ABOUT US

Background

Communities Defeating Poverty (‘CDP’) was founded in 2012 by Margot Robertson (‘Margot’) with a sister organisation in Australia set up by Margot’s sister, Marie Louise Irving (‘Marie’).

CDP helps mobilise communities across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia by providing training in community development principles to empower members of communities to set up their own small businesses.

Marie was a retired community development worker with 35 years of experience, and Margot had a career in sales. Initially, Marie successfully trained 60 church leaders in Kenya in basic community development principles, which they then took back to their villages to mobilise their community against poverty. Next, a pilot project was conducted in Kenya, rolling out the training programme over six counties in Kenya, resulting in circa 10,000 people attending the training over five years. An evaluation of the pilot project revealed a staggering success rate: 80% of the people who participated in the training had successfully increased their earnings through setting up farms and businesses.

Following the successful outcome of the pilot, the sisters decided that Margot (who lived in England) would raise funds to help pay for the training courses, and Marie (who lived in Australia) would work with an NGO, HAAPNET, in Kenya, making frequent visits to Kenya and beyond to deliver the training programme.

Both sisters were in their 70s when they set up CDP, but they worked tirelessly for the rest of their lives to grow the work. Sadly, both sisters passed away in 2022, but their work continues through the committees of volunteers they set up in England and Australia.

To date, around 20,000 people have received this simple yet powerful training. They have gone on to set up a variety of businesses including farming ventures, dressmaking, bag making, brickmaking, taxi services, hairdressing and carpentry, transforming the lives of the trainees and their families.