in the workplace and promote opportunities for self-employment and entrepreneurship. 

We currently run 7 training centers throughout the country and reached 650 persons so far. We plan to expand it in 12 provinces and reach 2500 people with disabilities, and 230.000 people with disabilities in 5 years. 

The main beneficiaries are the disabled in the targeted 26 provinces, but with the central and eastern regions as the pilot points to make this a nation-wide project. Also, the government, private sector and other citizenry benefit because a new class of professional develops from the disabled and later render their services for the benefit of the country.

KFF’s training program is designed to provide disabled-entrepreneurs with access to the knowledge and resources that they need to grow their businesses and impact society. 

KFF always includes sign language in the trainings and helps people with disabilities obtain orthopedic equipment and technologies to maximize the program inclusivity. 

- Over 650 people with disabilities who were trained, they now need something to start running the small business. If the organization is not able to provide them loans/grants, they might return in previous life (begging, or always depending on their family or social services). In order to address this problem;

- Some of our beneficiaries (people with disabilities) often need supplemental services such as transportation, assistive devices and training center modification. Not having those services preventing them from accessing our services. 

- KFF will approach potential donors and we launch fundraising campaign to secure funds that will help provide a small grant or loan and we are working with some banks and we want to help those who have been trained to receive a loan from the bank. We will be giving them the recommendation letters and ask bank managers to accept some of them who qualify.

- KFF will launch our Mobile App so they can access the services regardless of their ability to walk or travel, and we will recruit some volunteers to follow-up and provide social support.

Full-time staff: 7

Part-time: 5

Volunteers: 15

Contractors: 1

KFF’s team leader by John K. Ntonta an Echoing Green Fellow, a disabled advocate and social entrepreneur believes in a new way of thinking and undertaking tasks thus exhibiting his passion by starting the entity. Also, a team of fellow disabled people join in and contribute time, effort and energy to support their fellows in the same state, which is very unusual, uncommon and rare. These facts make KFF a different entity and position them strategically as the entity that’ll help save the disabled people from poverty and also link them to various platforms where they can access the needed resources.

John Kadiwaku Ntonta is coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He’s the Founder of Kadiwaku Family Foundation, and, currently, He’s working as President and CEO.

John serves as Senior Advisor in the Education Cluster (hosted by UNICEF/DRC) providing technical and strategic support on projects focusing on disability and human rights; as well as coordinating the task force on ‘’Protection mainstreaming’’ in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

For the past ten years, John has worked in the field of philanthropy, serving as a consultant to many local organizations and foundations.

In June 2018, John won an award from Echoing Green to implement a program which aims at improving the entrepreneurial capabilities of 650 person with disabilities in Democratic Republic of Congo.

We believe that technology can help someone to be a successful entrepreneur or participate in the workplace and job-market regardless of his/her ability to walk. For example, Fabien Ntambi, our current fellow, has been coached on how to start a business. He’s running an e-business that focuses on helping students who want to study abroad to connect with some schools/universities in USA, Canada and Europe. He helps them with the registration process as well. 

All of our fellows/alumni are requested to pay their membership fees in order to become a premium members and use our online plate-form to interact and connect with consumers and companies to sell their products or services. We take a commission of 15% on every product or service ordered through our online platform. Most of our training is free of charge. However, the service is sold in the market. For example, we have 12 young women who have been learning how to sew clothes. In order to sell these clothes, we work with schools and clothing shops.  We also organize a fashion show where they sell their products and we take our commission on the sale.

1)      Membership fees: All participating members from the communities are requested to pay a subscription fee that maintains their engagement with KFF and also caters for unascertained costs where their subscriptions will be used to better any other of the provinces or community;

2)      Commission on sales: We connect the disabled-entrepreneurs with buyers/corporations and we take a commission of 15% on every product or service ordered through our online platform;

3)      Diversifying donors: Continuously engaging and signing long term funding opportunities that provide a substantial period for implementation, activity and focus on making impact than searching for funds that derails the existing projects if not planned which triggered the team to write this grant document;

4)      Building an inventory of resources: The gadgets that will be bought in the digital training activity are re-useable for other trainings and provide leverage for future projects. Thus, KFF will handle any resource in a project with care because it becomes an asset whose functions are replicable;

5)      Volunteer engagement; Volunteers will cut the salary cost of KFF and this enables project to continue despite of the funds being spent on the main activities and not expenses.

- We will launch of Mobile App will help provide self-paced training (we always combine our training with sign language to increase the program inclusivity) to people with disabilities, help them network and connect with buyers, suppliers, and business experts, and we committed to making our website accessible to all users-we need to include several features designed to improve accessibility for users with disabilities and marketplace;

- We want to buy training facilities and materials for our training center in the city of Bukavu, in the province of South-Kivu. The training center will help improve the entrepreneurial capabilities of 250 persons with disabled (already registered by our team) through entrepreneurship training and basic of computer workshops, regular meeting, and offer them a place where they can go to co-work and forge relationship and be given the opportunity to receive advices and guidance to help bring their small businesses to the next level through our regular meetings and online platforms.